Courtney Floyd: Higher Magic

Join local author Courtney Floyd to discuss her debut fantasy novel, Higher Magic. Attend in person in the Mayer Room or register here for the Zoom invitation Higher Magic is an incisive, irreverent, and whimsical cozy dark academia novel for fans of Heather Fawcett’s Emily Wilde series and R.F. Kuang’s Babel, a struggling mage student with intense anxiety must prove that classic literature contained magic—and learn to wield her own stories to change her institution for the better. Courtney Floyd grew up in New Mexico, where she learned to write between tarantula turf wars and apocalyptic dust storms. She currently lives at the bottom of a haunted mountain in the woods of Vermont with her partner and pets. Her debut fantasy novel, Higher Magic, was published by MIRA Books in October 2025. Courtney has a PhD in British Lit and a penchant for irreverent literary allusions. Her short fiction and poetry can be found in publications including Haven Spec, Small Wonders, and Fireside Magazine, and her cozy horror audio drama, The Way We Haunt Now, is available on all major podcast platforms. Find her online at courtney-floyd.com.