NOVELIST, NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST, TO DISCUSS HER LATEST BOOK “ANNE FRANK: THE BOOK, THE LIFE, THE AFTERLIFE” (2009)

NYS Writers Institute, February 4, 2010
4:15 p.m. Seminar | Assembly Hall, Campus Center
8:00 p.m. Reading | Assembly Hall, Campus Center

CALENDAR LISTING:
Francine Prose, novelist and nonfiction writer, author of the new work, “Anne Frank: The Book, The Life, The Afterlife” (2009), will speak on Thursday, February 4, 2010 at 8:00 p.m. in the Assembly Hall, Campus Center, on the University at Albany’s uptown campus. Earlier that same day at 4:15 p.m. the author will present an informal seminar in the same location. The events are sponsored by the New York State Writers Institute and UAlbany’s Center for Jewish Studies and are free and open to the public.

PROFILE
Francine Prose, novelist and nonfiction writer, is the author of “Anne Frank: The Book, The Life, The Afterlife” (2009), a work of literary history and criticism that celebrates the under-appreciated artistry of the well-known diarist. Prose shows how the teenaged author crafted her famous diary with the intention of creating an enduring work of art. Prose also explores the complicated life of the book after Frank’s death at the hands of the Nazis, from its initial rejection by several publishers to its canonization as the central text of Holocaust literature for young readers, and its subsequent transformation into plays, movies, and musical and dance performances.

Writing in the “New York Times Book Review,” Joshua Hammer called Prose’s book, “A deeply felt reappraisal of the work and its global impact....,” and said, “[Prose] makes a persuasive argument for Anne Frank’s literary genius.” Janet Maslin, writing in the “New York Times,” called it, “An impressively far-reaching critical work, an elegant study both edifying and entertaining...full of keen observations and fascinating disputes.”

Prose also presents close readings of three original manuscripts of the diary in order to illuminate the editing process that produced the final version.

Prose is the author of fifteen novels, including “Goldengrove” (2008), “A Changed Man” (2005), winner of the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, and “Blue Angel” (2000), a finalist for the National Book Award, “Primitive People” (1992), “Bigfoot Dreams” (1986), and “Hungry Hearts” (1983).

She has also written numerous works of literary criticism, including the nonfiction “New York Times” bestseller “Reading Like a Writer” (2006), and “The Lives of the Muses: Nine Women and the Artists They Inspired” (2002). Her recent books for children and young adults include “Bullyville” (2007), about the hazing culture of an elite private school, and the Yiddish-flavored modern folktale, “Leopold the Liar of Liepzig” (2005).

In 2007, Prose was elected President of the PEN American Center, the U.S. branch of the world’s oldest international literary and human rights organization.

The event is cosponsored by UAlbany’s Center for Jewish Studies

Previous Visit: March 28, 2005

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Bookshow Transcript
Writers Online Magazine Article

For additional information, contact the Writers Institute at 518-442-5620 or online at https://www.albany.edu/writers-inst.