Carmela Ciuraru will read from her new book, Nom de Plume, at 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 20, in Prairie Lights Books and on the University of Iowa's website for the Virtual Writing University.

Through the stories of 18 authorial impostors across several centuries and cultures—including Lewis Carroll, the Bronte sisters and George Sand—Ciuraru plumbs the creative process and the darker, often crippling aspects of fame. The motivations include secrecy, obsession, modesty, scandal, defiance, and shame.

Joyce Carol Oates commented, “Nom de Plume is a fascinating collection of stories – populated by individuals whose ‘doubleness’ is so distinct that they acquire secondary personalities, and, in some notable cases, multiple personalities. It’s a richly documented literary excursion into the inner, secret lives of some of our favorite writers.”

Carmela Ciuraru is not a pseudonym. Her anthologies include First Loves: Poets Introduce the Essential Poems That Captivated and Inspired Them and Solitude Poems. A graduate of Columbia University’s Journalism School, she is a member of the National Book Critics Circle and PEN American Center.

She has written for the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Boston Globe, the Wall Street Journal, Huffington Post, the Daily Beast, O, Oprah Magazine, and other publications.

Her website is www.carmelaciuraru.com. And for accommodations at the Prairie Lights event, contact jan@prairielights.com.