Cornerstone Press, the student-run publishing company at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, will launch its newest book, a historical novel, on Tuesday, April 24.
The event for “Syncopation: A Memoir of Adèle Hugo” will begin at 7:30 p.m. in The Encore Room of the Dreyfus University Center. The author, Elizabeth Caulfield Felt, an associate lecturer in English at UW-Stevens Point, will give a reading and sign copies, and members of Cornerstone Press will be available for interviews. Refreshments will be served.
“I’m eager for people to read the story, and I look forward to the opportunity to discuss the book with my readers,” said Felt. “Syncopation” tells the story of Adèle Hugo, the youngest child of French poet and dramatist Victor Hugo, as she writes her memoir late in life. A composer, poet, intellectual and beauty, Adèle rebels against her father’s expectation that she play the part of a traditional 19th century wife and mother, putting her on a path to become a seductress, thief and liar.
The author spent three years writing the novel and revised it in November 2011 as part of her National Novel Writing Month project before submitting it to Cornerstone Press in January. Felt’s previously published work includes “The Stolen Goldin Violin,” a children’s novel she wrote and published with her husband, Andy, and their sons, Craig and Tom.
“Elizabeth gave us a terrific manuscript, and I think the student staff of Cornerstone Press did it justice,” said Per Henningsgaard, adviser of Cornerstone Press and a publishing industry veteran. “‘Syncopation’ is a beautiful book and a terrific read.”
Cornerstone Press is made up of students in Henningsgaard’s English 349: Editing and Publishing class. As employees, each student is required to take on a role that corresponds to an actual job at a publishing house. Students finish the class learning about all the different processes that go into publishing a book, from selecting a manuscript to selling the finished product, said Henningsgaard.
“The knowledge and experience they gain from this class will serve them well in whatever field they might enter, since virtually every employer needs an employee who understands language, editing and the most effective way to present a product to the customer so that it catches the customer’s interest,” he said.
Cornerstone Press has published 32 books. More information is available at Cornerstone Press and “cornerstoneuwsp” on Facebook.
Contacts: Per Henningsgaard, 715-346-4342, phennings@uwsp.edu
Elizabeth Caulfield Felt, 715-343-9142, elizabethcfelt@gmail.com
