‘Ordinary Wonder’ author continues Visiting Writers Series April 11

Northwest Missouri State University’s 2022-23 Visiting Writers Series continues this month with fiction writer Buki Papillon.

The event begins at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 11, in the J.W. Jones Student Union Living Room. It is free and open to the public.

Papillon is the author of “An Ordinary Wonder,” her first novel, about a Nigerian boy’s secret intersex identity and his desire to live as a girl. The book earned the 2022 Maya Angelou Book Award from the Kansas City Public Library as well as a Fiction Honors Award during the 22nd Annual Massachusetts Book Awards. It also was a finalist for the Ferro-Grumley Literary Award for LGBTQ Fiction.

Papillon’s literary work has been published in the Post Road Magazine, Aunt Chloe and The Del Sol Review. She is an alumna of the Key West Literary, Vermont Studio Center, Fine Arts Work Center, and Vona Voices residencies and workshops. To learn more about Papillon, visit www.bukipapillon.com.

The Visiting Writers Series is designed to enrich Northwest’s educational mission while promoting the values of community, civil discourse and self-expression. Kawasaki Motors Manufacturing Corporation, Green Tower Press and the Department of Language, Literature and Writing sponsor the series.

The 2022-23 series concludes Thursday, April 20, with readings by Lisa Fishman, Jordan Dunn and Richard Meier.

For more information about the Visiting Writers Series, contact Daniel Biegelson, the series director and a senior instructor of English, at dbiegel@nwmissouri.edu or 666.562.1266.