Byggdin brings debut novel to book club

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This article was published 17/02/2023 (946 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Free Press Book Club is pleased to welcome Niverville-bred, East Coast-based author K.R. Byggdin to the next virtual meeting on Monday, Feb. 27, at 7 p.m. to read from and discuss the novel Wonder World.

Wonder World is the first novel by Byggdin, who has participated in the Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia’s Alistair MacLeod Mentorship Program and the Banff Centre’s Emerging Writers Intensive, and recently completed studies in English and creative writing at Dalhousie University.

Published by Great Plains Publications in April 2022, Wonder World explores queer identity in an ultra-conservative setting. Isaac Funk, a 27-year-old queer man, is struggling financially and emotionally on the East Coast after moving there from a Mennonite town, Newfield, in rural Manitoba — which he deems “Mennoland” — owing to complicated family dynamics back home. When he learns of his Opa’s passing (and a substantial inheritance by way of his Opa’s farm, Wonder World), Isaac returns to his hometown for the first time in 10 years to pay his respects and see if anything has changed.

Isaac arrives to his father, Abe, being as distant as he always was despite their time apart. But as Isaac continues to reconnect with family and friends in town, including his aunt Deb and high school best friend Neth, his perspectives about the rural setting he once couldn’t wait to get away from begin to change.

Ultimately, Isaac must decide whether he will accept the responsibility of looking after Wonder World and stay in Newfield or sell the land and leave as he did before. And though Wonder World explores some intense and challenging topics, Byggdin loads narrator Isaac with a sharp sense of humour that never allows the story to get overwhelmingly heavy.

K.R. Byggdin will join Free Press copy editor Denise Duguay and John Toews of McNally Robinson Booksellers for the virtual book club meeting on Monday, Feb. 27 at 7 p.m. Byggdin will read from Wonder World, discuss the novel’s themes and answer questions from viewers and readers.

Copies of Wonder World are available to purchase at McNally Robinson; there is no cost to join the book club and virtual discussion, which will be available to replay after the event on the Free Press YouTube channel.

To join the Free Press Book Club and for more information on current and future book picks, visit wfp.to/bookclub.