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POPULAR LITERARY FESTIVAL FEATURES RENOWNED
WRITERS
4/27/99
Contact: Jean Cunningham, (740) 593-4181
Attention
editors: At the
end
of this release is a list of photos of authors that can be
downloaded from the Web.
ATHENS,
Ohio -- Ohio University's 14th annual Spring Literary
Festival in May features five nationally renowned authors
who are among the most respected writers in their genres of
poetry, fiction and essay.
Pulitzer
Prize-winning author Richard Ford, fiction writer Ann
Beattie, poets Mark Strand and Anne Carson and essayist
Vivian Gornick will present lectures and public readings of
their works during the festival May 12 through 14. The
presentations, which are free and open to the public, will
take place at 194 Irvine Auditorium on the Athens
campus.
"We like
to feature a variety of writers whose work is well
respected," said Jean Cunningham, coordinator of the
literary festival, which is sponsored by the Creative
Writing Program in the Department
of English.
"That's what attracts literature fans from across the
country to Athens."
Assistant
Professor of English Mark Halliday, who served on the
committee that selected the writers, believes this year's
festival represents a rare chance for literature fans to see
their favorite authors read from their own work and talk
about their experiences writing.
"It's
quite unusual to get this kind of mix of well-known writers
at a literary festival," Halliday said. "The fact that
they're here for three days gives people more of a chance to
get to know them during readings, lectures and
question-and-answer periods."
Ford is
renowned for "Independence Day," a novel about a male
character struggling to connect spiritually and emotionally
with his life. In 1996, the novel became the first to win
both the Pulitzer Prize and the Pen/Faulkner Award. Ford's
other works include the novels "A Piece of My Heart,"
"Wildlife" and "The Ultimate Good Luck." His latest work,
"Women with Men," is a collection of stories.
Beattie,
known as one of the most prolific writers of her generation,
published "Distortions," a full-length collection of short
stories, and her first novel, "Chilly Scenes of Winter,"
before the age of 30. Since then, she has published six
novels and six collections of stories, including "Park City:
New and Selected Stories."
Strand is
the author of eight books of poetry, including his most
recent collection of poems "Blizzard of One." His other
works include "Dark Harbor," "The Late Hours," "Reasons for
Moving" and "The Continuous Life," for which he was the
co-recipient of the 1992 Bobbitt National Prize for Poetry.
He teaches at the University of Chicago.
Gornick,
an essayist, journalist and memoirist, is the author of
several books, including "Approaching Eye Level," "Fierce
Attachments" and most recently "The End of the Novel of
Love," a collection of 12 critical essays on love themes. A
faculty member at Pennsylvania State University, her work
appears frequently in The Nation, The Village Voice and The
Women's Review of Books.
The myths
and legends of ancient Greece are a source of inspiration
for poet Carson, who is the author of the novel
"Autobiography of Red: A Novel in Verse," a contemporary
interpretation of a Greek myth. Her other works include
"Eros the Bittersweet," "Glass, Irony and God" and
"Plainwater." Carson directs the graduate studies program in
classics at McGill University in Montreal.
The
festival begins May 12 in Irvine Auditorium with readings by
Carson at 7:30 p.m. and Ford at 8:30 p.m. On May 13,lectures
will be presented by Strand at noon, Ford at 1 p.m. and
Beattie at 7:30 p.m., and Gornick will read from her work at
8:30 p.m. On May 14, lectures will be presented by Carson at
noon and Gornick at 1 p.m., and readings will be given by
Beattie at 7:30 p.m. and Strand at 8:30 p.m. Books by the
visiting writers will be for sale in the Irvine Auditorium
lobby throughout the event.
Here
are photos of four of the authors that can be downloaded
from the Web:
- Richard
Ford: www.ohiou.edu/news/pix/Ford2.jpg
- Anne
Beattie: www.ohiou.edu/news/pix/Beattie.jpg
- Mark
Strand: www.ohiou.edu/news/pix/Strand.jpg
- Vivian
Gornick: www.ohio.edu/news/pix/Gornick2.jpg
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