Reading Groups

Contemporary International Fiction from New Directions with Morley Musick and Sam Dembling

Clear

3 sessions Tuesdays, 6:30 pm EDT - 8:00 pm EDT October 21 to December 16, 2025

Online via Zoom

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The ‘With Books’ option includes the titles required for this group at an additional 10% discount from our Bookstore.

Meeting Dates:
10/21, 11/18, 12/16
Online via Zoom

This course will survey books from three of the most exciting voices in contemporary literature—Eka Kurniawan from Indonesia, Jenny Erpenbeck from Germany, and Fernanda Melchor from Mexico—curated by one of the great publishers of literature in translation: New Directions. Through an appreciation of these titles, we will not only grapple with some of the most pressing issues in world politics and literature, but also consider some of the things that make this publishing house so unique, what lends its oeuvre form.

Kurniawan’s Beauty is a Wound is a sweeping, “gleefully grotesque” novel that takes into its sights the histories of Dutch colonialism, the fight for independence, and the brutal Suharto regime. Erpenbeck’s Kairos tells the story of a love affair begun in East Berlin in the 1980s against the backdrop of the falling German Democratic Republic, a tale both intimate and epic. It is the winner of the 2024 International Booker Prize. Melchor’s Hurricane Season is a mesmeric, polyphonic account of the murder of a “witch” and its consequences for a small town in Veracruz, which The New York Times recently placed on its list of “100 Best Books of the 21st Century.”

What to read in advance of the first meeting: Please read Beauty is a Wound by Eka Kurniawan in its entirety.

What to expect from this reading group: Participants should expect the course to be primarily discussion based with instructor guidance on historical and literary contexts, and suggested topics for conversation.

Reading List:

Beauty is a Wound by Eka Kurniawan
Hurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor
Kairos by Jenny Erpenbeck

Please note: All virtual classes are recorded. Please click here for information about our recording policy.

Led by

Morley Musick

Morley Musick

Morley Musick is the editor in chief of Mouse magazine and writes a city life column for N+1.
Sam Dembling

Sam Dembling

Sam Dembling is a musician and editor in Brooklyn.

About this series

Reading Groups

Whether you’re looking to catch up on great novels or you’re interested in exploring a new writer or literary period, our reading groups offer high-level literary discussion led by experts in the field.

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