FMS Workshop Experimental Encounters: “Accidentals” by Susan Gaines

Focusing on a mutual reading of individual science novels by the FMS writers in residence, Experimental Encounters Workshops are designed to generate an intensified cross-disciplinary dialogue and new perspectives on science in society and creative narratives. Participants include members of the FMS network of sociologists, literary and cultural studies scholars, scientists from various fields, creative writers, and invited guests.

ABOUT ACCIDENTALS

When Gabriel’s mother repatriates to her native Uruguay after thirty years in California, he takes a break from his uninspiring job to accompany her. A birdwatcher since childhood, Gabe is as intrigued by the unfamiliar birds on his squabbling family’s ranch as he is by crumbling, politics-obsessed Montevideo. But as he gets caught up in the national election, falls in love with the wrong woman, and stumbles upon a new species of bird, Gabe finds himself transformed from observer to main character in his mother’s transnational saga. A story of loss and discovery that challenges our notions of family and explores the way that science, with all its uncertainties, illuminates the natural world, Accidentals reveals the long generational shadows of political and environmental violence.