Join author Tim Bascom for an author talk and Q&A about his new collection of short stories, "Continental Drift."

Attend in person at the library, 223 E. 7th, Newton, KS, or click here to sign up for the Zoom Webinar simulcast.

About the Book:

In "Continental Drift," a diverse array of travelers cross borders between African nations and the U.S. Debilitated Mabior returns to his Sudanese village after 30 years of exile, hoping to make amends to a wife he abandoned. Zauditu emigrates from Ethiopia and starts working as a guard at the Chicago Art Institute, where she gets caught touching up a painting that upset her. 13-year-old Neal goes on safari with his nature-loving parents and accidentally leads them into a violent ambush. These and other characters are challenged, sometimes deeply disturbed, but always brought to see the world anew. Their stories reflect the tangle of cross-cultural interactions that take place every day as real travelers from real places try to connect despite differences that so easily divide.

About the Author:

Tim Bascom is the author of a novel, two collections of essays, and two prize-winning memoirs about years spent in East Africa as a youth: "Chameleon Days" and "Running to the Fire." His essays have won editor’s prizes at The Missouri Review and Florida Review, also being selected for the anthologies "Best Creative Nonfiction" and "Best American Travel Writing." His short fiction has appeared in journals such as Zone 3, Front Range Review, and Briar Cliff Review, where he won the 2021 Fiction Prize. Bascom received his MFA from the University of Iowa. He taught creative writing for 20 years at a college level, and he continues to teach workshops at the Iowa Summer Writing Festival. He currently directs the annual Kansas Book Festival.