Emet North at Harvard Book Store

Harvard Book Store welcomes EMET NORTH for a discussion of their debut novel In Universes, which follows a queer physicist’s search for belonging across time and space. They will be joined in conversation by RISS M. NEILSON—author of Deep in Providence.

About In Universes

Raffi works in an observational cosmology lab, searching for dark matter and trying to hide how little they understand their own research. Every chance they get, they escape to see Britt, a queer sculptor who fascinates them for reasons they also can’t—or won’t—understand. Despite years of professors scoffing at the link between the many-words interpretation of quantum mechanics and alternative lives, Raffi can’t help but dream of a universe where they mean as much to Britt as Britt does to them. And just like that, Raffi and Britt are thirteen years old, best friends and maybe something more…

In Universes is a mind-bending tour across parallel worlds, each an answer to the question of what Raffi’s life would be like if things had happened just a little differently. Across lives Raffi—alongside their sometimes-friends, sometimes-lovers Britt, Kay, and Graham—reaches for a life that feels authentically their own.

The universes grow increasingly strange. Women fracture into hordes of animals, alien-possessed bears prowl apocalyptic landscapes. But Raffi’s divergent existences all lead back to the summer of Britt: the terrible thing Raffi did and the guilt that continues to chase them across realities.

Blending realism with science fiction, In Universes explores the thirst for genius, the fluidity of gender and identity, and the desire to lead a meaningful life. Part Ted Chiang, part Carmen Maria Machado, part Everything Everywhere All At Once, In Universes insists on the transgressive power of hope even in the darkest of times.

Praise for In Universes

"In Universes is an explosion of creative beauty and heart. Emet North is a massively talented writer arriving ready to awe." —Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, New York Times bestselling author of Chain-Gang All-Stars

“Bafflingly good. In Universes is an exhilarating, disorienting fabulist extravaganza to which we can only, and happily, submit. But it is also, secretly—and brilliantly—kind of a meta-novel about the melancholia of science fiction itself.” —Jordy Rosenberg, author of Confessions of the Fox

“Daring, brilliant, and revelatory, In Universes scatters its characters’ stories across the multiverse, showing us every one of the infinite lives we might live. It’s a miracle of physics and art, filled with wonder and grief, hope and regret, survival and romance and loss. By its end, we know: the best of all possible worlds is this one where we get to read Emet North’s writing.” —Julia Phillips, bestselling author of Disappearing Earth

Masking Policy

Masks are encouraged but not required for this event.