Fiction writer Scott Heim to read for Writer Program Reading Series Dec. 1

Nov. 23, 2005 -- Fiction writer Scott Heim will read from his work at 8 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 1, for the Writing Program Reading Series.

The reading is free and open to the public and takes place in Hurst Lounge, Room 201, Duncker Hall. Duncker Hall is located in the northwest corner of Brookings Quadrangle, near the intersection of Hoyt and Brookings drives. For more information, call (314) 935-7130.

Heim is the author of the novel Mysterious Skin (1995), recently adapted to film by director Gregg Araki. The story is set in the small-town of Hutchinson, KS, where two boys belonging to the same Little League team unknowingly share struggles and obsession — sex, loyalty, first love and aliens — that direct their adolescent lives.

"With uncommon poetry and clarity, Scott Heim paints a devastating portrait of a new Lost Generation," noted essayist and screenwriter Connie May Fowler. "Mysterious Skin will haunt and enrage you. I am awestruck by Heim's courage. Read this book."

Other books include the novel In Awe (1997), winner of the Firecracker Alternative Book Award for fiction, and a collection of poetry, Saved From Drowning (1993). Heim is currently at work on a third novel, We Disappear.

Heim's writing has appeared in the Village Voice, The Advocate, Paper and numerous anthologies. Major honors include a fellowship from the London Arts Board and a Sundance Screenwriters Lab fellowship for his adaptation of Mysterious Skin.

Born in Hutchinson, Heim earned bachelor's degrees in English and Art History and a master's in English Literature from the University of Kansas in Lawrence. He received an M.F.A. in Writing from Columbia University.