Chestertown, MD, March 14, 2006 — Washington College's Rose O'Neill Literary House welcomes two new lights on the American literary scene for readings this April. Vietnamese-American writer Monique Truong will read from her bestselling novel, The Book of Salt,Tuesday, April 4, and Adam Haslett, author of the short story collection You are Not a Stranger Here—a selection of the Today Show Book Club—will read Tuesday, April 18. Free and open to the public, both readings will be held at 4:30 p.m. in the Sophie Kerr Room of the Miller Library.
Monique Truong was born in Saigon in 1968 and moved to the United States at age six. A graduate of Yale University and the Columbia University School of Law, Truong co-edited the anthology Watermark: Vietnamese American Poetry and Prose.Her first novel, The Book of Salt, became a national bestseller and was awarded the 2003 Bard Fiction Prize, the Stonewall Book Award-Barbara Gittings Literature Award, and the Young Lions Fiction Award, among other honors. Granting Truong an Award of Excellence, the Vietnamese American Studies Center at San Francisco State University called her "a pioneer in the field, as an academic, an advocate, and an artist." Truong lives in Brooklyn, New York.
When Yale Law student Adam Haslett's first short story collection, You Are Not a Stranger Here, was tapped by The Corrections author Jonathan Franzen as the Today Show's second-ever book club selection, Haslett's somber tales dealing with depression were brought into the national spotlight. The collection was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize and a National Book Award, and won the PEN/Winship Award. Haslett's work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Nation, Zoetrope, and Best American Short Stories as well as National Public Radio's Selected Shorts.
He is a graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop and the Yale Law School and has received fellowships from the Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center and the Michener/Copernicus Society of America. He lives in New York City, where he works part-time as a legal consultant.
Established in 1985, the Rose O'Neill Literary House was acquired and refurbished through a gift of alumna Betty Casey, Class of 1947, and her late husband Eugene, and named in memory of his late mother, Rose O'Neill Casey. Now in its 21st year, the O'Neill Literary House reflects the eclectic spirit of Washington College's creative writing program and literary culture, sponsoring readings, lectures, and workshops, and creating a space for young writers to find their unique voices.
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