Author Visits SFU for Father Bede Memorial Reading

Author Kim van Alkemade was the keynote speaker at the annual Fr. Bede Hines Memorial Reading on April 15.

Alkemade explained the inspiration behind her historical fiction novel Orphan #8, sharing her grandfather and great grandmother’s story.

The story focuses on a woman who is struggling between mercy and revenge after facing a doctor who performed dangerous medical experiments on her in a New York City Jewish orphanage. The experiments left her scarred.

Alkemade read from her novel, using different vocal inflections to distinguish between characters.

Father Bede Hines was an admired professor of English and track and field coach at Saint Francis for more than four decades. The lecture series pays homage to his memory.

A question and answer session followed the reading during which the writing process was discussed.

A native of New York City, Alkemade teaches writing at Shippensburg University.