Who: Thomas Maltman
What: an evening celebrating his new novel, Ashes to Ashes
Where: Pulpit Rock Brewing Company events room
When: Tuesday, 8/5 at 7:00pm
Minnesota author Thomas Maltman will give an author presentation and Q&A session followed by a book signing on Tuesday, August 5th at 7:00pm in the Pulpit Rock Brewing Company events room at 207 College Dr., Decorah. Everyone is invited to this free event sponsored by the Oneota Valley Literary Foundation, with support from Pulpit Rock Brewing and Dragonfly Books.
Can a wrestling prodigy, a Viking grave, and a handful of ashes hold the key to healing a broken family?
In the small prairie town of Andwhen, Minnesota, shy teen wrestling star Basil “The Brute” Thorson turns to ritual fasting and prayer after a farming accident shatters his family and mysterious Ash Wednesday ashes refuse to wash off. As Basil seeks meaning amid personal grief and his mother’s long institutionalization, he and his misfit friends discover what may be a Viking burial, igniting tensions between local lore and online extremism. With his grip on reality slipping, Basil’s search for healing becomes increasingly dangerous. Blending Norse mythology, religion, and contemporary rural life at the dawn of the pandemic, Thomas Maltman’s latest novel is a daring, empathetic exploration of loss, identity, and belief.
Thomas Maltman’s first novel, The Night Birds, won an Alex Award, a Spur Award, and the Friends of American Writers Literary Award. In 2009 the American Library Association chose The Night Birds as an “Outstanding Book for the College Bound.” Little Wolves, his second novel, was a finalist for the Minnesota Book Award and won the All Iowa Reads selection in 2014. He teaches at Normandale Community College and lives in the Twin Cities area with his wife, a Lutheran pastor, and his three daughters. His third novel, The Land, was published by Soho Press in October, 2020. In July of 2025, Soho Press will publish his fourth novel, Ashes to Ashes.
This event is part of Dragonfly Books and the Oneota Valley Literary Foundation’s robust author event series, which brings top-notch writers of all genres to Northeast Iowa to lead in conversations about literature and writing. To learn more about this event and other events with Dragonfly Books, visit www.dragonflybooks.com.
If you find that you can't make it to the event but would still like to purchase any books from this author talk, give Dragonfly Books a call at 563-382-4275. Our staff will be glad to reserve a book, have it autographed for you, and shipped out as needed.
You may also like the following events from Oneota Valley Literary Foundation:
- Next Friday, 25th July, 01:00 pm, Kathleen Ernst | A Most Perilous Journey | Reading, Q&A, and Signing! in Decorah
- Next Sunday, 27th July, 04:00 pm, Unbound: A Form-Free Writing Group featuring Tamara Dean in Decorah
- This month, 28th July, 07:00 pm, Tamara Dean in conversation with Keith Lesmeister | Shelter and Storm | Reading, Q&A, and Signing! in Decorah
Also check out other
Arts events in Decorah,
Literary Art events in Decorah,
Sports events in Decorah.
