National Book Award finalist and alumnus Brandon Hobson is returning to campus to speak about his book.
The event is called “An Evening with Novelist Brandon Hobson.” It is planned to be a reading, Q&A and book signing of Hobson’s book, Where the Dead Sit Talking. It will be at 7 p.m. March 20 in the Great Hall in Tom and Brenda McDaniel University Center. All students are welcome to attend.
Where the Dead Sit Talking was published on Feb. 20, 2018. It was a top five finalist for the 2018 National Book Award for Fiction. The book won the In the Margins Book Award, which is an award for books that deal with social issues.
Hobson also won the Pushcart Prize in 2016 for his short fiction work.
The book deals with finding yourself, Hobson said.
“It’s often labeled a Native American novel, but it’s about Native American teens in foster care,” Hobson said. “It’s a book about finding your identity, and answering the question, ‘What is home?’”
Hobson’s other works include The Levitationist, Deep Ellum and Desolation of Avenues Untold.
Hobson graduated from OCU in 1992, with a degree in English. Dr. Terry Phelps, professor of English, is a former professor of Hobson.
“Brandon was always very serious about writing. He was a great class participant, critic and tutor,” Phelps said. “It was obvious that this was somebody that was going to do well as a writer.”
Phelps said he looks forward to the event.
“One of the things I always tell my students is that we learn from models. From the bad models you learn what not to do, and you learn what to do from good models,” Phelps said. “Brandon is an example of a good model for students to aspire to write well, have a good work ethic and be a good person.”
Hobson teaches language arts at Northern Oklahoma College in Tonkawa, Oklahoma. He is working on a new novel.
Hobson said he is eager to return to OCU.
“I like to talk to students about writing, and I have good memories of OCU,” Hobson said. “I’m excited to return there and hopefully be able to engage in a nice discussion of the book and writing in general.”
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