Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Annette Gordon-Reed Rescheduled for March 4th!

The events with 2008 National Book Award-winning historian Annette Gordon-Reed have been moved forward to Wednesday, March 4, 2009 (previously scheduled for Feb. 24). Note that the locations for these events have changed as well (see below).


March 4 (Wednesday)
Seminar — 4:15 p.m., Standish Room, Science Library, Uptown Campus
Reading — 8:00 p.m., Page Hall, 135 Western Ave., Downtown Campus

Annette Gordon-Reed has been called, “one of the most astute, insightful, and forthright historians of this generation” (Edmund Morgan, New York Review of Books). A Professor of History at Rutgers and Professor of Law at New York Law School, Gordon-Reed is the author of The Hemingses of Monticello, winner of the 2008 National Book Award. The book tells the stories of multiple generations of Thomas Jefferson’s secret slave family. Her earlier works include Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: An American Controversy (1997). Writing in the New Yorker, historian and critic Jill Lepore called the earlier book, “[A] tour de force. . . . a devastating brief on standards of evidence in historical research.”

Read More......

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Updike Redux with Audio

Let us take a moment to remember John Updike, one of the Writers Institute’s first visiting authors, a writer who created extraordinary literature from the ordinary stuff of American life.

Updike delivered the Institute’s inaugural Herman Melville Lecture on the Creative Imagination on Thursday, April 25, 1985 in Page Hall on the University at Albany’s downtown campus. The title of his presentation was “Creativity and Response.”

We are delighted to feature 24-year-old audio excerpts from the Updike event here on our website:

Introduction by William Kennedy.
Updike on editors, publishers and state funding for the arts.
Updike on the relationship among writer, reader and genre.
Updike's humorous take on the creative imagination.
An excerpt from Updike's 1959 story, "The Happiest I've Been."
Updike on sin.

Read More......

Monday, February 9, 2009

Forbidden Love, Civil War, Horrible Death and Other Things Irish…. Frank Delaney Comes to Albany

Frank Delaney, veteran Irish radio and television broadcaster, is the author of the “New York Times” bestseller, “Ireland: A Novel”(2005), a fictionalized retelling of the myths and historical traditions of his native land. “Publishers Weekly” said, “A sprawling, riveting read, a book of stories melding into a novel wrapped up in an Irish history text…. The stories utterly captivate ...in this rich and satisfying book.” The “Washington Post” reviewer said, “History, legend, memory and myth come seamlessly together in Frank Delaney’s wonderfully engaging new novel….”

Set in the 1920s, Delaney’s newest novel is “Shannon” (February 10, 2009), the story of a troubled American priest who returns to the Ireland of his ancestors to heal his wounded spirit, only to be caught up in a bloody civil war. “Kirkus Reviews” called it, “A rousing tale of forbidden love, civil war, horrible death and other things Irish…. a fine adventure in storytelling. A well-crafted, satisfying work of historical fiction, as are all of Delaney’s novels; respectful of the facts while not cowed by them, and full of life.”

Frank Delaney will speak at the New York State Museum, Wednesday, February 11, 2009 at 5:30 p.m. in the Carole Huxley Auditorium. Cosponsored by the Friends of the New York State Library.

Read More......