Southern novelist Gwyn Hyman Rubio, whose first novel was selected for Oprah’s Book Club in 2001, is scheduled to visit the Fayette County Public Library on Thursday, Nov. 9 at 11 a.m. She will speak about her writing, answer questions from the audience, and sign copies of her latest book.

Now a resident of Versailles, Kentucky, Gwyn Hyman Rubio was born in Macon, Ga., and grew up in the small south Georgia town of Cordele. Her father, Mac Hyman, was a writer himself and published the bestseller “No Time for Sergeants” in 1954 when he was only 31 years old. It was turned into a popular play and film, starring Andy Griffith. Rubio’s youth was spent frantically running from her father’s vocation—seeking any other occupation—because she felt the stress of writing had precipitated his early death of a heart attack at the age of 39. Destiny could not be denied, however, and in 1986 she graduated from the MFA Program for creative writing at Warren Wilson College in North Carolina and dedicated herself completely to writing.

Gwyn Hyman Rubio’s first novel, “Icy Sparks,” was hailed as “vivid and unforgettable” (The New York Times Book Review), “a combination of fire and ice that will take your breath away” (Atlanta Journal-Constitution). “Icy Sparks” was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year and an Oprah Book Club selection. More than one million copies of “Icy Sparks” have been sold. Rubio’s second novel, “The Woodsman’s Daughter,” recently released in paperback, is a Southern gothic epic set amid the swaying pines, humble shantytowns, and insular bustle of small-town south Georgia in the years following the Civil War. “The Woodsman’s Daughter” was chosen as one of The Ten Best Books of 2005 by the Louisville Courier Journal, and was the finalist for the Kentucky Literary Award for Excellence in Fiction.

After speaking, Rubio will sign copies of “The Woodsman’s Daughter,” which will be available for sale. Light refreshments will be served. This free event is open to the public, and brought to you by the Fayette County Public Library and the Friends of the Fayette County Public Library.

The Fayette County Public Library is located at 1821 Heritage Park Way in Fayetteville, behind the county administrative complex at the corner of highways 85 and 54. For more information, please contact the library at 770-461-8841.

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