The PEN/Faulkner Foundation announced the 33rd season of its reading series. This series will offer seven public readings with noted American and international writers at the Folger Shakespeare Library and other venues throughout Washington. These events provide audiences with the unique opportunity to hear literature read by its authors and to participate in question and answer sessions with the writers, followed by a reception, book sale and signing.
All readings begin at 7:30 pm and are followed by a reception, book sale, and signing. Unless otherwise noted, all readings cost $15 and take place at the Folger Shakespeare Library, located at 201 East Capitol Street, SE, in Washington, DC.
To purchase tickets and for more information about PEN/Faulkner series, visit http://www.penfaulkner.org/reading-series/.
To subscribe to the entire series at the Folger Shakespeare Library, see the following link: http://www.folger.edu/pen.cfm.
The 2012/2013 PEN/Faulkner Reading Series
Monday, September 24, 2012 @ 7:30 pm
Young and Bright and Lost: An Evening with Jeffrey Eugenides
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jeffrey Eugenides reads from his acclaimed, recent novel The Marriage Plot. His first novel, The Virgin Suicides, was published by FSG to great acclaim in 1993. In 2003, Eugenides received the Pulitzer Prize for his novel Middlesex, which was also a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, and France’s Prix Médicis. The Marriage Plot is his third novel.
Monday, November 12, 2012 @ 7:30 pm
Free Radicals: Lauren Groff & Robert Stone
Two acclaimed writers discuss the complicated promise of utopian ideals and read from their latest works. Lauren Groff’s new novel, Arcadia, has been described by Richard Russo as, “richly peopled and ambitious and oh, so lovely.” Her first novel, The Monsters of Templeton, was a New York Times and BookSense bestseller, and was shortlisted for the Orange Prize for New Writers. She is also the author of a collection of stories, Delicate Edible Birds. Robert Stone is the author of seven novels: A Hall of Mirrors, the National Book Award winning Dog Soldiers, A Flag for Sunrise, Children of Light, Outerbridge Reach, Damascus Gate, and Bay of Souls. He has two story collections, Bear and His Daughter, which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, and his most recent work, Fun With Problems, as well as a memoir, Prime Green.
Friday, December 7, 2011 @ 7:30 pm
The PEN/Malamud Award Reading
Recipient: James Salter
The PEN/Malamud Award Reading, established by Bernard Malamud’s family, honors excellence in the art of the short story. James Salter is the 2012 recipient. He is the author of The Hunters, The Arm of Flesh, Solo Faces, Light Years, Dusk and Other Stories, and a memoir, Burning the Days.
Wednesday, February 6, 2013 @ 7:30 pm
Modern Americana: Chad Harbach & Karen Russell
This evening features the fresh voices of two first-time novelists. Chad Harbach’s first novel, The Art of Fielding, was published in 2011 and, according to The New York Times, marked, “the debut of an immensely talented writer.” Harbach grew up in Wisconsin and was educated at Harvard and the University of Virginia. He is a cofounder and coeditor of n+1. Karen Russell, a native of Miami, has been featured on The New Yorker’s 20 Under 40 list, in The New Yorker’s debut fiction issue, and was chosen as one of Granta’s Best Young American Novelists. In 2009, she received the 5 Under 35 award from the National Book Foundation. Her first novel is Swamplandia!, and three of her short stories have been selected for the Best American Short Stories volumes.
Monday, February 25, 2013 @ 7:30 pm
Power, Corruption, & Lies: William Kennedy & Thomas Mallon
Two veteran writers explore the politics of place, personality and history. William Kennedy screenwriter and playwright, was born and raised in Albany, New York and brought his native city to literary life in many of his works, including the Albany cycle: Legs, Billy Phelan’s Greatest Game, and the Pulitzer Prize winning Ironweed. Kennedy is a professor in the English department at the State University of New York at Albany. Thomas Mallon is the author of eight novels, including Henry and Clara, Dewey Defeats Truman, and Fellow Travelers, and seven works of nonfiction. He is a frequent contributor to The New Yorker and The New York Times Book Review. He lives in Washington, D.C.
Thursday, March 28, 2013 @ 7:30 pm
Living History: Geraldine Brooks, Julie Otsuka, and Dolen Perkins-Valdez
Three acclaimed writers discuss the art of reclaiming female voices from the threat of historical silence. Australian-born Geraldine Brooks is an author and journalist. She was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in fiction in 2006 for her novel March, and her bestselling novels include, Year of Wonders, People of the Book, and Caleb’s Crossing. She has worked as a reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Wall Street Journal, and is also the author of the nonfiction works Nine Parts of Desire and Foreign Correspondence. Julie Otsuka was the winner of the 2012 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction for her second novel, The Buddha in the Attic. Her first novel, When the Emperor Was Divine, was a San Francisco Chronicle Best Book of the Year and a NY Times Notable Book. She has been a recipient of the Asian American Literary Award, the American Library Association Alex Award, and a Guggenheim Fellowship. Dolen Perkins-Valdez’s first novel is Wench, which the Seattle Times calls, “a mesmerizing read.” Her fiction and essays have appeared in StoryQuarterly, Robert Olen Butler Prize Stories 2009, and The Kenyon Review, among others. Born and raised in Memphis, a graduate of Harvard, and a former University of California postdoctoral fellow, Perkins-Valdez lives in Washington, D.C.
Saturday, April 20, 2013 @ 7:30 pm
Learning to Breathe: An Evening With Terry McMillan
Alternate Location: Sixth & I Historic Synagogue, 600 I Street NW, Washington, DC 20001
Terry McMillan fell in love with books as a teenager while working at the local library. She studied journalism at U.C. Berkeley and screenwriting at Columbia before making her fiction debut with Mama, which won both the Doubleday New Voices in Fiction Award and the American Book Award. She is also the author of best-selling novels Disappearing Acts, Waiting to Exhale, How Stella Got Her Groove Back, A Day Late and a Dollar Short, and The Interruption of Everything. She has been recognized with an N.A.A.C.P. Image Award and the Essence Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in Literature.
Saturday, May 4, 2013 @ 7:00 pm
33rd Annual PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction Ceremony
This celebration of literary excellence features readings by the Finalists and Winner with presentations by the judges Walter Kirn, Nelly Rosario, and A.J. Verdelle. A full, seated dinner will follow the ceremony. Tickets: $125.
