An Evening with Orenda Fink and Timothy Schaffert

The Bookworm is proud to present Orenda Fink for an event to celebrate her forthcoming memoir, The Witch's Daugther; presented at Slowdown. She will be joined in conversation by Timothy Schaffert, author of The Titanic Survivors Book Club and The Perfume Thief.

Acclaimed indie musician and songwriter Orenda Fink delivers a lyrical and moving memoir of a tumultuous childhood with a mother who battled mental illness and addiction.

Event Details:

• Each admission includes one (1) copy of The Witch's Daugther and admission for two (2) people. Fink will sign copies for event attendees after the presentation. You will be asked to select a companion ticket and provide their name at check-out if you intend to admit two (2) people.

• The event will begin at 7 pm, and doors at Slowdown will open at 6 pm.

• This is a paperless-ticket event and seating is general admission. At the time of purchase you will be required to include the name and address for each admission & companion purchased. To gain admission to the event, each attendee must present their photo ID at check-in and your ID(s) must match the name(s) of the admission(s) purchased.

• All admissions/books are final purchase, non-transferable and non-refundable. A processing fee of $5.38 per admission applies.

About the Author:

Orenda Fink is a musician, songwriter, performer, and writer whose work has been profiled in by NPR, Pitchfork, and more. She has been writing, recording, and touring for critically acclaimed records since 1997. Orenda got her start in Birmingham, Alabama, with the pop rock group Little Red Rocket. In 2000, she formed the lauded ethereal folk duo Azure Ray with longtime friend Maria Taylor in Athens, Georgia. Azure Ray has cowritten with Moby and collaborated with Bright Eyes, Sparklehorse, and the Faint, among many others, with their music regularly featured in film and television programs. She is originally from Alabama, and now resides in California’s Mojave Desert with her husband, Todd Fink of The Faint, and their dog, Grimm.

About the Book:

From her perch on a kitchen stool each night, Orenda Fink’s darkly charismatic mother spins family lore and tells tales of the supernatural powers she wields, insisting that both she and Orenda are magic. By day, Orenda’s childhood is marked by instability and uncertainty. Her family moves from town to town, chasing a fresh start whenever the money runs out. Orenda’s mother insists that she is a witch, and magic is their means of protection from the world outside of their family. Orenda encounters her mother’s magic in all its forms: a crisp $20 bill materializes from nothing when money has run out and a bottle of congealed blood lurks in the closet for unspoken reasons.

When her mother’s substance abuse and controlling behavior crescendo, Orenda escapes to pursue a music career in Birmingham, Alabama, and then storied Athens, Georgia, forming bands Little Red Rocket and Azure Ray. She orbits the family home, always drawn back by her mother’s dark powers and her own need to solve the mystery of whether that claim of magic—or any magic—is real, or merely an expression of mental illness.

Finally seeking refuge in California’s high desert, Orenda works to knit together her divided worlds with the help of a Jungian psychotherapist. She is stunned to learn that her mother fits many of the criteria associated with borderline personality disorder, including a sub-type identified by famed thought leader Christine Ann Lawson, known as “The Witch”—an aggressive, dominating figure who operates by fear-driven control, sometimes claiming to wield magic.

Told in spellbinding prose, this memoir of music, self-discovery, and compassion is for anyone who has had to conjure a safe place to call home.

About Timothy Schaffert:

Timothy Schaffert is the author of six previous novels: The Perfume Thief, The Swan Gondola, The Coffins of Little Hope, Devils in the Sugar Shop, The Singing and Dancing Daughters of God, and The Phantom Limbs of the Rollow Sisters. He is the Adele Hall Chair of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and coeditor of Zero Street, a literary fiction series of the University of Nebraska Press.

Accesibility: If you have questions or would like support with specific access needs please contact us at info@bookwormomaha.com or 402-392-2877 at least three days prior to your visit and we will do our best to help you attend comfortably.

Please note: This event follows wishes and guidelines set up directly by the publisher and the author. The Bookworm or Slowdown are not responsible for changes made by the author or publisher prior to or during the event.