New program draws three major writers

Kennedy Ondaatje Paley

T hree renowned 20th century writers will read from their works as part of a new writing and lecture series. William Kennedy, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Ironweed; Michael Ondaatje, author of The English Patient; and short-story writer and essayist Grace Paley will come to the River Campus later this month and next month as part of the Donald R. Clark Enrichment Program in Contemporary Writing.

The series has been initiated by Joanna Scott, professor of English and a novelist whose own works have earned critical plaudits. She was a nominee for the Pulitzer Prize in 1997 for The Manikin, and is a two-time nominee for a PEN-Faulkner Award.

The schedule of author readings is as follows: William Kennedy, Tuesday, March 30; Michael Ondaatje, who will read with Scott, Monday, April 12; and Grace Paley, Tuesday, April 27. Each event includes a reception at 6:30 p.m. and the reading at 7 p.m. in Lander Auditorium in Hutchison Hall. The receptions and readings are free and open to the public.

Kennedy, best known for his seven "Albany cycle" novels reflecting the social and political life of the state capital, also co-wrote the screenplay for The Cotton Club with Francis Ford Coppola.

Ondaatje--a native of Ceylon who moved to Canada in 1962--emerged as one of Canada's most respected young poets in the '60s and also has received critical acclaim as a novelist.

Paley's inventive style and the political and social causes advocated in her work have generated significant critical attention. She was named the first "State Author" of New York in the late 1980s.

The late Donald Clark and his late wife Mary were longtime friends and supporters of the University. The Donald R. Clark Endowment for Humanities, which will fund the contemporary writing program, was established to support new ideas, programs, and teaching in the humanities.