NEWS

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By DEE REID
College of Arts and Sciences

CHAPEL HILL -- Two big-name writers will address students and the general public at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill this academic year through the Thomas Wolfe lecture series and the Morgan Writer-in-Residence program in the department of English.

Pat Conroy, the best-selling author of "Prince of Tides," "The Great Santini" and five other books, will be on campus in October. Joan Didion, the political and cultural observer and author of "Slouching Towards Bethlehem," "A Book of Common Prayer," "Political Fictions" and 16 other books and screenplays, will appear at UNC in March.

Conroy will receive the annual Thomas Wolfe Prize and give a free public lecture on Oct. 7 at 7:30 p.m. in Hill Hall auditorium. Didion will be the Morgan Family Writer-in-Residence during the week of March 2, 2004. She will give a public lecture on campus March 3 at a location to be announced later. Both authors will also lead discussions with students during their time in Chapel Hill.

Four of Conroy’s works have inspired major motion pictures. His first book, "The Water Is Wide" (1972), won a humanitarian award from the National Education Association and was made into the film "Conrack," starring Jon Voight.

"The Prince of Tides," published in 1986, was Conroy’s most successful work, with more than 5 million copies in print. Barbra Streisand directed and co-starred with Nick Nolte in the movie version, which was nominated for a best-picture Oscar. "The Great Santini" and "The Lords of Discipline" also became major films.

Conroy’s most recent works are: "My Losing Season," a non-fiction account of his experiences as a member of the 1966-67 basketball team at the Citadel, and the novel "Beach Music."

The annual Thomas Wolfe Prize and Lecture pays tribute to Carolina’s most famous literary graduate (1920), who wrote "Look Homeward, Angel." The prize and lecture are sponsored by the College of Arts and Science’s English department, the international Thomas Wolfe Society and the Morgan Writer-in-Residence Program.

The Morgan program, established in 1993 with a gift from alumni Allen and Musette Morgan of Memphis, Tenn., is also sponsoring the Didion visit in the spring.

Didion has been a prolific novelist, essayist and screenwriter for more than three decades. She is the author of seven non-fiction collections, five novels, seven screenplays and dozens of essays that have appeared in The New York Review of Books, The New Yorker and other major magazines.

In her most recent work, "Where I Was From" (Knopf, September 2003), Didion takes a hard look at her native California, recounting stories of her gun-toting female ancestors, the modern-day conquests of the teen Spur Posse gang, and more. Writing for Book List, reviewer Donna Seaman says Didion "illuminates with piercing candor the dark side of the pioneer mythos, the very heart of American mystique."

Last year, Didion published "Fixed Ideas: America Since 9.11," her exploration of Americans’ initial refusal to openly discuss and debate the Bush administration’s foreign and domestic policies after the terrorist attacks.

In "Political Fictions" (2001), Didion analyzes the American electoral landscape, through six essays covering the presidential campaigns from 1988 through 2000.

Her other non-fiction books include: "Slouching Towards Bethlehem" (1968), "The White Album," (1978), "Salvador" (1983), "Miami" (1987), and "After Henry" (1992). Didion’s novels include: "Run River" (1963), "Play It As It Lays" (1970), "A Book of Common Prayer" (1977), "Democracy" (1984) and "The Last Thing He Wanted" (1996).

She and her husband, John Gregory Dunne, have co-written seven screenplays, including: "The Panic in Needle Park" (1971), "Play It As It Lays" (1973), "A Star Is Born" (1977), "True Confessions" (1982), "Hills Like White Elephants" (1990), "Broken Trust" (1995) and "Up Close and Personal" (1995).

For additional information call (919) 962-4283 or see the Web site, http://college.unc.edu

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Photo URL: http://www.unc.edu/news/pics/visiting/conroy_pat091003.jpg

College of Arts and Sciences contacts: Susan Iron, department of English, (919) 962-4283, or Dee Reid, College of Arts and Sciences, (919) 843-6339
News Services contact: Mike McFarland, (919) 962-8593