“In the beginning was Elizabeth, and Elizabeth was in light, and Elizabeth was light.”
So begins SJC Long Island graduate T.E. Hahn‘s soon-to-be-published debut novel “Open My Eyes.”
The alumnus, who graduated in 2008 with an English degree with a concentration in adolescence education, returned to campus Wednesday, Oct. 9, for a book reading and an author lecture. He spoke to students about teaching, higher education and his journey to becoming a published author.
“I actually started writing this when I was a student here,” Hahn said of his work of fiction. “It started out as a short story, and then I shared it with a former mentor of mine, and he said, ‘This feels bigger.’ So I started expanding it. I left it alone for many years, then I came back to it and finally finished it up.”
Hahn explained that this book served as his thesis for his M.F.A. And while the whole thing was finished at that point, it wasn’t “polished up” just yet. So he continued tweaking it for the next couple of years while teaching.
“It’s a weird, quirky book,” he added. “I knew it wasn’t going to be, you know, a best seller. But I just got the Kirkus Review back, and it was a starred review.”
Only 10 percent of books reviewed by Kirkus get stars.
The book is available for preorder now. It is set to be published in November.
