Paul Harding’s 2023 novel is This Other Eden, based on the true story of a multiracial community that took refuge from intolerance on an island off the coast of Maine from 1792 to 1912. The novel presents the lives and experiences of a formerly enslaved Black man and his Irish wife, and multiple generations of their descendants and fellow islanders.

Shortlisted for the 2023 Booker Prize, This Other Eden was also a finalist for the 2023 National Book Award for Fiction, and an NPR 2023 "Books We Love" Pick.

A former student at the NYS Summer Writers Institute at Skidmore, Harding received the Pulitzer Prize for his 2009 first novel, Tinkers. and his most recent visit was in April 2018.

The event moderator is NYS Writers Institute Assistant Director Mark Koplik.