Zachary Jack is an Iowa farm boy who grew up to be a writer, teacher and lover of the literary and agricultural traditions of Iowa. What he doesn’t love is the fact that most young literate Iowans are fleeing the rural areas and even the state. In an attempt to reverse the trend, Jack is hitting the road to Iowa’s small towns, where he will read from his latest novel, “What Cheer: A Love Story” and encourage his listeners to share their Iowa love stories. He will be at Prairie Light Books in Iowa City Sunday July 24 at 4 pm, and Revelations Cafe at 112 N Main in Fairfield on Wednesday July 28 at noon.
“My goal is to get out there and let others tell their love stories,” he said. “It’s not just a reading, but a discussion … I look forward to laughing with people.”
“What Cheer” is a novel about a youthful magazine columnist in Illinois who has an online encounter with a woman in Iowa while researaching an article about online dating. Jeremy is enamored with this unknown woman and her passion for tradition and things of the past, which mirrors his own, and sets out for Iowa to find her. Part mystery, part romance, the novel demonstrates that love is the greatest mystery of all.
On Writers’ Voices, Zachary discusses his connection with Iowa and how a farm-boy becomes a writer. He discusses the state’s great literary traditions and explores why non-Iowans are more likely to set romances in the state that Iowans are. He talks about writers who influenced him, and what Iowa’s imaginative place names have to say about our culture.
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