Justin Campbell, a 2009 Biola alumni, will share an excerpt of his novel at Alumni Reader’s Night in celebration of his receival of the 2013 Hurston/Wright Award. The Center for Christianity, Culture and the Arts and the English department are jointly hosting the event in the Giumarra Library Courtyard on Nov. 7 at 7 p.m. Other alumni, including Amy Cannon, Michael Liaw and English professor Taylor Holbrook will join Campbell and share their writing as well.

ALUMNI TO SHARE BOOK EXCERPT 

Biola has invited Campbell to share his excerpt in celebration of his award.

“I feel honored. I’m blown away by them even wanting to celebrate me this way,” said Campbell.

Campbell won because of his novel excerpt called “Sitting on the Knees of Gods.” His novel is about a young African-American jazz musician from Birmingham, Ala. who moves to Harlem. It describes the culture shock that he experiences and the differences that come along with being an African American in the new place. Campbell got the inspiration for his story from a story that his grandfather had told him when they went on a road trip together to the South.

CAMPBELL AWARDED FOR EXCELLENCE IN FICTION

The award was established honor excellence in fiction writing by students of African descent who have the best unpublished short story or novel excerpt, according to the Hurston/Wright Foundation website.

Campbell taught in the English department at Biola for one year but now attends Loyola Marymount University. He said that he hopes to continue on to get his MFA or Ph.D. after obtaining his masters.

“This will be my way of giving back to all the people who invested a lot in me and representing them,” Campbell said.

Biola alumni and English professor Taylor Holbrook will read her short story, “The Golden Age.” This story deals with the longing and desire for a Bohemian fantasy and the inevitable failure of that longing, by focusing on the idealism of an artistic lifestyle. The story is inspired by people Holbrook met who grabbed onto the idea of being an artist or writer in Paris and the work they did to get there.

Holbrook said she is very excited to share her work and passion for writing with the Biola community. She hopes to inspire Biola students to to keep striving to achieve their goals by showing how she did, Holbrook said.

“It feels nice to show that your work can become more that what you do for classes. Creative and intellectual work doesn’t need to end after you get your degree,” Holbrook said.