Smart Bets: Laura Esther Wolfson

Posted on by Edwin Arnaudin

Winner of the 2017 Iowa Prize for Literary Nonfiction, Laura Esther Wolfson’s For Single Mothers Working As Train Conductors weaves together memoir, travel writing and essay into a cohesive work. In the collection, the Russian translator hops from Paris to upstate New York to the Republic of Georgia to the United Nations, covering such topics as divorce, boring jobs, battling degenerative lung disease and understanding Judaism. There’s also the titular essay, which chronicles Wolfson donating contraceptives to a woman in the Soviet Union. She’ll present her latest publication in conversation with Asheville’s own Elizabeth Kostova (The Swan Thieves; The Shadow Land) at Malaprop’s on Tuesday, Feb. 12, at 6 p.m. The event was originally slated for last December. Free to attend. malaprops.com. Author photo courtesy of Wolfson

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About Edwin Arnaudin
Edwin Arnaudin is a staff writer for Mountain Xpress. He also reviews films for ashevillemovies.com and is a member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association (SEFCA) and North Carolina Film Critics Association (NCFCA). Follow me @EdwinArnaudin
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