Author Jeff Zentner to speak on campus April 10

Jeff Zentner, award-winning author of young adult novels “The Serpent King” and “Goodbye Days” will visit Bradford next week and spend time with young people and young writers.

Zentner will give a public talk about writing at 7 p.m. April 10 in the Harriett B. Wick Chapel. Beginning at 6:30 p.m., light refreshments will be served, and visitors will have the chance to browse a student art show and to purchase Zentner's books, including his new novel, “Rayne & Delilah's Midnite Matinee,” which was published in February.

A book signing will follow Zentner's talk, which is free and open to the public.

Zentner lives in Nashville, Tenn., and came to writing first through music. An accomplished musician, he has released five albums and appeared on recordings with Iggy Pop, Nick Cave, Warren Ellis, Thurston Moore and Debbie Harry, among others.

He turned his creative talents to young adult fiction after volunteering with the Tennessee Teen Rock Camp and Southern Girls Rock Camp.

His first novel, “The Serpent King,” was published by Crown/Random House in 2016. The book about a trio of high school friends in rural Tennessee earned him impressive reviews. The New York Times wrote that he “manages to blend a dank, oppressive Flannery O'Connor-esque sense of place with humor and optimism.”

During his visit to Bradford, he will spend time with the Bradford Area Public Library Teen Book Club, students at Floyd C. Fretz Middle School and Bradford Area High School and a creative writing class at Pitt-Bradford.

The art show preceding his talk on Wednesday will feature student work from an art contest hosted by the Bradford Area Public Library with the theme “Changing Friendships,” a theme in all three of Zentner's books. BAHS student Sydney Emerson also created a video on the same theme that will be shown during that time.

Zentner's visit is sponsored by Pitt-Bradford and Hanley Library, Bradford Area Public Library, Northwest Bank and Walmart. The Pitt-Bradford Hospitality Club will prepare refreshments.

For more information on Zentner, visit www.jeffzentnerbooks.com. For disability needs related to his appearance at Wick Chapel, contact the Office of Disability Resources and Services at (814)362-7609 or clh71@pitt.edu.