Iowa City native Colin Hamilton will read from his new book, The Discarded. "In Hamilton's metafictional work, an unnamed librarian reflects on books pulled from the library's shelves and relegated to obscurity—and, by extension, the purposes of libraries in general. Hamilton's clear devotion to "the morgue" of discarded books is oddly inspiring; there's something mesmerizing about the collective encyclopedia of knowledge they comprise as a whole, even if many of the parts seem less than alluring. He makes a powerful case for the library as 'both a source of continual rebirth and civic pride' — a place that a genuine community will revere and patronize. An enchanting discussion of the many books that inevitably vanish." - Kirkus Reviews

Colin Hamilton grew up in Iowa City and is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop in Poetry. He is the author of the novel The Thirteenth Month and the poetry chapbook The Memory Palace. He has had a career in public affairs, helping to develop the Minneapolis Central Library, the Cowles Center for Dance and the Performing Arts, and affordable housing projects for low income artists in New York, New Orleans, and Honolulu. He lives in St. Paul.
Please join us after the event for a reception in the cafe!

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