Jolene McIlwain of Kittanning, whose “Sidle Creek” was among NPR’s Books of the Year in 2023 and named in the list of Library Journal Best Books of 2023, will read from her debut collection of 22 short stories at Butler County Community College’s Northern Appalachia Reading Series event April 11 in the Heaton Family Learning Commons.

McIlwain said the collection of short stories take place in a fictional landscape in Western Pennsylvania, “and look into the internal worlds of the men and women who are mostly working-class” while exploring stereotypes and themes such as grief and connection.

The fifth annual Northern Appalachia Reading Series event will also feature the return of poet Angel Rosen, a Worthington resident and 2014 BC3 graduate.

The event will begin at 6 p.m. with an open-mic session for community members and BC3 students, followed by readings from McIlwain and Rosen, a question-and-answer session, sales and signings of their books and light refreshments.

“One of the most important things that we try to do with the reading series is to bring in voices from our region, the northern Appalachia region, that maybe people may not have heard before,” said Mike Dittman, a professor in BC3’s liberal arts division and an author.