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Connections
A smiling man with short dark hair wearing a blue button-down shirt and a grey blazer. He is holding a pair of eyeglasses. The word "Connections" appears on the left side of the photo in vertical letters.
Connections

Kafka Prize winner

By Evan Dawson,
Elissa Orlando, Julie Williams
Published September 19, 2025 at 4:05 PM EDT
Four people sit at a table in a radio talk studio: a guest front left has short blonde hair and is wearing glasses, a button-down shirt covered in pictures of oranges, black pants, red socks and black shoes; a man front right has short dark hair and is wearing glasses, a grey button-down shirt, jeans and sneakers and holding a book with an orange cover; a man back left has short brown hair and a grey beard and is wearing a light blue polo shirt and holding up a book with an orange cover; a guest back right has long dark hair and is wearing a denim jacket and holding a book with an orange cover.
Mary Hussong-Kallen
/
WXXI News
(foreground) Claire Oshetsky, (background) Chad W. Post and Taylor Thomas with host Evan Dawson on "Connections with Evan Dawson" on Friday, September 19, 2025
A smiling man with short dark hair wearing a blue button-down shirt and a grey blazer. He is holding a pair of eyeglasses. The word "Connections" appears on the left side of the photo in vertical letters.
WXXI News

How do we engage with our guilt and grief?

Author Claire Oshetsky explores these themes in Poor Deer, a novel that tells the story of a young girl whose best friend died mysteriously. The girl is growing up through the struggle of denial, sadness, confusion -- and eventually, a kind of confrontation with truth.

It's a wildly inventive story that is both unique and relatable, and it earned Oshetsky the 2025 Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize from the University of Rochester. Oshetsky is visiting Rochester this week and is one of our guests.

In studio:

Connections
Evan Dawson
Evan Dawson is the host of "Connections with Evan Dawson." He joined WXXI in January 2014 after working at 13WHAM-TV, where he served as morning news anchor. He was hired as a reporter for 13WHAM-TV in 2003 before being promoted to anchor in 2007.
See stories by Evan Dawson
Elissa Orlando
Elissa Orlando is a producer for “Connections with Evan Dawson.” She returns part-time to WXXI News after stepping back from a long career in public media and in translational science.
See stories by Elissa Orlando
Julie Williams
Julie Williams is an associate producer for "Connections with Evan Dawson." She started at WXXI in 2019 and has been working on Connections since 2022.
See stories by Julie Williams