The Midtown Scholar Bookstore is pleased to welcome local author Holly M. Wendt for the book launch celebration of their new work, Heading North. Wendt will be in conversation with local author Curtis Smith. A book signing will take place after the conversation. This event is free and open to the public.
A young, talented Viktor Myrnikov is on the brink of realizing his lifelong dream of playing for the National Hockey League when a catastrophic plane crash kills all of his former Russian teammates, including his secret boyfriend, Nikolai, shattering his plans—and his heart. In this skillfully plotted debut, readers follow Viktor as he navigates cultural and sexual divides, the gamesmanship of damaged relationships, and the dark corners of professional sports. In prose that is as tender as it is tough, we witness a young man discovering inner resources he didn't know he possessed as he struggles to find solace and respect in a world that has denied him of these things. An important discussion of today’s most pressing issues, and a tremendous achievement, Heading North is a most certainly a book for our times.
About the Speakers:
Holly M. Wendt is the author of Heading North (Braddock Avenue Books, 2023). They are a recipient of the Robert and Charlotte Baron Fellowship for Creative and Performing Artists from the American Antiquarian Society and fellowships from the Jentel Foundation and Hambidge Center. Their work has appeared in Passages North, Shenandoah, Barrelhouse, Memorious, and elsewhere. Holly is a former Baseball Prospectus contributor and contributing editor for The Classical. Their nonfiction has appeared in Bodies Built for Game: The Prairie Schooner Anthology of Contemporary Sports Writing, The Rumpus, and Sport Literate. Holly is Associate Professor of English and Creative Writing at Lebanon Valley College.
Curtis Smith has published over one hundred stories and essays. His work has been cited by or included in The Best American Short Stories, The Best American Mystery Stories, The Best American Spiritual Writing, The Best Small Fictions, and in the Norton anthology New Microfictions. His three full-length story collections, The Species Crown, Bad Monkey, and Beasts and Men, have all been published by Press 53. He is also the author of two chapbooks of flash fiction, two essay collections, four novels, and a book of creative nonfiction.
