CONWAY — Garry Craig Powell, associate professor of writing at the University of Central Arkansas, had his first book, Stoning theDevil, published last week and has scheduled several readings and book-signingsin the coming weeks.
Stoning the Devil, published by Skylight Press, is anovel-in-stories set in the United Arab Emirates. According to the press kit,Powell presents “a complex and contradictory set of Arab characters whoare a far cry from fundamentalist stereotypes. He also gives women in the(Persian) Gulf a voice — as none are completely submissive.”
The UAE setting is “a country of paradoxes, of seedinessand glamour, of desert grandeur and Disneylandvulgarity, where public executions and other barbaric customs are winked at bythe western ex-pats who run the economy.” The book follows Colin, aprofessor of literature, “not the ‘typical’ ex-pat, ignorant andinterested only in pleasure and his stock portfolio, but a speaker of Arabicand an admirer of Arab culture — or is he?”
Powell, 57, said the various stories, all of which have beenpreviously published in magazines, are designed as chapters; together they makeup a novel.
“It’s not all autobiographical,” said Powell, anEnglishman who taught in the UAE for eight years. “Certainly it wasinspired by what I saw in the Emirates. Many are based on true stories, noteverything I personally did, but human-interest stories in the news, rumors youheard.
“One was based on a student rumor. I started thinking, ‘Whatif it was true? How could that have happened?’ Some are pretty close tothe truth.”
According to the press kit, Powell presents the Gulf “asa crucible in which people of different races and religions are forging a newhumanity, in spite of the abysses between them.”
Powell started on the 150-page book in 2005. Most of the workwas done by 2009. Copies are available on Amazon.com ($15.99 or $7.99 e-book),direct from Skylight Press, or at the various book-signings Powell hasscheduled. They include:
• Sept. 15 — Hastings, Conway, 1-3 p.m., book-signing;
• Sept. 20 — UCA, Torreyson Library, 1:40 p.m.,reading and book-signing;
• Sept. 22 — That Bookstore at Blytheville, 2 p.m., reading andbook-signing;
• Sept. 26 — Something Brewing, Conway, 6 p.m.,reading, (part of Vortex literary magazine reading);
• Sept. 29 — FaulknerCounty Library, Conway, Meet the Author, 1-5 p.m.
• Nov. 1 — Faulkner County Library, Conway, 7p.m., reading and book-signing.
The book has drawn rave reviews, including this one by NaomiShihab Nye, a poet and memoirist:
“Stoning the Devil is a mesmerizing read. You will not findanother book like this one. Garry Craig Powell has an astonishing ability tocreate characters with swift and haunting power. His intricately linked storiestravel to the dark side of human behavior without losing essential tendernessor desire for meaning and connection. They are unpredictable and wild. Is thisbook upsetting? Will it make some people mad? Possibly. But you will not beable to put it down.”
Powell’s fiction has appeared in Best American MysteryStories, McSweeney’s, Nimrod, New Orleans Review and other literary magazines.He has been awarded fellowships by the Arkansas Arts Council and the WritersColony at Dairy Hollow. He teaches creative writing at UCA.
“Obviously, it’s exciting,” he said of the publication ofhis first book. “I’ve wanted to be a writer for 40 years. That’s alwaysthe way I saw myself. I’ve been publishing for eight or nine years, but it’svery satisfying to have a book, and I’m proud of it. It’s a more ambitiousfirst book than most. It gives a real portrait of Gulf society that I don’tthink any literary fiction published by Westerners has done.
“My feeling is that it’s the first really serious work ofliterary fiction covering the area from the perspective of an ex-pat.”
For more information, contact Powell at (501) 450-5110 or gpowell@uca.edu or visithis website, http://garrycraigpowell.com.
