By Medea Giordano - Staff Writer Hofstra’s second “Great Writers, Great Readings” event of the semester brought Pulitzer Prize-nominated author Karen Russell to campus.
Judging a book by its cover (pun intended), Russell was petite and chic, dressed in stylish patterned pants donning a warm, slightly shy smile. But when she started to read, it was clear that her mind is less like sweet Judy Blume’s and more like Stephen King’s. “I blame Florida,” she said of her love of weird writing.
Before beginning “Reeling for the Empire,” a short story from her collection “Vampires in the Lemon Grove,” she warned, “I hope that you already ate dinner.”
“Reeling for the Empire,” tells the tale of the women workers of a silk factory in Japan who were recruited away from their families in exchange for a five-yen advance.
After signing a contract the girls must partake in a traditional tea ceremony, which unbeknownst to them starts their transformation into a human-silkworm hybrid. Soon their stomachs manufacture colored silk that must be extracted daily by a machine and then taken by the factory owner. The girls are told that if they die – and therefore cannot work – their families will pay.
While outlandish, Russell’s story is hauntingly similar to true tales of human trafficking happening all over the world.
Russell said while “it feels like a stretch” to write about normal characters, relatability is important.
Recounting advice received from a professor she said, “It does not matter if your story is set in Detroit or on Mars, you better find a way to represent a reality that people recognize as true.”
Her other works include “Swamplandia!” the story of a 13-year-old who must save her troubled family and their gator-wrestling theme park where they live.
Another one of her works is “St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves,” a compilation of stories about the ghostly Florida Everglades and “Sleep Donation,” a futuristic novella about an insomnia epidemic.
The next “Great Writers, Great Readings,” event will feature Hofstra professor Julia Markus, on Wednesday, Nov. 18 at 7 p.m. in the Leo A. Guthart Cultural Center Theater.