Best-Selling Novelist Emily St. John Mandel to Speak at USA

The Stokes Center for Creative Writing will host best-selling author Emily St. John Mandel Tuesday, Nov. 15 at the University of South Alabama. 

Mandel will read and discuss her work as part of the Stokes Center for Creative Writing Visiting Writers’ Series. The reading will be held in the USA Student Center Ballroom at 6 p.m. A book signing and reception will follow.

Mandel has written six novels, including her recent book titled “Sea of Tranquility.” She is well known for her novel “Station Eleven,” which was adapted into a series on HBO last year and received several Emmy nominations. Mandel’s “The Glass Hotel” was also chosen by President Barack Obama as one of his favorite books of 2020. 

“Because of the generosity of Angelia and Steven Stokes, we are fortunate to be able to invite someone of Mandel's stature,” said Dr. Charlotte Pence, director of the Stokes Center and associate professor of English. “I can already feel the excitement as people stop me on campus to talk about which book is their favorite. Also, the Haunted Book Shop reached out, and they are hosting a discussion on ‘Sea of Tranquility’ with English professor Caleb Johnson on Tuesday, Nov. 8 from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. There is a lot of buzz.”

Mandel’s “Station Eleven” won the 2015 Arthur C. Clarke Award and has been translated into 36 languages, and “The Glass Hotel” was shortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize and has been translated into 23 languages. 

National Public Radio has called Mandel “...an important novelist of our moment, but [Mandel] doesn’t settle for merely replicating our moment. She inhabits it even as she sees beyond it.” 

The Stokes Center sponsors readings, lectures, forums and many other events to enhance the Department of English’s offerings in creative writing. All of these events are free and open to the public. The Stokes Center also supports students through its graduate and undergraduate awards in poetry, fiction and creative nonfiction.