When and How to Jettison History in a Historical Novel

SESSION DESCRIPTION:

What makes a historical novel historical? When is a historical novel enhanced by jettisoning history? And what do these categories of genres do for us anyway? Martha Anne Toll will address these questions and more as she discusses her recently published prizewinning debut novel, Three Muses.

INSTRUCTOR BIO:

Martha Anne Toll writes fiction, essays, and book reviews, and reads anything that’s not nailed down. Her debut novel, Three Muses, won the Petrichor Prize for Finely Crafted Fiction. Toll brings a long career in social justice to her work covering writers of color and women writers. She is a book reviewer and author interviewer at NPR Books, the Washington Post, Pointe Magazine, The Millions, and elsewhere. She also publishes short fiction and essays in a wide variety of outlets. Toll has recently joined the Board of Directors of the PEN/Faulkner Foundation.