Novelist Alan Grostephan will read from and sign his acclaimed debut novel “Bogotá” tomorrow, 7 p.m., at Carmichael’s Bookstore on Frankfort Avenue.“Bogotá,” which was long-listed for the Pen/Robert W. Bingham Prize, is the story of Hernán, a thirteen-year-old whose family moves to the outskirts of the Colombian capital after his father, caught in the crossfire of paramilitary mercenaries and local guerilla fighters, is nearly killed by vigilantes in their hometown.The novel follows the struggles of Hernán and his family as they navigate nihilistic crime and crushing poverty in the shanty town outside of Bogotá. The Wall Street Journal named it one of the ten best fiction books of 2013 and in its starred review, Publishers Weekly said, “with unflinching brutality and rawness, this remarkably executed debut novel achieves a highly original, catchy prose—often mingling Spanish slang throughout its hardboiled, supercharged narrative.”
Joining Grostephan is Ashley Farmer, a Louisvillian whose debut collection of short stories “Beside Myself” came out from PANK/Tiny Hardcore Press earlier this year. Farmer is the author of the chapbook “Farm Town” and serves as managing editor for Juked magazine. Read "Game Show" by Ashley Farmer. Read "Father's Elegy for Satisfaction" by Ashley Farmer.
