Literature and the St. Johns: Conversation with Sarah Clarke Stuart

Join us for an intimate bookclub style conversation with local author, Sarah Clarke Stuart. Whether you’ve read the book or not, you’ll enjoy this discussion about the places and inspirations behind Stuart’s book, Song of the Unsung Mushroom, which is set along the St. Johns River. What better way to explore the St. Johns during the high heat of the summer than by immersing yourself in a book.

After a hurricane strikes a small Florida town, young Claire is never the same. Years later, her brother Gunther is still haunted by the suspicion that she was taken and replaced by something not quite human. Set in the wild landscapes of northern Florida and Western Appalachia, this eco-fiction (cli-fi) story is a lyrical, genre-blurring novel about loss, identity, and the hidden intelligence that pulses beneath our feet. Nature and technology dissolve into one, reshaping what it means to be human.

Sarah Clarke Stuart is a Professor of English at FSCJ where she teaches literature, film, composition, and emerging technologies. Stuart has published various nonfiction works, and Song of the Unsung Mushroom, her debut novel, is a coming-of-age science fiction story set in Jacksonville, Florida. She contributed for many years to First Coast Magazine and Flamingo Magazine with articles grounded in a curious appreciation for the natural landscapes and stories of the region. Both Sarah’s fiction and current research are rooted in ecological interests and a deep sense of place and physical embodiment.

You can find the book locally at San Marco Books, Happy Medium Books Cafe, and The Next Chapter. You can also find it on Amazon in multiple formats including Kindle and Audiobook, as well as any where you get your audiobooks.  AND it is now in the main collection at the Jacksonville Public Library!