2011 JAMES AND MARY OSWALD
DISTINGUISHED WRITERS SERIES
Department of English – University of South Carolina Aiken
Percival Everett
&
Thursday, March 17, 2011, 8 p.m.
Main Stage, Etherredge Center
The Washington Post has called Percival
Everett “one of the most adventurously
experimental of modern American novelists.” To date, he has written 22 books, including 17
novels, 3 short story collections, and 2 volumes of poetry. Some critics have called Everett’s
fiction “genre-ambidextrous” because of its sheer variety in both subject matter and form,
including his retelling of Greek myth (For Her Dark Skin, 1990), his exploring the limits of
absurdist narrative (American Desert, 2004) and his reinventing the Western (God’s Country,
1994 and Wounded, 2005).
Everett grew up in Columbia, but for years, he has made California his home. He is
currently a Distinguished Professor of English at the “Other USC,” the University of
Southern California in Los Angeles.
Sue Monk Kidd
With the 2002 publication of her first novel The Secret Life
of Bees, Sue Monk Kidd took up residence on the best seller lists. Although she had already carved for herself an enviable reputation
as a memoirist with such books as When the Heart Waits (1990) and
The Dance of the Dissident Daughter (1996), her venture into fiction
firmly established her literary credentials. Following the success of
The Secret Life of Bees, which is now widely taught in high school
and college classrooms, Kidd published The Mermaid Chair (2005)
and Traveling with Pomegranates (2009), a dual memoir with her
daughter Ann Kidd Taylor.
A Georgia native, Kidd currently lives beside a salt marsh near Charleston; the city serves
as the backdrop of her next book, a historical novel set in the nineteenth century.
Sue Monk Kidd and Percival Everett will share the stage to read from and talk about
their latest work. This event is free and open to the public, but seating is reserved. Tickets can be obtained by
visiting the Etherredge Center Box Office (limit of two per person; no phone reservations).
Both authors will be signing copies of their books in the lobby after the reading.
South Carolina Academy Of Authors
Friday, March 18, 2011, 7 p.m.
Atrium Lobby, Etherredge Center
For the first time ever, the South Carolina Academy of Authors will be hosting its annual
induction ceremony in Aiken. During this gala ceremony, Sue Monk Kidd, Percival Everett,
and the late Gamel Woolsey will be inducted in the state’s literary hall of fame.
Advance reservations for this event can be made by sending a check for $35 per person
(payable to the SC Academy of Authors) to Dr. Tom Mack, English Department, USCA,
Aiken, SC 29801. The evening’s programming begins with a reception (hors d’oeuvres and
wine). Dress is business casual.
For more information on the series, please contact Dr. Tom Mack at the Department of English, USC Aiken,
471 University Parkway, Aiken, SC 29801, e-mail: tomm@usca.edu
Tickets are required for the March 17 reading; paid reservations are required for the March 18 induction. 2009-2010 JAMES AND MARY OSWALD
DISTINGUISHED WRITERS SERIES
University of South Carolina Aiken
471 University Parkway
Aiken, SC 29801
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AIKEN, SC
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