Old Dominion University News

SUSAN SONTAG TO SPEAK TONIGHT AS PART OF LITERARY FESTIVAL

Author and director Susan Sontag will speak at 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 3, as part of Old Dominion University's 25th annual Literary Festival, "The Creative Moment." The lecture, which is free and open to the public, will be held in North and Center Cafeterias of Webb University Center. It is also part of the President's Lecture Series.

Sontag is one of America's best-known and most admired writers. Among her books, which are translated in 28 languages, are four novels: "The Benefactor," "Death Kit," "The Volcano Lover" and "In America," which won the 2000 National Book Award for Fiction.

She also has published a collection of short stories, "I, etcetera"; several plays, including "Alice in Bed"; and five books of essays. Among the collections of essays are "On Photography," which won the National Book Critics Circle Award for criticism, "Illness as Metaphor," and most recently, "Where the Stress Falls."

Sontag has written and directed four feature-length films, and also has directed plays in the United States and Europe, most recently a production of Beckett's "Waiting for Godot" in besieged Sarajevo. From 1990 to 1995, she held a fellowship from the MacArthur Foundation, and she was awarded the 2001 Jerusalem Prize for her work.

The Literary Festival runs through Saturday, Oct. 5 and includes an impressive array of award-winning writers, as well as visual and performing artists whose works will meld with literature to create a true artistic collaboration befitting the festival's silver anniversary.

All presentations are free and open to the public.

For more information on the festival, visit www.lib.odu.edu/litfest or call 683-3991.

The remaining schedule is as follows:

Thursday, Oct. 3
11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. – "Re-Reading the Literary Festival," readings by four former festival directors, Evelina Galang, William B. Patrick, Peggy Shumaker and Wayne Ude. 102 Godwin Building
2-3:30 p.m. – "Forging the Individual Mind: A Reading by Mark Doty," featuring the award-winning poet, memoirist and teacher. 102 Godwin Building
8-9:30 p.m. – The President's Lecture Series featuring Susan Sontag

Friday, Oct. 4
11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. – "Given that the Painter is a Poet, the Poet is a Painter…," with poets Mark Doty and W.D. Snodgrass and painter Donald Roller Wilson, whose works are on display at Old Dominion's University Gallery, addressing the relationship between poetry and painting. Moderated by Linda McGreevy. 102 Godwin Building
2-3:30 p.m. – "Reinventing Nature: A Panel," with award-winning writers Barbara Hurd, Robert Richardson and Marjorie Sandor discussing nature writing. Moderated by Tom Robotham, editor of Port Folio Weekly. 102 Godwin Building
8-9:30 p.m. – "Virginia Deep in the Bones," with Virginia poets Ellen Bryant, R.H.W. Dillard, George Garrett and Henry Taylor. Chandler Recital Hall, Diehn Center

Saturday, Oct. 5
5-7 p.m. – "God Is Near," a reception with artist Donald Roller Wilson, the Texas painter whose works are in the collections of Jack Nicholson and Elizabeth Taylor, as well as the Contemporary Arts Museum in Houston and the Smithsonian Institution. University Gallery, 350 W. 21st St., Norfolk
8-9:30 p.m. – "A Final Celebration: A Reading by Stephen Dunn," 2001 Pulitzer Prize winner for "Different Hours," a collection of poems. Chandler Recital Hall, Diehn Center


This article was posted on: October 2, 2002

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