The Central Valley has a rich literary tradition spanning generations. From Saroyan to Levine to Arax – journalists, poets, novelists and essayists have all found great inspiration in the valley’s soil, its people and the elements - good and bad - that make the region unique. The connection often extends even after a writer leaves the valley – as is the case with acclaimed novelist Steve Yarbrough.
Around a decade ago, Yarbrough left his teaching position with Fresno State’s creative writing program to take a job at Emerson University in Boston. However, the San Joaquin Valley hasn’t left him. His new novelThe Unmade World is set in part in Fresno, as well as in Poland and the Hudson Valley. It explores how lives from dramatically different places converge and intertwine amid the tumult of global events.