Celebrated author Margaret Atwood to visit SU in April as the Jeanette K. Watson Distinguished Visiting Professor

Celebrated author Margaret Atwood to visit SU in April as the Jeanette K. Watson Distinguished Visiting ProfessorMarch 30, 2004Kelly Homan Rodoskikahoman@syr.edu

World-renowned author Margaret Atwood will visit Syracuse University in April as The College of Arts and Sciences’ Jeanette K. Watson Distinguished Visiting Professor in the Humanities. She will participate in a variety of lectures, seminars and classes April 14-21.

Atwood is one of the world’s most celebrated authors. She has written more than 35 books, including “Surfacing” (1972), “The Handmaid’s Tale” (1985), “Cat’s Eye” (1988), “Alias Grace” (1996) and “The Blind Assassin” (2000), for which she won the Booker Prize and the Dashiell Hammett Award. Her latest books are “Negotiating with the Dead: A Writer on Writing” (2002) and the novel “Oryx and Crake” (2003), which has been nominated for the Booker Prize and the Giller Prize.

“Atwood’s work combines remarkable intelligence with a compelling imaginative vision; the scope of her powers is extraordinary,” says Eric Holzwarth, assistant dean in The College of Arts and Sciences. “The beauty of the Watson Professorship is that the duration of her visit provides sustained conversation with University students and faculty in a variety of settings, from public lectures to individual classes and small departmental seminars. I expect her visit will stimulate the remarkable exchange of ideas that has become the hallmark of the Watson Professorship.”

In advance of Atwood’s visit to Syracuse, a one-hour documentary, “Margaret Atwood: Once in August” will be shown on April 7 at 7:30 p.m. in the Shaffer Art Building. The screening, sponsored by the women’s studies program, is free and open to the public. A discussion will follow.

Other events that are free and open to the public include the following:

• A question-and-answer session with the ETS 105 Living Writers class, April 14 from 4:15-5:30 p.m. in Gifford Auditorium, which is located in Huntington Beard Crouse Hall;
• Atwood will read from her works as part of the Raymond Carver Reading Series and conduct a question-and-answer session, April 14 at 5:45 p.m. in Gifford Auditorium.
• A lecture, “My Life in Writing with Pictures: Margaret Atwood vs. Computer Slideshow Technology,” April 15 at 7:30 p.m. in Watson Auditorium, 316 Waverly Ave., with a reception to follow.
• A lecture, “My Story as Journey: The Role of Myth in Almost Everything,” April 19 at 7:30 p.m. in Gifford Auditorium.
• A seminar, “The Place of Fiction in Feminist Studies: A Conversation with Margaret Atwood,” April 20 at 4 p.m. in the Kilian Room, 500 Hall of Languages. A reception will follow.
• A lecture, “Heaven and Hell and Planet X: Theology Takes a Trip,” April 21 at 7:30 p.m. in Shemin Auditorium, Shaffer Art Building.

More information on Atwood’s visit is available on the Web at http://www-hl.syr.edu/cas-pages/WatsonProfessorship.htm, or by calling The College of Arts and Sciences at 443-7192.