Release date: Feb. 20, 2008

Dorothy Allison to Teach, Write, Develop Play at Emory

Contact: Sally Corbett, 404-727-6678, sally.corbett@emory.edu
Contact: Elaine Justice, 404-727-0643, elaine.justice@emory.edu

Emory University welcomes award-winning author Dorothy Allison to Atlanta for a three-month residency as the Bill and Carol Fox Center for Humanistic Inquiry (CHI) Distinguished Visiting Professor for spring 2008.

Allison, whose works include the novels “Bastard Out of Carolina” and the national bestseller “Cavedweller” has become known as one of the foremost Southern writers of her generation and one of the nation’s most important voices in feminist and lesbian writing.

The purpose of the CHI visiting professorship is to bring to Emory an eminent humanities scholar or creative artist for a semester in residence in a humanities department or program to teach, do research, present public lectures and discussions, and participate in the intellectual life of the university. Allison will teach intermediate fiction for Emory’s Creative Writing Program and will visit other classes.

Allison, whose novel “Cavedweller” was adapted for the stage in 2003 and later for film, also is collaborating with Theater Emory on an adaptation of her story “Tell Me Something We Don’t Know.”

“We're doing an ‘exploratory workshop’ with theater students, faculty and area professionals," says Lisa Paulsen, director of Theater Emory’s Playwriting Center. “It’s not a traditional rehearsal, but rather an active, collaborative exploration of the material, with an eye to finding theatrical possibilities. Ms. Allison has a distinct voice, and we are hungry to hear it in the theater.”

Theater Emory is in its 25th season and has a long history of developing new work with authors and playwrights and premiering groundbreaking new work.

Allison will take part in the Center for Women Coffee Hour at 3 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 28 (RSVP to rgsledg@emory.edu or 404-727-2031) and the annual Feminist Founder’s Reading at 8:15 p.m., Monday, March 3, in the Jones Room of Woodruff Library.

A calendar of Allison’s other appearances during the span of her residency is available online. Calendar Information>>

Outside Emory, Allison will take part in readings at Kennesaw State University at 5:30 p.m., Saturday, March 29, and at Charis Books and More at 6 p.m. Sunday, April 6.

Allison’s personal goal for her time at Emory is to finish the final edit of her upcoming novel “She Who.” “In between meeting students and enjoying spring in Atlanta, I’m doing what I’m teaching my students to do – how to do the best revision possible,” says Allison. She adds with a smile, “Writers who don’t learn how to edit themselves have short, miserable careers.”

Emory University (www.emory.edu) is one of the nation’s leading private research universities and a member of the Association of American Universities. Known for its demanding academics, outstanding undergraduate college of arts and sciences, highly ranked professional schools and state-of-the-art research facilities, Emory is ranked as one of the country's top 20 national universities by U.S. News & World Report. In addition to its nine schools, the university encompasses The Carter Center, Yerkes National Primate Research Center and Emory Healthcare, the state's largest and most comprehensive health care system.

Subscribe to News@Emory RSS feeds for automatic updates of the latest news at Emory.

Back