Sunday, November 2, 2008

Nov 8 2008 - International Writing Program's Falkner reads from new novel

Brian Falkner, the New Zealand author who is in residence this fall in the University of Iowa International Writing Program ( IWP ), will read from and discuss his new novel, "The Tomorrow Code," in a free event at 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 8, in the Prairie Lights bookstore at 15 S. Dubuque St. in downtown Iowa City. "The Tomorrow Code" was released internationally on Oct. 28.

Falkner's main characters, teenagers Tane and Rebecca, aren't sure what to make of a message they receive -- a sequence of 1s and 0s. Working to decode it, however, they conclude that the message contains lottery numbers -- numbers that win the next random draw.

Suddenly they are rich, but who sent the numbers? And why? More messages follow, and slowly it becomes clear: The messages are being sent back in time from Tane and Rebecca's future. Something there has gone horribly wrong, and it's up to them to prevent it from happening. As they follow the messages' cryptic instructions, they begin to suspect the worst -- the very survival of the human race may be at stake.

Falkner's first book, "Henry and the Flea" ( "The Flea Thing" in later release outside New Zealand ), was nominated for the Esther Glen Medal and listed as a notable book by the Children's Literature Foundation of New Zealand. Since then he has published two more highly successful books for young readers, "The Real Thing" and "The Super Freak."

Read a recent UI feature about Falkner at http://www.news-releases.uiowa.edu/2008/september/091708falkner-iwp.html, and visit his Web site at http://www.brianfalkner.com.

The Web site for "The Tomorrow Code" is http://www.tomorrowcode.com/.

Biographies of the writers in residence this fall at the IWP are accessible at http://iwp.uiowa.edu/writers/index.html.

For UI arts information and calendar updates, visit http://www.uiowa.edu/artsiowa.

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