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ODU COURIER SEPTEMBER 25, 1998, Page 1

John McPhee and Robert Pinsky head lineup of visiting writers for 21st annual Literary Festival, Oct. 6-9
Best-selling nonfiction writer John McPhee and U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky will be just two of a dozen nationally known authors, poets and writers at Old Dominion's 21st Annual Literary Festival, "Electric Voice: Coming of Age," Oct. 6-9. During the festival, which is free and open to the public, the writers will read from their works, talk about their life experiences and participate in panel discussions.		assistant professor of English and director of the festival. "When Walt Whitman wrote 'I sing the body electric,' I believe he was testifying to this and to the truth that the human voice and the syllables that make its meanings are sweet embodiments of the current that sustains our humanity," Seibles said. A prolific author with more than 20 books to his credit, McPhee has been a staff writer with the New Yorker since 1965 and teaches writing at Princeton University.
The title of the festival, " Electric Voice: Coming of Age," refers to the electric current that is constantly moving in each of us, invisibly charg-ing the body, according to Tim Seibles,	MCPHEE	PINSKY	He received the Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1977. His latest book is "Irons in the Fire" (1997). McPhee will speak at 8 p.m. (See Page 5)

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Friday, Oct. 8, in Chandler Recital Hall of the Diehn Center.

Pinsky became the U.S. Poet Laureate in fall 1997. The author of five books of poetry, includ-ing "The Figured Wheel: New and Collected Poems 1966 - 1996," he recently propelled Dante onto the best-seller lists with his acclaimed 1994 verse translation of "The Inferno."

He currently teaches in the Graduate Writing Program at Boston University and is a regular contributor to "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer," reading poems linked to news events. His book "History of My Heart" won the William Carlos Williams Prize and "The Figured Wheel" was nominated for the Pulitzer.

Also participating in the festival will be poet Scott Cairns, associate professor of English at Old Dominion, and writer Michael Pearson, director of the Creative Writing Program.

Tuesday, October 6
*2 p.m. - Tony Grooms, fiction, poetry; H/NN Room, Webb Center.
*3:30 p.m. -Jane Bernstein, nonfiction; H/NN Room, Webb Center.
* 8 p.m. Robert Pinsky, U.S. Poet Laureate; Chandler Recital Hall, Diehn Center.

Wednesday, October 7
* 10 a.m. Jacqueline Woodson, fiction; Chandler Recital Hall, Diehn Center.

*2 p.m. Jack Myers, poetry; River Rooms, Webb Center.
*3:30 p.m. Jack Myers and Jacqueline Woodson panel discussion, "Saying What You Mean: The Art of Honesty"; River Rooms, Webb Center.
* 8 p.m. Nicole Brossard, poetry, fiction, non-fiction; Chandler Recital Hall, Diehn Center.

Thursday, October 8
* 10 a.m. Scott Cairns, poetry; H/NN Room, Webb Center.
* 2 p.m. - Tony Hoagland, poetry; H/NN Room, Webb Center.
* 3:30 p.m. Li-Young Lee and Maria Luisa Carino panel discussion, "A New Dialogue: Asian and Asian-American Writers in America"; H-NN Room, Webb Center.
* 8 p.m. Li-Young Lee, poetry; Chandler Recital Hall, Diehn Center.

Friday, October 9
* 10 a.m. - Tony Hoagland, Sena Naslund and Michael Pearson panel discussion, "Whom Do You Believe? Three Genres, Three Takes?"; Chandler Recital Hall, Diehn Center.
*2 p.m. - Sena Naslund, fiction; Chandler Recital Hall, Diehn Center.
*3:30 p.m. Maria Luisa Carino, poetry, non-fiction; Chandler Recital Hall, Diehn Center.
* 8 p.m. John McPhee, nonfiction; Chandler Recital Hall, Diehn Center.

*The Literary Festival isfunded in part by a grant from the Noifolk Commission on the Arts and Humanities and by the Dr. Forrest P. White Endowment, made possible by a generous gift from Mrs. Edie White.