'Godflower,' a Novella by Alumnus Kevin Magruder '15 Published by Outpost 19

Godflower, a novella by alumnus Kevin Magruder ’15 will debut with the literary press Outpost 19, which specializes in short story publication. The book is scheduled for release on March 4, 2020.

Godflower is a love story set in the near future. According to Outpost 19, “Acton and his fiancé, Diane, a couple already marked by their differences — one's wealthy, one's not — must now enter a new era of high-tech inequities and human extremes.”

In a comment to the university, Magruder states, “The title Godflower is in reference to the advent of a powerful anti-aging (or ‘immortality’) drug in the story. In a different version of the book, I imagine that the term might even have been used as street-slang for the drug.”

When asked about the book, Magruder said, “When I started writing this story, I was in the MFA program at Columbia, having recently survived the 2008 economic crisis[...]For me, the book is about that feeling of slowly realizing you’re being left behind, and by forces that are far more powerful than you previously suspected.”

Professor Ben Marcus blurbed Godflower, calling it "a tense and timely love story from the near future that probes the disastrous gulf between class and technology, leaving no illusion about the endless treachery and amorality of the powerful. Kevin Magruder is an exciting young novelist, with talent and vision to spare." You can read an excerpt of the novella here.

Magruder has taught writing at Columbia University in New York City, where he earned an MFA in 2015. His short stories have appeared in Mary, Blunderbuss, and California Prose Directory 2016. He currently lives and works in San Francisco.