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Explora Books will host a book signing with author Jess Zepeda at the 2026 Frankfurter Buchmesse, held October 7–11 at Messe Frankfurt in Hessen, Germany.
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, 1st Oct 2026 - Zepeda’s novel, The Iron Grains, begins at a graveside on Easter Sunday, when a letter dated after the artist’s death is read aloud. Fair attendees can meet Zepeda and obtain signed copies at Hall 4.2 M47 on October 8 at 1 p.m.
The book follows Julian Solbriozo, a young Mexican American painter from California’s San Joaquin Valley, in the years after the Vietnam War. Drafted into the US Army, he carries his murals onto the base, then returns to a valley shaped by the farmworker strikes. He takes work as a hospital orderly and rents a motel room beside the railroad tracks, where older neighbors, lovers, and patrons press in on him. A trip north to Oregon tests a friendship. Because the opening funeral is set in the Bicentennial year, the novel establishes from the outset that the artist’s story ends in loss, leaving the question of what he leaves behind.
The novel grounds its story in a specific sense of place and period. Grapevines, orchards, freight trains, Fort Ord, and Pacheco Pass are drawn in specific detail, and the mid-1970s comes into focus through farmworker caravans, news of Mao’s death, and Mars landers. Zepeda’s background as a painter informs his use of color and composition: in the opening scene, a cemetery resembles a chessboard, and a crowd in black and white drains the day of color. Dialogue is quick, with moments of humor.
Several themes run through the story. Julian prefers to be called Mexican rather than Mexican American, and his sense of identity is tested by the draft, the army, and the towns he passes through. Institutions, from the military to the county hospital to a landlord who forbids paintings on the walls, press against his freedom. The story also raises questions about what a nation’s ideals cost the people who live under them.
The novel may interest readers drawn to literary fiction set in California’s Central Valley, stories of the aftermath of the Vietnam era, and novels about artists who are only partly understood by their communities.
Jess Zepeda is a lifelong Californian based in San Francisco. He is an artist who formerly worked with the San Francisco Women’s Art Group and has had his paintings featured internationally. He also spent twenty-six years as a substitute teacher in California schools.
The Iron Grains explores art, identity, memory, and the social and institutional pressures surrounding Julian’s life in post-Vietnam California. The novel will be available at the Explora Books booth, Hall 4.2 M47, throughout the fair.
The Iron Grains is available through Amazon and other major online bookstores. For more information, visit jess-zepeda.com.
About Explora Books
Explora Books is a book marketing firm located in the heart of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The company specializes in self-publishing and marketing, taking pride in its exhaustive research and creative strategies that provide wider avenues for aspiring authors to gain recognition for their works. Explora Books aims to guide authors through the complexities of self-publishing, offering convenient solutions to navigate this process. The firm fosters and redefines creativity and innovation, setting new industry standards. Explora Books is dedicated to empowering authors globally.
Media Contact
Organization: Explora Books Ltd
Contact Person: Simon Pratt
Website: https://explorabooks.com/home
Email: Send Email
Contact Number: +16043306795
Address: Jameson Offices, 838 W Hastings St w, Vancouver, BC V6C 0A6, Canada
City: Vancouver
State: British Columbia
Country: Canada
Release id: 49587
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