{"id":62502,"date":"2026-10-16T13:09:27","date_gmt":"2026-10-16T17:09:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=62502"},"modified":"2026-10-16T13:09:43","modified_gmt":"2026-10-16T17:09:43","slug":"patricia-grace-king-89-headlines-writers-read","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2026\/patricia-grace-king-89-headlines-writers-read\/","title":{"rendered":"Patricia Grace King \u201989 headlines Writers Read"},"content":{"rendered":"
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EMU welcomed author Patricia Grace King \u201989<\/strong> back to campus Oct. 8 for a Writers Read featuring selections from her new book, Those Who Vanish<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The event, moderated by Esther Harder \u201903<\/strong> and co-sponsored by EMU\u2019s Spanish and English departments, was part of Homecoming and Inauguration Weekend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

King, who taught students including Harder and Dean Rev. Dr. Sarah Ann Bixler \u201902<\/strong> as a professor in EMU\u2019s Language and Literature Department from 2000-03, now lives in Durham, England. Her short story collection, published last month by the University of Pittsburgh Press, won the 2026 Drue Heinz Literature Prize.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The eight fictional stories explore the intersection of Guatemalan and U.S. cultures against the backdrop of Guatemala\u2019s political history. The collection follows Guatemalan citizens and North American expatriates whose lives become entangled amid war and draws on King\u2019s experiences living in the country after graduating from EMU.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI owe a lot of this book to EMU\u2019s cross-cultural program,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s pretty much how it started.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Good fiction can awaken readers to the wider world, King said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt gives us a wider experience of humanity. It makes us aware that our experience isn\u2019t the only experience, and that we\u2019re not just one thing. The world isn\u2019t just one thing and people are many things. I hope this book can do that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Watch a recording of the event below!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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