fbpx
  • Subscribe & Support
  • Print Edition
    • Get Home Delivery
    • Read ePaper Online
    • Newsstand Locations
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Contact
    • Advertise
    • Submit Your Event
    • Customer Support
    • Submit A News Tip
    • Send Letter to the Editor
    • Where’s My Paper?
  • Our Newsletters
  • Manage HV1 Account
  • Free HV1 Trial
Hudson Valley One
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s UP
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Subscribe to the What’s UP newsletter
  • Opinion
    • Letters
    • Columns
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Log Out
No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s UP
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Subscribe to the What’s UP newsletter
  • Opinion
    • Letters
    • Columns
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Log Out
No Result
View All Result
Hudson Valley One
No Result
View All Result

Vassar professor Sarah Kozloff unveils feminist fantasy series in Rhinebeck

by Frances Marion Platt
January 31, 2020
in Books
4
Vassar professor Sarah Kozloff unveils feminist fantasy series in Rhinebeck

Fantasy literature used to be treated as “niche” or “genre” work, even “pulp,” barely deserving consideration as “literature” at all. The same has held true in the cinematic realm. But in recent decades, that prejudice has been gradually eroded by the release of new works whose quality bears comparison to other contemporary classics, and new generations of readers and viewers have embraced the identity of fantasy geek wholeheartedly. It’s all happening just in time for the holder of an endowed chair at Vassar College, Sarah Kozloff, PhD, to make her debut as a fantasy author. She’ll be at Oblong Books in Rhinebeck on Sunday touting A Queen in Hiding, Book One of her new quartet of novels The Nine Realms. The full series is already written, and the sequels will be released, originating in paperback, on a monthly basis.

“Genre” wouldn’t be a daunting pejorative in any case to Kozloff, who cut her teeth in film production and has been at Vassar since 1988 as professor of Film History. Her scholarship focuses on American cinema, particularly on issues related to speech, narrative and ideology. Her typical courseload includes surveys of genre films such as Musicals, War Films, Romantic Comedy; cultural studies courses such as The McCarthy Era and Film; and in-depth seminars such as The Films of Alfred Hitchcock and American Women Directors.

It was in the process of teaching that American Women Directors class that it occurred to Kozloff that some of her most beloved movies, Peter Jackson’s screen adaptations of The Lord of the Rings, flunked the “Bechdel Test,” a now-standard parameter for judging whether or not a work of literature, film or TV show is sexist. The bare-bones baseline: Is there at least one scene in which two or more named female characters have a full conversation about something other than a man? Alas, Tolkien’s novels on which Jackson’s films were based also flunked the test. It was that epiphany that inspired her to begin writing an adult fantasy series of her own, putting female characters at center stage. As she told one interviewer, “My vision was: What if Aragorn had been a woman? What if a realm awaited the return of a queen?”

And so, beginning in 2017, she reduced her teaching to one semester a year to begin a new life as an author of epic fantasy. Her academic credentials probably didn’t hurt, as she has been already accepted into the Science Fiction Writers of America. Unsurprisingly, “cinematic” is one of the adjectives being employed by early readers of The Nine Realms, the first volume of which has already been released by top-tier fantasy publisher Tor Books. A Queen in Hiding will be closely followed by The Queen of Raiders in February 2020, A Broken Queen in March and The Cerulean Queen in April.

In Book One, readers meet Cérulia, Princess of Weirandale. Orphaned, exiled and hunted, she must master the magic that is her birthright, become a ruthless guerrilla fighter and transform into the queen that she is destined to be. To do it, she must win the favor of the spirits who play a role in mortal affairs, assemble an unlikely group of rebels and wrest the throne from a corrupt aristocracy whose rot has spread throughout her kingdom. Sounds like catnip to readers who love badass female characters in a medieval setting. Can a movie or TV miniseries deal be far behind?

Kozloff’s book launch event for her debut novel, A Queen in Hiding, gets underway at 4 p.m. on Sunday, January 26 at Oblong Books, located at 6422 Montgomery Street in Rhinebeck. To reserve your spot, or to order a signed copy (for $12.99), visit www.oblongbooks.com/event/book-launch-sarah-kozloff. To learn more about the Nine Realms series and the author, visit https://sarahkozloff.com.

A Queen in Hiding book launch, Sarah Kozloff, Sunday, Jan. 26, 4 p.m., Oblong Books & Music, 6422 Montgomery St., Rhinebeck; (845) 876-0500, www.oblongbooks.com/event/book-launch-sarah-kozloff.

Join the family! Grab a free month of HV1 from the folks who have brought you substantive local news since 1972. We made it 50 years thanks to support from readers like you. Help us keep real journalism alive.
- Geddy Sveikauskas, Publisher

Frances Marion Platt

Frances Marion Platt has been a feature writer (and copyeditor) for Ulster Publishing since 1994, under both her own name and the nom de plume Zhemyna Jurate. Her reporting beats include Gardiner and Rosendale, the arts and a bit of local history. In 2011 she took up Syd M’s mantle as film reviewer for Alm@nac Weekly, and she hopes to return to doing more of that as HV1 recovers from the shock of COVID-19. A Queens native, Platt moved to New Paltz in 1971 to earn a BA in English and minor in Linguistics at SUNY. Her first writing/editing gig was with the Ulster County Artist magazine. In the 1980s she was assistant editor of The Independent Film and Video Monthly for five years, attended Heartwood Owner/Builder School, designed and built a timberframe house in Gardiner. Her son Evan Pallor was born in 1995. Alternating with her journalism career, she spent many years doing development work – mainly grantwriting – for a variety of not-for-profit organizations, including six years at Scenic Hudson. She currently lives in Kingston.

Related Posts

Hudson Valley author celebrates new memoir release with several events
Books

Hudson Valley author celebrates new memoir release with several events

June 7, 2025
Floating above the flames: The Cloud Intern book launch lands in Kingston
Books

Floating above the flames: The Cloud Intern book launch lands in Kingston

May 15, 2025
Three local libraries support Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library  
Books

Three local libraries support Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library  

May 14, 2025
Poetry and photography overlap at special event in Woodstock
Books

Poetry and photography overlap at special event in Woodstock

May 2, 2025
Poets unite in Woodstock this Saturday
Books

Poets unite in Woodstock this Saturday

April 25, 2025
1970s Kingston returns at Kingston 76 book event
Books

1970s Kingston returns at Kingston 76 book event

April 11, 2025
Next Post
A roundup of local chili challenges

A roundup of local chili challenges

Please login to join discussion

Weather

Kingston, NY
82°
Fair
5:33 am8:30 pm EDT
Feels like: 90°F
Wind: 6mph S
Humidity: 74%
Pressure: 29.91"Hg
UV index: 0
ThuFriSat
93°F / 66°F
81°F / 57°F
86°F / 70°F
powered by Weather Atlas

Subscribe

Independent. Local. Substantive. Subscribe now.

  • Subscribe & Support
  • Print Edition
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Contact
  • Our Newsletters
  • Manage HV1 Account
  • Free HV1 Trial

© 2022 Ulster Publishing

No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s Happening
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Art
    • Books
    • Kids
    • Lifestyle & Wellness
    • Food & Drink
    • Music
    • Nature
    • Stage & Screen
  • Opinions
    • Letters
    • Columns
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Subscribe & Support
  • Contact Us
    • Customer Support
    • Advertise
    • Submit A News Tip
  • Print Edition
    • Read ePaper Online
    • Newsstand Locations
    • Where’s My Paper
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Manage HV1 Account
  • Log In
  • Free HV1 Trial
  • Subscribe to Our Newsletters
    • Hey Kingston
    • New Paltz Times
    • Woodstock Times
    • Week in Review

© 2022 Ulster Publishing