Writers Who Read LIVE!: Martyr! - Kaveh Akbar

January's hybrid meeting--IN PERSON at the Boulder Library Main Branch second floor Flatirons Meeting Room & ONLINE (see link when you register)--is Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar (USA, 2024) on Sunday starting at 2:30 pm (for 2 hours).

Poet Cyrus Shams is surrounded by death. His uncle was an angel of death during the Iran-Iraq war. His mother was shot out of the sky by the US Navy. His father Ali brought him to America, replacing one harsh reality with another, which drove Cyrus to drugs and despair. What constitutes a meaningful death? And do art and history hold the answer?

We are Writers Who Read. We use Literary Forensics to dissect a recent novel (published within the past 18 months) with the goal of uncovering how the author has utilized their skills for effect. Storytelling is an art, but it's not a mystery. Every writer must address the following:

• Structure, Timeline, Pacing, Suspense, Omission
• Point of View, including Voice, Character, Place
• Language, Tense, Imagery, Metaphor, Symbols
• Motivation: Making a story pop - generating a thrill
• Why this story? And why now? Industry considerations

We ask that all attendees read the entire book in advance of the meeting, and come bearing their discoveries of how the author has addressed each of the five points above.

More information about other Writers Who Read meetings and our WwR Podcast can be found at: https://WritersWhoRead.com