Author Christopher Merrill reads at Cornell

MOUNT VERNON — Christopher Merrill, director of the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa, will read from his work at Cornell College on Thursday, Oct. 6, at 7 p.m. in Hedges Conference Room of The Commons. Admission is free.

Merrill’s nonfiction works include his most recent, “Things of the Hidden God: Journey to the Holy Mountain,” as well as “Only the Nails Remain: Scenes from the Balkan Wars.” His collections of poetry include “Brilliant Water” and “Watch Fire.”

In “Things of the Hidden God,” Merrill describes the transformative pilgrimages he made to sacred Mount Athos in Greece to visit the ancient monasteries. The book is called a personal tale of Merrill’s quest to overcome despair and aimlessness after covering the Balkan wars of the 1990s.

“Merrill’s great strengths as a writer have always been his ability to braid the past, present and future; his lightheartedness; and his willingness to digest those books the rest of us may never read and give the reader the gift of their essential wisdom,” said a Los Angeles Times review. “In his new book, Merrill, ever God’s fool, also gives us something of himself, of his own wisdom and transformation.”

Merrill earned the 2005 Kostas Kyriazis Award, Greece’s most prestigious journalism honor, for “Things of the Hidden God” as well as the body of his journalistic work. Named after the late owner and founder of Greece’s oldest daily newspaper, Ethnos, the award recognizes organizations and individuals that promote human values. Merrill is only the third American to receive the honor, joining Thomas Friedman and Kati Marton.

Merrill’s visit to Cornell is part of the Visiting Writer Series sponsored by Cornell’s English department.