On March 11, Wild Geese Bookshop hosted an author event at the Historic Arcraft Theatre: Markus Zusak with Eric Jenkins.
Wild Geese Bookshop provided Franklin Community High School with free tickets for students. Each ticket included a 20th Anniversary edition of Zusak’s international bestselling title, The Book Thief.
The sold-out 600-attendee event featured a conversation between Zusak and Mr. Jenkins, where they discussed Zusak’s writing processes, writer’s block, dad lore, The Book Thief, Teachers, his growth, and his most recent book, Three Wild Dogs (and the Truth).
Zusak spent considerable time recounting the Brazilian publishing deal for The Book Thief, where he declined a deal with Brazil’s premier publishing company in favor of a small publisher. The Book Thief would go on to become number 2 and then number 1 in Brazil. This resulted in flying in a helicopter with the then First Lady of Brazil. Zusak recalled this story as a pivotal reflective moment in his life, reconciling flying around The Redeemer with the kid from the suburbs of Sydney, Australia.
Mr. Jenkins also coaxed out Zusak’s views on the power of fiction. He stated how his characters aren’t based on real people because the characters are real themselves. He tied this to education and how it is important to continue teaching novels in the classroom.
Zusak summarized this, “Fiction teaches empathy.”