PASADENA—Ian McEwan, the distinguished British writer, author of Atonement and other award-winning novels, will read from his work at 8 p.m. Thursday, April 8, in Beckman Auditorium on the California Institute of Technology campus. This event is free and open to the public. McEwan's appearance is part of his three-day visit to campus as the spring literary guest of the Institute's Words Matter program. The reading will be followed by a book signing, held in collaboration with Vroman's Bookstore.
McEwan is the author of more than ten books, including Amsterdam (1998), winner of the prestigious Booker Prize; The Child in Time (1987), winner of the Whitbread Award; and the story collection, First Love, Last Rites (1975), winner of the Somerset Maugham Award. His most recent book, Atonement (2001), received the National Book Critics Circle Award, the WH Smith Literary Prize, and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. In addition to novels, McEwan has also written children's books, screenplays, and an oratorio.
McEwan's visit to Caltech is sponsored by Words Matter, a program that offers Caltech students frequent opportunities for close contact with accomplished writers. In addition to the public reading, McEwan will give a special reading for students, discuss his work and the writing process with undergraduates, visit classes, and conduct a humanities seminar.
Words Matter is funded by the President's Office and guided by a committee of students, faculty, and administrators. Besides hosting writers in residence, the program also presents an annual science-writing symposium and awards modest grants to support literary activities on campus. Words Matter is intended to cultivate students' interest in writing in its varied forms and to foster an appreciation of the many ways in which words do, indeed, matter.
For more information about Words Matter and details regarding Ian McEwan's visit, go to http://www.wordsmatter.caltech.edu/
Written by Robert Tindol