Joe Wilkins, Linfield College professor of English, will read from his celebrated debut novel, “Fall Back Down When I Die,” on Tuesday, April 30, at 5 p.m. in the Nicholson Library at Linfield.
The event is part of the Readings at the Nick series.
“Fall Back Down When I Die” is a story of land, family, wolves, violence and community. In a starred review, Booklist called the novel “remarkable and unforgettable.” Jason Hess of The Oregonian writes, “This novel instills hope. Wilkins has produced a remarkable book filled with characters who, despite their inherent differences over how to exist on the land, remind us of the myriad reasons that every person might be loved.”
Wilkins directs the creative writing program at Linfield. He has written three poetry collections including most recently “When We Were Birds,” winner of the 2017 Oregon Book Award in Poetry. Wilkins’ memoir, “The Mountain and the Fathers,” won the GLCA New Writers Award for nonfiction. He is a Pushcart Prize winner and a finalist for the National Magazine Award and the PEN Center USA Journalism Award.
His work has appeared in the Georgia Review, the Harvard Review, Orion, and The Sun. Wilkins’s work has been anthologized in The Pushcart Prize Anthology, Best American Magazine Writing, New Poets of the American West and Best New Poets.
Wilkins spent two years teaching ninth grade pre-algebra in the Mississippi Delta with Teach For America after graduating from Gonzaga University with a degree in computer engineering. He then went on to earn his master in fine arts in creative writing from the University of Idaho.
The reading is free and open to the public. It is presented by the Linfield Nicholson Library and the Linfield College English Department. For more information, contact Susan Barnes Whyte at 503-883-2517, swhyte@linfield.edu.
