Reading: It’s not just for summer anymore
January 1, 2008 by Assistant Editor
Filed under Edit
Meeting authors brings their stories to life
The summer months are always jammed with great titles to read and events to attend at the book store. But what happens in the fall and winter? Recreational reading is enhanced by the Inprint Brown Reading Series, which extends into the spring. The forum provides readers with the opportunity to meet authors of award-winning books and hear first-hand stories that became finished products. These authors include National Book Award and MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship winners.
The Inprint Brown Reading Series works with the University of Houston Creative Writing Program, the Alley Theatre and Brazos Bookstore to put these great writers on the Houston stage. Tickets range from $5 to $20 and the writers usually sign books afterward.
Inprint’s 27th year continues when South Asian author Vikram Chandra and Cuban fiction writer Mayra Montero make their presentations in Houston Jan. 21.
Montero is the author of nine novels, including her most recent, “Dancing to ‘Almendra’: A Novel,” set in Cuba in 1957.
Chandra, a graduate of the University of Houston Creative Writing Program, received rave reviews for his first novel, “Red Earth and Pouring Rain,” and his story collection, “Love and Longing in Bombay.” His newest novel, “Sacred Games,” is an epic detective novel with multiple characters and subplots set in Mumbai. Feb. 17 features Dave Eggers and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Eggers, a fiction writer, is the founder of independent publisher McSweeney’s, and is author of “A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius.” He will be reading from his latest novel, “What is the What.”
Nigerian novelist Adichie is the author of “Purple Hibiscus.” Her latest work, “Half of a Yellow Sun,” is set in 1960s Nigeria when the short-lived state of Biafra tried to create an independent republic.
On March 31, meet Alice McDermott, author of “After This: A Novel” and National Book Award-winning “Charming Billy.”
MacArthur Genius-winning poet and former poet laureate, Robert Haas, and Iranian-born graphic novelist, Mariane Satrapi, are scheduled to speak April 21. Satrapi’s first book, “Persepolis,” is being turned into a feature film.
More information on the authors, their books and a schedule is available at
www.inprinthouston.org.
