ALL EVENTS ARE FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

DAVID REMNICK is the editor of The New Yorker magazine. He began his career as a sportswriter for The Washington Post and later served as a foreign correspondent, spending four years in Moscow. His bestselling account of the collapse of the Soviet Union, Lenin's Tomb: The Last Days of the Soviet Empire (1993) won the Pulitzer Prize for nonfiction. His other nonfiction books include King of the World: Muhammad Ali and the Rise of an American Hero (1998), Resurrection: The Struggle for a New Russia (1997), and The Devil Problem: And Other True Stories (1996).

BARBARA CHEPAITIS is the author of Feeding Christine (2000), a novel that explores the powerful camaraderie shared by four women as they blend time, patience, love and food to cultivate their friendships and soothe the soul. Chepaitis, who teaches at the University at Albany, is also the author of several science fiction/fantasy novels and a member of The Snickering Witches, a storytelling collective. Join the author and her friends for a celebration of food and story.

JARKA BURIAN is the author of Modern Czech Theatre: Reflector and Conscience of a Nation (2000). Professor Emeritus of Theatre at the University at Albany, Burian is the leading American scholar of Czech theatre and is the author of the award-winning book The Scenography of Joseph Svoboda (1974), a seminal critical study of the work of one of the twentieth century's most influential theatrical designers.

ALLEN B. BALLARD - author of a first novel which has won early praise, Where I'm Bound (Simon & Schuster, 2000), is a Civil War epic that focuses on a soldier in an African-American regiment, his experiences in the Union army and his efforts to reclaim his life and family. Ballard teaches history and African-American studies at UAlbany and has published two nonfiction books, One More Day's Journey (1984), and The Education of Black Folk (1973). The Mount Calvary Baptist Church Choir will sing spirituals of the period interspersed throughout the reading.

HORTON FOOTE - is a screenwriter, playwright, and actor, and prolific author of plays, screenplays and adaptations for film and television and, most recently, his memoir, Farewell: A Memoir of a Texas Childhood (1999). Foote, whose career spans over 50 years, is perhaps best known for his adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), for which he won an Oscar for best screenplay. In 1995 he won a Pulitzer Prize in drama for The Young Man from Atlanta and in 1983 he won a second Oscar for his screenplay Tender Mercies. In 1989 he received an American Theatre Award for lifetime achievement. In conjunction with his visit and our Classic Film Series, we will present three of his screenplays and adaptations: Tomorrow, The Displaced Person, and Tender Mercies.

FRANCINE PROSE is the author of ten highly acclaimed works of fiction. Her most recent novel, Blue Angel (2000) is a satire of academia specifically of English departments and writing programs. Prose's other works include Guided Tours of Hell: Novellas (1997), Hunters & Gatherers (1996), A Peaceable Kingdom (1993), Primitive People (1992), Bigfoot Dreams (1986), Household Saints (1981), and Judah the Pious (1973). She is a contributing editor at Harper's and writes regularly on art for the Wall Street Journal. Prose is a Director's Fellow at the Center for Scholars and Writers at the New York Public Library.

TED CONOVER, journalist and nonfiction writer, is the author of Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing (2000), an account of his year spent as a corrections officer at Sing Sing prison. Parts of this controversial book have been banned at New York State prisons. Conover is also the author of two books, Whiteout (1992), and Coyotes (1987), which were named Notable Books of the Year by The New York Times. Whiteout chronicles the world of wealth and privilege in Aspen, Colorado, and Coyotes explores the world of illegal Mexican immigrants in the U.S. SCOTT CHRISTIANSON, journalist and chronicler of the American prison system will join in the discussion following Conover's presentation.

DAVID HALBERSTAM - noted historian, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, and nonfiction writer is the author most recently of The Children (1999), which examines the early days of the Civil Rights Movement. Other books include The Best and the Brightest (1972), The Powers that Be (1979), The Reckoning (1986), The Breaks of the Game, October 1964, and The Amateurs. He has also written several books about sports in America including Playing for Keeps: Michael Jordan and the World That He Made (1999), Sports on New York Radio (1999), October 1964 (1994), and Summer of '49 (1989).

DAVID NASAW - historian and nonfiction writer, is the author of the biography The Chief: The Life of William Randolph Hearst (2000). Nasaw is the first writer to be given access to Hearst's personal and business papers. Nasaw is also the author of Going Out: The Rise and Fall of Public Amusements 1993) and Children of the City: At Work and at Play (1985). He has served as historical consultant for several television documentaries and is currently the chair of the doctoral history program at City University of New York Graduate Center.

A NEW YORK STATE OF MIND - What makes New York State worthy material for the writers' imagination? Four award-winning writers discuss how they have used the history and landscape of New York State and the mind sets of New Yorkers as their muse for crafting some of the best contemporary fiction. Panelists are Mary Gordon, Meg Wolitzer, Russell Banks, and William Kennedy.

BEN KATCHOR is the creator of the comic strip "Julius Knipl, Real Estate Photographer," which has been appearing in newspapers and magazines since 1988. The adventures of Julius Knipl are collected in two books by Katchor, Julius Knipl: The Beauty Supply District (2000) and Julius Knipl: Stories (1999). Katchor is also the author of The Jew of New York (1999), the story of an 1825 attempt to established a Jewish homeland in upstate New York.

EDMUND WHITE - novelist, activist, critic and award-winning biographer. Author most recently of the novel The Married Man (2000), a moving story of a young man's death from AIDS. White's fiction includes the autobiographical trilogy A Boy's Own Story(1982), The Beautiful Room is Empty (1988), and Farewell Symphony (1997). White is the author of the acclaimed biography of Jean Genet for which he won the New York Critics Circle Award, a short study of Proust, a collection of essays entitled The Burning Library (1994), a travel book about gay America, States of Desire (1980), and a group of short stories entitled Skinned Alive.

BILLY COLLINS is the author of six collections of poetry, including most recently Picnic, Lightning (1998), The Art of Drowning (1995), a finalist for the Lenore Marshall Prize, and Questions About Angels (1991) which won a National Poetry Series award. These three collections have broken sales records for poetry; no poet since Robert Frost has combined such broad popular appeal with high critical acclaim. Collins has read his poetry on National Public Radio and his poems have appeared in numerous periodicals including Harper's, The Paris Review, and The New Yorker. He is a professor of English at Lehman College of the City University of New York.