Archive Date: July 6, 2013
Archive Text: Simon Van Booy returns to Prairie Lights to read from his new novel, The Illusion of Separateness. This gripping novel — inspired by true events — tells the interwoven stories of a deformed German infantryman; a lonely British film director; a young, blind museum curator; two Jewish American newlyweds separated by war; and a caretaker at a retirement home for actors in Santa Monica. They move through the same world but fail to perceive their connections until, through seemingly random acts of selflessness, a veil is lifted to reveal the vital parts they have played in one another’s lives, and the illusion of their separateness.
Simon Van Booy is the author of Love Begins in Winter—which won the International Frank O’Connor Prize, and The Secret Lives of People in Love, which is one of the bestselling short story collections at Prairie Lights. His non-fiction has appeared in newspapers such as the New York Times, and the New York Post. He lives in New York City, where he lectures at the School of Visual Arts and is involved in the Rutgers Early College Humanities Program for young adults living in underserved communities.
Lucas Hunt reads from his book of poetry, Lives. Hunt attended the Iowa Writer’s Workshop and received his MFA from Southampton College. His poems have appeared in several literary reviews, including Slice, Confrontation, Anderbo, and Proteus. He received The John Steinbeck Award for poetry and was listed for The Walt Whitman Prize. He works as a literary agent in East Hampton, New York, and is the founder and publisher of Hunt & Light, a poetry imprint established this year.
