Book Talk: ANATOMY OF A HEALER - Portraying Ancient Physicians in Fiction

ANATOMY OF A HEALER: Portraying Ancient Physicians in Fiction

January 25th, 2026

3:00pm - 4:00pm

Free, RSVP Required

(RSVP includes Museum access)

Join Kaethe Schwehn, author of the historical novel THE GOSPEL OF SALOME and Wildhouse Fiction Editor, Rebecca Johns, on January 25 at 3pm to learn about the remarkable impact of female physicians of the ancient world and how to research and write moving medics in fiction. Schwehn's book, which took over five years of research and writing, follows the story of Salome, a fictional Greek woman whose fascination with the human body propelled her to heal Roman elites and Alexandria's poorest citizens alike. Salome, who grapples with her own illness and pain while rushing to heal others during politically fraught times, represents the unwritten stories of countless women who practiced medicine in spite of seemingly insurmountable odds. Learn about how authors incorporate recorded history and deep research to develop rich and realistic works of fiction at this free author event!

Books will be available for signing and purchase.

Kaethe Schwehn is the author of The Gospel of Salome, The Rending and the Nest, Tailings: A Memoir, and Tanka & Me and the co-editor of Claiming Our Callings: Toward a New Understanding of Vocation in the Liberal Arts. She’s been the recipient of a Minnesota Book Award for Creative Nonfiction, a Minnesota State Arts Board Grant, a Loft Mentor Series Award, and the Donald Justice Poetry Prize. Schwehn studied creative writing at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and the University of Montana and earned a BA from Gustavus Adolphus College. She currently teaches composition and creative writing at St. Olaf College.

Rebecca Johns grew up in the Illinois countryside wanting to see the world. Instead, she moved to Missouri for college, then to New York City, where she worked for a time as a magazine editor for Highlights for Children and Woman’s Day magazines and a copywriter for Penguin USA. Eventually she left publishing to attend the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where she wrote her first novel, Icebergs, a PEN/Hemingway Finalist. Her second novel, The Countess, has been to more countries than she has: ten, by last count. In her spare time, she is Associate Professor of English at DePaul University in Chicago.