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A. S. Byatt

In conversation with Robert Hass

Monday, October 26, 2009 |  Herbst Theatre, 8pm

A. S. Byatt is one of the foremost writers of our day. Her 1990 novel, Possession, became an international bestseller and received the Booker Prize. In 2002, Possession was made into a film of the same name, starring Gwyneth Paltrow. It would be difficult to find a more outspoken, eloquent champion of the life of the mind and the ability of literature to elevate the mundane life and grant freedom to the individual. Strongly influenced by D. H. Lawrence and Iris Murdoch, Byatt's many novels and stories are written with precision, romance, and the keen detail of a born observer, her complex characters face love, jealousy and creative mania, leaving a lasting impression on the reader. Her novels include The Virgin in the Garden, Angels & Insects and The Biographer's Tale. At the heart of Byatt's latest novel, The Children's Book, is Olive Wellwood, a successful children's book author. The novel is set in England in the late 19th century, and includes many of the story-within-a-story constructions that Byatt so elegantly weaves into her work.

Robert Hass is the former Poet Laureate of the United States. Hass's poetry has been a platform from which he encourages literacy, creativity and the careful stewardship of the natural world, and he takes seriously his roles as educator and artist. Robert Hass's works include Field Guide, Sun Under Wood and Time and Materials, which won both the National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize.

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