Exciting news this month for the DePaul English community: MAWP alumna Jessica Chiarella‘s debut novel, And Again, was published last week by Simon & Schuster. Chiarella is a native of Vernon Hills, IL and is currently in the creative writing MFA program at the University of California, Riverside.

The Chicago Tribune published an article last week in which Printers Row reporter Jeremy Mikula mentions that the first draft of the novel was written for Prof. Johns Trissler’s novel-writing class.

And Again explores the lives of four terminally ill medical patients who undergo an experimental medical procedure that erases their former ailments and illnesses. Check out the Kirkus Review of the novel here.

The DePaul Visiting Writers Series welcomes Chiarella for a reading at the Richardson Library next week. The event will take place Tuesday, January 26 at 6pm in Richardson 150.