Omnivoracious Guest Q&A: Colum McCann Interviews Vanessa Manko

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By Neal Thomson

Colum McCann’s contributions to the world of literature go beyond his lyrical, award-winning novels (most recently TransAtlantic). The guy is a ceaseless champ for the written word, whether it’s promoting global storytelling via the Narrative4 collective he cofounded or nurturing students at Hunter College’s MFA Creative Writing Program.

One of those students, Vanessa Manko, has written a debut novel, The Invention of Exile, based partly on her family’s history. Exile (on sale August 14) tells the story of a goodhearted Russian immigrant who’s unfairly deported to Russian, then flees to Mexico where he’s stranded and separated from his wife and kids. Our thanks to Colum for this intimate Q&A with his former student.

Read the full Q&A here!