The spring semester has just begun, and to kick it off the USM bookstore has arranged a reading and signing of 2004 USM Stonecoast MFA graduate Morgan Callan Roger’s award-winning debut novel, Red Ruby Heart in a Cold Blue Sea this Tuesday.
“Everyone here at the bookstore is so excited that we’re launching Morgan Callan Rogers novel,” said Barbara Kelley, tradebook manager at the USM Portland bookstore. Red Ruby Heart in a Cold Blue Sea introduces Florine Gilham, a spirited young heroine coming of age in coastal Maine during the early 1960s. When Gilham’s mother disappears during a weekend trip, her world is suddenly turned upside down, and both she and her father are isolated as they struggle to manage their loss.
While Tuesday night will serve as the North American release party for the novel, it was first published in Germany as Rubinrotes Herz, eisblaue See in July 2010. Later this year, it will be published in other locations across the globe, including Italy, Spain, and Australia.
“Morgan is an exceptionally talented author and this book is a beautiful, funny and poignant story that takes place in a small town on the coast of Maine,” Kelley said. “Several of the staff here have already read the book and can’t wait to hear her tell us more about her writing process.”
The reading and book signing are on Tues., Jan. 26 at 7 p.m. at the USM Portland Campus Bookstore, located in the Woodbury Campus Center. The event is free and open to all members of the community.
For a complete listing of upcoming events at both the Portland and Gorham bookstore locations, log onto usm.maine.edu/books.