HANCOCK — At 6 p.m. Thursday, author Stephanie Carpenter will read excerpts from her novel “Moral Treatment, at the Copper Country Community Arts Center in Hancock. Carpenter will also discuss her inspirations and the research process for the book.

The winner of the inaugural Summit Series Prize from Central Michigan University Press, “Moral Treatment” is set in 1889-90 at a psychiatric hospital modeled after the former Northern Michigan Asylum in Stephanie’s hometown of Traverse City. In alternating sections, the novel tells the stories of the hospital’s aging medical superintendent and of a newly-admitted seventeen-year-old woman, Amy Underwood. Diagnosed with “pubescent insanity,” Amy is initially overwhelmed by life at the hospital, but she gradually forms friendships there (and antagonisms). The novel unfolds across the course of a year, as the characters navigate a space that’s intended to heal yet often causes harm.

Carpenter is also the author of “Missing Persons: Stories,” which won the 2017 Press 53 Award in Short Fiction. Her work has been published in literary journals including Copper Nickel, Ecotone, The Missouri Review, Big Fiction, Crab Orchard Review, and Witness. She’s an assistant professor of creative writing at Michigan Technological University.

This program is free and open to the public. The Copper Country Community Arts Center is located at 126 Quincy Street in Hancock. Visit www.coppercountryarts.com for more information.