Professor Kaplan-Maxfield gives a reading of murder mystery; scavenger hunt included.

Last night, students of Professor Thomas Kaplan-Maxfield were given a great treat: readings from several of his novels. While known among his students for his excellent wit and analysis of an assortment of writings, Kaplan-Maxfield impressed all who attended with excerpts from his own literary works. Writing an assortment of genres, the literature professor both read portions of his work, and explained some of the ideas behind his topic choices.

Students and colleagues flocked in great numbers to listen to Kaplan-Maxfield’s talk.
“I was really overwhelmed and touched with everybody coming, so that was sweet and thoughtful,” the author said of the evening. “I thought it was very exciting. I thought it went really well. It had drama. It had education.”

The first story is titled Hide and Seek. The piece is a murder mystery, taken from the point of view of the murder himself. The second writing is called Memoirs of a Shapeshifter. This story is an enchanted adventure, as a young woman discovers her ancestry to be one of Celtic Druids and magic.

The novel brought about a fantastic idea by Kaplan-Maxfield: bring the story to life. Using ideas, artifacts and characters from his novel, the author created a scavenger hunt to bring his Boston College students into a more in-depth reading of his book.

The clues will be given on his website and reading the book will be essential in completing the list of tasks. Kaplan-Maxfield was even so gracious enough as to help his students with the first clue on the list. The major draw behind the scavenger hunt, beyond reading an excellent fantasy novel, is the $2,000 prize to whoever solves the riddles first.

Kaplan-Maxfield ended the night with a reading from his current work-in-progress. The story can be described as a mix between Harry Potter and The Da Vinci Code, with a splash of the Heights. The story chronicles BC students on a quest to find the Holy Grail, hidden somewhere on campus.

Despite having so much talent, Kaplan-Maxfield wanted to use this event as an opportunity to push other authors and artists around campus.

“It’s good to have those kinds of evenings I think,” Kaplan-Maxfield said of the importance of events like this. “I think it’s important to look at what is the value of not just my talk but rather the point of view of all of you. I would say that, if the people who were there loved it, they should tell everybody else to go see their professors or take advantage of all the arts performances and things like that on campus, because they’re all just as amazing in their own ways. There’s an incredible amount, I’m not one of them, of real talent on campus here.  So people should get out and see it.”

The evening was a fun event for all, and a great opportunity for everyone to expand their literary realm. Thanks should be given to Professor Kaplan-Maxfield, and all should make an effort to check out his work!

—Chris Marino / Heights Editor