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Poster for “Between Two Covers” featuring the UNO Writers Workshop.

Faculty from UNO Writer’s Workshop host “Between Two Covers,” a segment exploring the power of the written word.

Headshot of Gabriel Escalera

By Gabriel Escalera

Between Two Covers: Jonathan Lethem’s Stories Bend Genre and Truth

October 15th, 2025

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In his new collection A Different Kind of Tension: New and Selected Stories, Jonathan Lethem once again reminds us why he’s considered one of America’s most inventive storytellers. The bestselling novelist and MacArthur “Genius” Grant recipient gathers a mix of speculative, absurd, and deeply human tales that stretch the limits of genre and language itself.

Lethem, known for Motherless Brooklyn and The Fortress of Solitude, writes with a sharp awareness of how words shape the world around us. His characters navigate landscapes that are as philosophical as they are emotional—moving through stories that question identity, power, and perception.

“The Narrowing Valley,” for example, places readers in a 1976 Winnebago but unfolds into a meditation on empathy, perspective, and the traces of colonialism. Across the collection, Lethem’s sentences crackle with precision and humor, making the book feel both retrospective and forward-looking—a writer reflecting on his legacy while still pushing the boundaries of form.

Lethem will visit Omaha for a free public reading on Wednesday, November 5, in the Milo Bail Student Center Ballroom, as part of the UNO Writer’s Workshop Reading Series.

This is one event readers and writers alike won’t want to miss.

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