The Signal

How a strange love story took shape

‘The Shape of Water’ co-author Daniel Kraus to speak at The MAIN

- By Skylar Barti Signal Staff Writer

The author of the novel tie-in to this year’s Oscar winner for “Best Picture,” “The Shape of Water,” will be coming to Santa Clarita.

The free event called “Straight from the Oscars: Daniel Kraus,” will be hosted by the Santa Clarita Public Library and the city of Santa Clarita.

Kraus will be speaking at The MAIN about his collaborat­ion with Guillermo del Toro, the genesis of the story, the feature film, horror books, the Oscars and more.

“The Shape of Water” is an original adult novel that mirrors and extends the story told by the feature film—which won the award for “Best Picture” at the 2018 Academy Awards.

Based on an original idea by del Toro and Kraus, “The Shape of Water” tells the story of a mute woman and a sea monster and the love that develops between them. Del Toro and Kraus designed the story from the ground up as a two-tiered release, one story told by two artists in two independen­t mediums of film and literature, according to a city of Santa Clarita news release.

The two had previously worked together on the young adult novel “Trollhunte­rs,” which was adapted into a Netflix series. It was during a meeting about the series that the two began to develop the idea that became “The Shape of Water.”

Kraus has previously won two Odyssey Awards and landed on Entertainm­ent Weekly’s Top 10 Books of the Year. His novels have been Library Guild selections, Bram Stoker finalists and more. Kraus is currently living in Chicago where he is completing “The Living Dead,” a zombie novel left unfinished by George A. Romero.

The event will take place on March 12 at 7:30 p.m. at The MAIN in Newhall. For additional informatio­n about the author event, contact Senior Librarian Karen Cruze at kcruze@santaclari­talibrary.com or call The MAIN at 661-290-2255.

 ?? Signal file photo ?? Daniel Kraus, co-author of “The Shape of Water,” will be speaking at The MAIN in Newhall on March 12 at 7:30 p.m.
Signal file photo Daniel Kraus, co-author of “The Shape of Water,” will be speaking at The MAIN in Newhall on March 12 at 7:30 p.m.
 ?? Photo courtesy of Fox Searchligh­t Pictures ?? In this behind-the-scenes photo of “The Shape of Water,” Oscar winner for “Best Picture,” a camera closes in on actress Sally Hawkins and the sea creature. The film also garnered the Oscar for “Production Design,” and “Directing.” Daniel Kraus, the...
Photo courtesy of Fox Searchligh­t Pictures In this behind-the-scenes photo of “The Shape of Water,” Oscar winner for “Best Picture,” a camera closes in on actress Sally Hawkins and the sea creature. The film also garnered the Oscar for “Production Design,” and “Directing.” Daniel Kraus, the...
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