‘Submersed’ Author To Speak At W&L
Washington and Lee University will present a public reading with author Matthew Gavin Frank at 6 p.m. this Thursday, Oct. 2, in Northen Auditorium inside Leyburn Library.
Frank’s reading is sponsored by the Glasgow End owment. Frank will read from his new book “Submersed: Wonder, Obsession, and Murder in the World of Amateur Submarines,” followed by a time for questionand- answer session.
“Submersed” explores the world of deep-sea divers and the obsession and madness that oceans inspire in us, primarily through the lens of submarine inventor Peter Madsen’s murder of journalist Kim Wall. The book traces the origins of the “human compulsion to sink to depth,” and the deeper Frank dives, the more threatening and dark extremes he uncovers.
“Matt’s work is such an interesting blend of research, history, true crime and memoir,” said Beth Staples, assistant professor of English at W&L. “His books offer so much to the creative nonfiction genre, and he’s a fascinating speaker. I think anyone interested in writing or reading in the nonfiction spectrum — from personal essays to journalism — will enjoy hearing about his work and his process.”
Frank’s previous book, “Flight of the Diamond Smugglers,” was selected as one of NPR’s Best Books of 2021 and as a finalist for the 2021 Heartland Booksellers Award in Nonfiction. He is also the author of the nonfiction books “The Mad Feast: An Ecstatic Tour Through America’s Food” (2015), “Preparing the Ghost: An Essay Concerning the Giant Squid and Its First Photographer” (2014), “Pot Farm” (2012) and “Barolo” (2010), as well as several poetry collections. His work has appeared widely in journals and magazines, including the Kenyon Review, the Paris Review and Guernica, and as selections in travel writing, food writing and American essays anthologies.
Frank spent 17 years in the restaurant industry and is currently a professor of creative writing in the Master of Fine Arts Program at Northern Michigan University, where he is also the nonfiction/ hybrids editor of the literary magazine Passages North.
