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Pulitzer Winner Chabon to Open Literary Circle Season

 

NEWS RELEASE
September 17, 2003

Photo: High resolution digital format available upon request.

For further information contact:
Judy Hoffman, 847/353-7137

 

The Library Community Foundation's eighth Literary Circle season has engaged five of our most lauded contemporary writers. The line-up includes winners of the Pulitzer Prize, American Book Award, Coretta Scott King Award, Pen/Faulkner Award, as well as an acclaimed novelist who spent a year on the New York Times Bestseller list.

The series begins on Monday, October 13 with Michael Chabon, whose third novel, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay won the 2001 Pulitzer Prize and numerous other awards. The acclaimed film Wonder Boys was an adaptation of his 1995 novel. A long-standing comic book enthusiast, Chabon collaborated on the screenplay for Spider-man II. His most recent published work, Summerland, is a children's book in the fantasy genre.

On November 17, Literary Circle patrons will be treated to a duet event, featuring best-selling husband-and-wife novelists Alice Sebold (Lovely Bones) and Glen David Gold (Carter Beats the Devil). These highly praised authors will discuss their writing lives together and apart. Sebold's Bones spent 53 weeks on the New York Times Bestseller List, and Gold's Devil is climbing the charts and is a current favorite of book discussion groups.

Denise Chavez, winner of the American Book Award for Face of an Angel appears on January 29. Chavez considers herself a "performance writer," influenced by the bilingual backdrop of Southern New Mexico and a childhood filled with the oral tradition of storytelling. She will discuss the power and joy of telling our family stories with the written word.

The season will wrap up on March 31 with Walter Dean Myers, an icon in young adult literature. Myers is a five-time recipient of the Coretta Scott King Award, a Newbery Honoree, and the winner of the first Michael L. Printz Award. He has published 68 books, and it has been estimated that he has published more "pages" that any other African-American writer. Myers' recent award-winning books include Monster and Slam! He will discuss the special art of writing for young adults.

On-air personalities from radio sponsor Chicago Public Radio/WBEZ will emcee all four events. This year's hosts will be Peter Sagal, host of Wait Wait…Don't Tell Me; News Correspondent Jason DeRose; Chicago Worldview host Jerome McDonnell, and Gretchen Helfrich, host of Odyssey. In addition to WBEZ, the underwriters for the series are Chicago Tribune, Barnes & Noble, and Illinois Arts Council.

All programs start at 7:30 p.m. and will be held at Glenbrook South High School, 4000 West Lake Avenue, Glenview, Illinois.

A series ticket for all four lectures can be purchased for $95 for general admission and $165 for patron tickets. Patron tickets offer preferred seating, and include an invitation to post-lecture receptions with the authors. Individual tickets are also now available. General admission - $25 each/Students $15; Patron tickets - $48 each. Literary Circle is a fundraising event of the Library Community Foundation, headquartered in Wheeling, Illinois. A portion of ticket purchases may be tax-deductible.

For more group ticket information or for regular ticket purchases, contact Anne Johnson at (847) 353-7143. An order form and additional information is available on the Foundation Web site at www.literarycircle.org .

Library Community Foundation seeks philanthropic support for library programs benefiting members of the North Suburban Library System, other Illinois libraries, and their patrons. The North Suburban Library System is an organization of over 650 academic, public, school and special libraries in the north and northwest Chicago suburbs. It is one of 12 library systems in Illinois, funded through the Illinois State Library, a division of the Office of the Secretary of State, Jesse White.