A Conversation with Author Daren Wang
The Hidden Light of Northern Fires
Author: Daren Wang
Daren Wang was born in Buffalo, N.Y., and is a graduate of Cornell University. In 1971, his parents bought the Willis property in Town Line, New York and made the family home in the converted barn and rented out the main house. ​He now lives in Decatur, Ga. with his wife, Eva.
​Wang is the founding executive director of AJC Decatur Book Festival, now in its twelfth year. ​As a public radio producer, he produced and or hosted several series including The Spoken Word, Porches: The South and Her Writers, Circle of Friends, Between the Lines, ArtVoice, and Atlanta Forum. ​His writing has appeared in Paste Magazine, Five Points Magazine, the Atlanta Journal Constitution, AJC Travel, The Saporta Report, and other publications. He published the short-lived audio magazine Verb:An Audioquarterly. The Hidden Light of Northern Fires (Thomas Dunne Books, 2017) is his first novel.
Discussant: Liberty Ferda
Liberty Ferda is a freelance writer and writing instructor. She earned an MFA in creative nonfiction from the University of Pittsburgh in 2010. In addition to contributing to several regional magazines and newspapers, she writes for the Open Hand Ministries and Lost Daughters adoption advocacy blogs. Recent publications include essays in the anthologies Other Tongues: Mixed Race Women Speak Out (Inanna Publications) and The Beiging of America (2Leaf Press). She teaches writing and tutors at the University of Pittsburgh, and her writing was placed as a finalist for both the 2017 Disquiet International Literary Program in poetry and the 2017 Penelope Niven Award in Creative Nonfiction.
Date
Sat., Nov. 4, 2018, 7:00-8:00 p.m.
Overview
Join us Nov. 4 for a discussion led by Libby Ferda with author Daren Wang. Wang's first novel, The Hidden Light of Northern Fires, is rooted in the remarkable, but little-known, true history of the only secessionist town north of the Mason Dixon Line. Charles Frazier, the bestselling author of Cold Mountain, calls the book, "Splendid—a distinctive clear-eyed perspective on a fresh corner of the Civil War." Mr. Wang will be reading excerpts from his book and signing copies for attendees.
​Book Synopsis
When escaped slave Joe Bell collapses in her father’s barn, Mary Willis must ward off Confederate guerrillas and spies, Joe’s vengeful owner, and even her own brother to help the handsome fugitive cross to freedom.
​Mary has always been an outcast, an outspoken abolitionist woman in a town of bounty hunters and anti-Union farmers. Helping runaways is the only thing that makes her life in Town Line bearable. As the countryside is riled by the drumbeat of civil war and the promise of an extravagant bounty for the wounded fugitive, Mary finds herself drawn to the stranger in forbidden ways. When rebels cross from nearby Canada intent on killing him, they bring the devastation of the brutal war to the town and the farm, and threaten to destroy all that Mary loves.
This event is free and open to the public. No registration required. Books will be available for purchase from Mystery Book Lovers.
Co-sponsored with the Center for Writing and Learning Support at Pittsburgh Seminary.
Location / Directions
Location: Knox Room, Long Hall, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, 616 N. Highland Ave., Pittsburgh, Pa.
Directions to the Seminary. There is free parking on campus behind the chapel and library. Directional signs will lead you to the room from the parking lot.
Questions
Call 412-924-1345 or e-mail .
