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Brianna Jett in conversation with Courtney Gould
The Literary Arts Bookstore & Cafe is excited to welcome author Brianna Jett to celebrate the release of their book, Under a Carnivore Sky. Jett will be in conversation with 2026 Oregon Book Award finalist Courtney Gould.
I’m the only one left hunting the monster, the only one left with a chance of saving us all.
Raised in a town surrounded by a labyrinthian, man-eating swamp, Lili craves nothing more than to track down the monster lurking in its depths and kill it. The monster’s curse claims the flesh and bone of every adult in town, stealing them away, piece by piece. For generations, people have tried to kill it or escape the town altogether, but every path out of town leads them right back in.
Caleb, a bookish boy with dreams of freedom, is hungry to escape. He thinks that with Lili’s help and knowledge of the swamp, he can make a map to freedom. And Lili hopes that with a better sense of its territory, she might finally find and kill the monster.
Together, they chart the swamp’s shifting terrain. Sharing in the danger and the beauty of the landscape sparks a friendship between them—and then something more. However, what they discover disrupts everything Lili thought she knew about the town, her father, the monster—even herself. The truth at the root of the curse could devour them all. And Lili must decide if risking her life to be the town’s savior is worth sacrificing her own chance of escape.
Brianna Jett
Brianna Jett is a former professional journalist and recent graduate of the Vermont College of Fine Arts’ Writing for Children and Young Adults MFA program. Under a Carnivore Sky is her debut novel in verse.
Courtney Gould
Courtney Gould is the author of The Dead and the Dark, Where Echoes Die, and the forthcoming What the Woods Took. She writes books about queer girls, ghosts, and things that go bump in the night. She graduated from Pacific Lutheran University with a degree in Creative Writing and Publishing and now lives in Salem, OR, where she continues to write love letters to small towns and haunted places.
