Alumna Jana Zinser to Host Reading and Q&A at Graceland

DES MOINES- Author and Graceland University graduate Jana Zinser ’80 will host a live reading of her latest novel, inspired by her experiences growing up in Lamoni, at her alma mater Nov. 13.

Fly Like A Bird, Zinser’s second novel, tells the coming-of-age story of Ivy, a young girl growing up in a small southern Iowa town during the 1970s, where everyone knows everything about their quirky neighbors. After discovering that her family and neighbors are keeping secrets from her about the night a tragic car crash killed her parents, Ivy attempts to untangle the truth about what really happened and escape the town that lied to her about the true fate of her mother.

Zinser’s live reading will take place on the main floor of the Frederick Madison Smith Library at Graceland University, 1 University Place, at 1 p.m., Nov. 13. She will also host a question-and-answer session after the reading, and copies of her novel, Fly Like A Bird, will be available for her to sign.

“I wrote Fly Like A Bird while looking at life through a different lens,” Zinser said, who now makes her home in Colorado. “To me, the Lamoni community was like my family, and my novel is a homage to other small Iowa towns that provide the same sense of comfort and security.”

Zinser is versed in television, features and books, with a background in politics, public policy and the media. Her other work includes “The Children’s Train: Escape on the Kindertransport,” a period piece about Nazi Germany for which she received multiple literary awards.