Ellen Booraem
Longtime writer and first-time novelist Ellen Booraem will make appearances at Gustavus Adolphus College and St. Peter Middle School Thursday, Nov. 13.
The author of The Unnameables (2008), Booraem will give a public reading from the new book and a work in progress at 4:30 p.m. in the Courtyard Café, located on the lower level of the C. Charles Jackson Campus Center.
Earlier that day, she will visit seventh grade English classes at St. Peter Middle School to talk about The Unnameables and her 30 years as a professional writer. Booraem will also visit classes at Gustavus on Friday, Nov. 14.
Booraem started her career as a staff writer for colleges and corporations before spending 20 years reporting for and editing community newspapers in Maine. In 2003 she decided to resurrect her draft of The Unnameables which she had started writing in the early 1980s. The book was released earlier this month on Oct. 1.
The Unnameables is a fantasy set on an island where everyone is named for what he or she does. The hero is a 13-year-old boy named Medford Runyuin, whose meaningless name underscores his status as an outsider in a rigid, orderly society. Medford has a dangerous secret that keeps getting worse as he gets older. A smelly, chaotic goatman shows up to expose the secret, kicking off a chain of events that changes Medford’s life — and his island — forever. The Unnameables is a Junior Library Guild selection for Fall 2008.
Booraem’s visit to Gustavus is being sponsored by the Gender, Women and Sexuality Studies Department, the Sponberg Chair of Ethics, and the English Department. For more information about Booraem’s visit to St. Peter, contact Professor of Philosophy Lisa Heldke at heldke@gustavus.edu
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Media Contact: Director of Media Relations and Internal Communication Luc Hatlestad
luch@gustavus.edu
507-933-7510