PITT ANNOUNCES OFFICIAL LINEUP AND DATES FOR INAUGURAL CONTEMPORARY WRITERS SERIES

PITTSBURGH, July 29 -- The University of Pittsburgh Writing Program will kick off the inaugural season of its Pittsburgh Contemporary Writers Series with Gay Talese on Monday, Sept. 21, at 8:15 p.m. in 120 David Lawrence Hall, Forbes Ave., Oakland.

Talese, author of "The Kingdom and the Power," "Honor Thy Father," "Thy Neighbor's Wife," and "Fame and Obscurity," a collection of his articles drawn principally from the pages of Esquire magazine, is the first of six writers to be featured during the series.

Pitt's new "Contemporary Writers Series" will join the Three Rivers Lecture Series and the International Poetry Forum as one of the three major reading series in the city. "It's exciting, a new cultural event on the horizon," said Lynn Emanuel, new director of Pitt's Writing Program, the oldest writing program in the country.

The series is free and open to the public and all readings begin at 8:15 p.m. In addition to Talese, the five other featured writers are:

Wednesday, Oct. 14

Maxine Hong Kingston, author of two books of nonfiction, "The

Woman Warrior: Memoir of a Girlhood Among Ghosts," which won

the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction, and "China

Men" as well as a novel, "Tripmaster Monkey."

120 David Lawrence Hall, Forbes Ave., Oakland.

Wednesday, Nov. 11

Marita Golden, author of "And Do Remember Me," "Long Distance

Life," an autobiography, "Migrations of the Heart," and "Saving Our

Sons: Raising Black Children in a Turbulent World." She is founder of

the Zora Neale Hurston/Richard Wright Award for emerging African-

American writers of fiction.

324 Cathedral of Learning, Fifth Ave., Oakland.

Thursday, Jan. 14

Mark Doty, author of four collections of poetry, including "My

Alexandria," which won the National Book Critics Circle Award for

Poetry and the Los Angeles Times Book Award, and his memoir,

"Heaven's Coast," which won the PEN/Martha Albrand Award for

Nonfiction.

324 Cathedral of Learning, Fifth Ave., Oakland.

Tuesday, March 16

Barry Lopez, contributor to Harper's Magazine and the New York

Times and author of "Arctic Dreams: Imagination and Desire in a

Northern Landscape," which won the National Book Award, and

"Of Wolves and Men," for which he received the John Burroughs

Medal.

324 Cathedral of Learning, Fifth Ave., Oakland.

Tuesday, March 30

Tess Gallagher, author of six books of poetry including "Moon Crossing

Bridge," which won the Most Notable Book Award for Poetry from the

American Library Association, and collaborator on the screenplay for

the Robert Altman film "Short Cuts."

120 David Lawrence Hall, Forbes Ave., Oakland.

The "Contemporary Writers Series" is co-sponsored by the Asian Studies Program, the Book Center, the English Department, the Western Pennsylvania Writing Project, the Women's Studies Program, and the Wyndham Garden Hotel.

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