Gil King, graduate of Niskayuna High School, returned to his hometown on Monday to talk with high school students. King, who visited the Writers Institute in September 2013, received the 2013 Pulitzer Prize in nonfiction for Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, The Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America, an elegantly written account of the future Supreme Court Justice’s role in defending four black men falsely accused of raping a white woman in Florida in 1949.
Bill Buell of the Schenectady Gazette reports:
[King] was thrilled that so many students seemed interested and excited by their interaction with a Pulitzer Prize winner.He conceded a similar situation probably wouldn’t have interested him when he was in high school.
“Yeah, I would have checked out mentally of something like this back then,” he said. “But everybody seemed to be paying attention and that was nice. They asked a lot of questions, and some were very passionate and I love that. I was shocked. I can’t believe how much time I let pass in high school without paying attention to anything.”
More in the Gazette: http://www.dailygazette.com/news/2014/mar/04/0304_king/
More about King's visit: http://www.albany.edu/writers-inst/webpages4/archives/king_gilbert13.html
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
Pulitzer Winner Gil King Returns to Niskayuna High
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Gil King, Finalist for 2013 Dayton Literary Peace Prize
Gilbert King, who visits us tomorrow to discuss his 2013 Pulitzer-winning book, Devil in the Grove, which was just named a runner-up for the 2013 Dayton Literary Peace Prize.
More about King's visit: http://www.albany.edu/writers-inst/webpages4/programpages/vws.html#king
About the prize: The Dayton Literary Peace Prize, inaugurated in 2006, is
the first and only annual U.S. literary award recognizing the power of the
written word to promote peace. The Dayton Literary Peace Prize invites
nominations in adult fiction and nonfiction books published within the past year
that have led readers to a better understanding of other cultures, peoples,
religions, and political points of view. Both awards carry a $10,000 cash prize.
More: http://www.daytonliterarypeaceprize.org/
The 2013 winners include Adam Johnson (fiction) for The Orphan Master's Son, which he presented at the Writers Institute in 2012: http://www.albany.edu/writers-inst/webpages4/archives/johnson_adam12.html
Also among the finalists is Louise Erdrich, who visited us back in 1987.
Monday, September 23, 2013
Gilbert King in the Times Union
"The black women of the town would make him bag lunches to bring to court. The black men would stay up and guard him while he slept. Long before becoming a U.S. Supreme Court justice, Thurgood Marshall was a charismatic and courageous criminal defense attorney. He believed that the best way to fight Jim Crow laws in the South was to go into the region's courtrooms, despite continuous death threats, to represent falsely accused black defendants."
Elizabeth Floyd Mair of the Times Union profiles and interviews Gilbert King, who visits the Writers Institute this coming Thursday, about his Pulitzer-winning book on an early battle in the legal career of a young Thurgood Marshall, Devil in the Grove.
More in the TU: http://www.timesunion.com/living/article/Chronicling-a-fight-for-justice-4829393.php
Picture: Thurgood Marshall in 1936 at the beginning of his career with the NAACP.
More about our events with Gil King: http://www.albany.edu/writers-inst/webpages4/archives/king_gilbert13.html
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
"Celebrate & Advance" at UAlbany
UAlbany will host a weeklong celebration-- "Celebrate & Advance," featuring a variety of arts, sports and cultural events, and culminating in the inauguration of new University President Robert J. Jones.
More info and a full schedule of events here: http://www.albany.edu/inauguration/
In conjunction with these events, the Writers Institute will sponsor appearances by Pulitzer Prize winning author Gilbert King on September 26: http://www.albany.edu/writers-inst/webpages4/programpages/vws.html
Inauguration Week is an opportunity to celebrate the University at Albany’s honored past while advancing our future. In the week leading up to the Installation Ceremony, departments from across campus will host special events that will highlight and demonstrate our notable strengths in research and scholarship, vibrant academic and campus life, diversity that enriches learning, and community engagement.