CLEVELAND — Laura Maylene Walter, a Clevelander and accomplished writer, has authored her debut novel "Body of Stars" and is scheduled to take part in a forum with the Cleveland Public Library later this month.
Walter's novel is set in an alternate world but explores the patriarchal society seen in our own world that "clings to old ways and classifies women according to their bodies."
The Clevelander has written plenty in her life, writing for Poets & Writers, Kenyon Review, The Sun, Ninth Letter, The Masters Review and others. She currently works as a writer/editor for the Cleveland Public Library and is the editor in chief of Gordon Square Review. "Body of Stars" is Walter's first novel.
"This tension was on my mind as I began writing "Body of Stars." From the moment I conceived of a world where the future is foretold through the markings on women’s skin, I understood that control and power would serve as the heart of the novel’s conflict. If this fictional world were as patriarchal as the one I’d grown up in, then the ability to predict the future would be both a curse and a gift, which is how I felt about my body—that it made me feel both empowered and exposed," Walter wrote about her debut novel.
To learn more about "Body of Stars," click here.
Walter will join Clevelander Marie Vibbert, author of "Galactic Hellcats," in a virtual forum on the Cleveland Public Library's Facebook page on Thursday, April 22 at 7:30 p.m.
During the forum, Walter and Vibbert will discuss their debut novels, breakdown their writing processes and offer advice to prospective writers.
To learn more about the forum, click here.
