Novelist Cormac James launches The Surfacing

In Cormac James’ The Surfacing, his first novel to be published in the US, a lieutenant on an Arctic expedition endangered by hardening sea ice that threatens his ship’s integrity, finds the courage to lead after discovering that a stowaway is pregnant with his child.

Colum McCann, author of Let the Great World Spin and Transatlantic, says the “great topic of Cormac James’ The Surfacing is the reach of human possibility. The prose is calm, vivid, hypnotic, and acutely piercing. . . . This is a book about fatherhood and all its attendant terrors. James recognizes the surfacing of love in the face of solitude. It’s a remarkable achievement, a stylish novel, full of music and quiet control.”

Cormac James (née Cormac McCarthy) was born in Cork, Ireland. He received his MA in creative writing from the University of East Anglia and lives in Montpellier, France, with his wife and son. The Surfacing is his second novel.

Part of the 2015 PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature NYU Mini-Festival.

PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature, New York City 2015.For its 11th anniversary, us for a wide range of events, including debates, one-on-one conversations, participatory workshops and performances in venues throughout the city. www.worldvoicesfestival.org.