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Join us on Friday, April 25 at 6:30 pm to dive deep into cult culture with author Nicole Cuffy as she discusses her new novel O Sinners! with local author Hailey Piper. Following the experiences of a young, grieving journalist who investigates an enigmatic cult leader, this novel draws the reader in to explore what it really means to belong to something greater. After the discussion, Nicole will answer questions and sign books. Copies of O Sinners! will be available for purchase at the event.This is free, public event will be hosted in partnership with Give Rise Studio at their location, 125 S Carroll St #101, Frederick, MD 21701. For accessibility requests, email [email protected] at least two (2) weeks prior to the event.
About the book: Faruq Zaidi, a young journalist reeling from the recent death of his father, a devout Muslim, takes the opportunity to embed in a cult called The Nameless. Based in the California redwoods and shepherded by an enigmatic Vietnam War veteran named Odo, The Nameless adhere to the 18 Utterances, including teachings such as “all suffering is distortion,” and “see only beauty.” Faruq, skeptical but committed to unraveling the mystery of The Nameless, extends his stay over months, as he gets deeper into the cult's inner workings and compassionate teachings. But as he gets closer to Odo, Faruq himself begins to unravel, forced to come to terms with the memories he has been running from while trying to resist Odo's spell.
Told in three seamlessly interwoven threads between Faruq’s present-day investigation, Odo’s time before the formation of the movement as a an infantryman during the Vietnam War alongside three other Black soldiers, and a documentary script that recounts The Nameless’s clash with a Texas fundamentalist church, O Sinners! examines both longing and belonging. Ultimately the novel asks: What is it that we seek from the people we admire and, inevitably, from each other?
About the author: Nicole Cuffy is the author of Dances, longlisted for the Carol Shields prize for fiction and the Pen/Hemingway award. Cuffy has a MFA from The New School. She is a lecturer at the University of Maryland and American University. Her work can be found in Mason’s Road, The Master’s Review Volume VI (curated by Roxane Gay), Chautauqua, and Blue Mesa Review, and her chapbook, _Atlas of the Bod_y, won the Chautauqua Janus Prize and was a finalist for the Black River Chapbook Competition. She is based in D.C.
About the moderator: Hailey Piper is the Bram Stoker Award–winning author of Queen of Teeth, A Light Most Hateful, The Worm and His Kings series, and other books of dark fiction. She is also the author of over 100 short stories appearing in Weird Tales, Pseudopod, Cosmic Horror Monthly, Cast of Wonders, and various other publications. Her nonfiction appears in Writer’s Digest, Library Journal, CrimeReads, and elsewhere. She lives with her wife in Maryland, where their occult rituals are secret. Find Hailey at HaileyPiper.com.
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Give Rise Studio, 125 South Carroll Street, 101,Frederick, Maryland, United States
