Join First Light Books for the launch of Earth 7, a novel about two women who meet on a beach of artificial sand at the end of the world. One was raised in a pod in the ocean. The other may or may not be a robot. The planet is a burnt coal. Most people have left for Mars or uploaded themselves into microchips. And yet, somehow, love persists.

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If you care about this planet, or have ever wondered what happens after we're done ruining it, Deb Olin Unferth has written you a book that Kirkus is calling "a masterpiece of climate fiction."

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She'll be joined in conversation by Jennifer Chang, whose most recent collection An Authentic Life was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry.

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A reception with the author will take place from 6:00 to 6:30 PM, followed by the conversation at 6:30 PM and a signing to close the evening. Tickets include a copy of the book and a reserved seat. Unreserved seats are available on a first come, first served basis. Free RSVPs are also encouraged.

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About the book

Well, that's about it for the story of planet Earth, poor Earth, reduced to not much more than a piece of burnt coal. But, as Deb Olin Unferth shows in her latest electrifying novel, life and love persist, even in the most unexpected, inhospitable places.

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By the end of Unferth's wild and poetic novel, the reader has traveled to the very edges of the cosmos as a "soul globule" and between grains of sand as a microscopic tardigrade. A book tackling big questions (is all matter conscious? will we tech ourselves into salvation, or out of existence?), Earth 7 is the most exhilarating work to date by one of our most original and beloved writers.

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Kirkus (starred review) called it "profound, funny, alarming, and imbued with love and sorrow for our lost world. A masterpiece of climate fiction."

Publishers Weekly (starred review) said Unferth "shines in her ability to craft relatable characters in extraordinary circumstances."

Booklist (starred review) called it "a crystalline, poetic, witty, and haunting post-depopulation tale of loss, adaptation, unexpected beauty, and surpassing love."

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About the author

Deb Olin Unferth is the author of seven books, including the novels Earth 7 and Barn 8 (named a best book of 2020 by NPR, Slate, and LitHub), the memoir Revolution (a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award), the story collection Wait Till You See Me Dance, and the graphic novel I, Parrot.

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Her fiction and essays have appeared in Harper's, The Paris Review, Granta, McSweeney's, and The New York Times Magazine, among more than fifty publications. She has received a Guggenheim Fellowship, three Pushcart Prizes, and a Creative Capital Fellowship for Innovative Literature, as well as residencies from MacDowell, Yaddo, Ucross, and the Arctic Circle.

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A professor at the University of Texas at Austin, she teaches for the Michener Center for Writers and the New Writers Project, and directs the Pen City Writers, a creative writing program at a south Texas penitentiary. Originally from Chicago, she lives in Austin.

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About the conversation partner

Jennifer Chang's most recent book An Authentic Life was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry. Her other honors include the William Carlos Williams Award, the Virginia Literary Award in Poetry, the Levinson Prize from Poetry, and fellowships from MacDowell and Yaddo. She is the poetry editor of New England Review and teaches at the University of Texas in Austin.

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