Coming this week: visiting writer Karen Russell

IMAGINATIVE — Russell dreams up incredible stories. (Hope College)

The author of “Swamplandia!” is coming to Hope College this Thursday. She will be in  the Fried-Hemenway Auditorium in Martha Miller for a Q&A  and a reading at Jack H. Miller Center for Musical Arts in the recital hall. Russell is a novelist  and short story writer. Her book “Swamplandia!” was a finalist for  the 2012 Pulitzer Prize of Fiction.

“Swamplandia!” is the first novel Russell has written, based off of a short story in a book she had previously written called “Ava Wrestles the Alligator.” The book is fiction, magical realism, and based in the Ten Thousand  Islands on the southwest coast  of Florida. The main character, Ossie, is part of a family  that runs a theme park named Swamplandia, where the biggest attraction is gator wrestling. Within the story the characters  deal with loss, depression, coping, acceptance, the supernatural, family and love.

Russell does a great job of  making an intriguing story based in an unlikely area, with a peculiar family dealing with real and relatable issues in a unique way.

If you are curious and want to hear more about Karen Russell and her book “Swamplandia!” then you can attend the Q&A at 3:30 p.m. and the reading at 7:30 p.m.