{"id":58526,"date":"2025-03-21T11:36:13","date_gmt":"2025-03-21T15:36:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=58526"},"modified":"2025-03-21T11:38:05","modified_gmt":"2025-03-21T15:38:05","slug":"writers-read-welcomes-back-alumna-novelist-christine-benner-dixon-04","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/writers-read-welcomes-back-alumna-novelist-christine-benner-dixon-04\/","title":{"rendered":"Writers Read welcomes back alumna novelist Christine Benner Dixon \u201904"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When we think about post-apocalyptic literature or film, says novelist Christine Benner Dixon \u201904<\/strong>, whose newly released debut novel, The Height of Land<\/em>, takes place long after the collapse of civilization, we tend to think of something like Mad Max<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEveryone\u2019s driving around with the biggest gun they can find, mowing down anyone who seems remotely threatening,\u201d she said. \u201cEveryone\u2019s fighting tooth and nail in this really brutal way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking at a Writers Read event in Martin Chapel on Thursday evening, Benner Dixon said she\u2019s not particularly interested in those types of stories. She would rather learn how people get past that point. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want post-apocalyptic,\u201d she said. \u201cI want what comes after. I want to see the communities that thrive once all the warring and stabbing has burned itself out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Height of Land<\/em> is set in the far distant future and follows Red, a sensitive and inquisitive young farmer who is torn between \u201cspiritual longing and commitment to his community\u2019s survival in a harsh landscape\u201d (Orison Books<\/a>). Benner Dixon read from a chapter in her novel, shared a short story she had written about encountering God in her garden, and read an essay that will be published by The Iowa Review<\/em> in its spring issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n