DETROIT, April 3, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- What do Gloria Naylor, Ernest J. Gaines, Rita Dove, Jamaica Kincaid and 15 of the world's other most distinguished authors have in common? Each has been a guest speaker at Marygrove College's Contemporary American Authors Lecture Series, an event that brings a nationally-known author to the College's campus each year for a public lecture and seminar with students.
This year the Marygrove English and Modern Languages Department has announced that noted science fiction writer Samuel R. Delany will be the twentieth visiting author to participate in the series. He will deliver the Lillian and Donald Bauder Lecture on Friday, April 11, 2008 at 8 p.m. in Marygrove's Madame Cadillac Building Alumnae Hall. The lecture is free to the public; a private reception and dinner is available for $100 per person.
The second author of science fiction to participate in the series-the first was the late Octavia Butler in 1994-the tireless Delany has written nearly fifty book-length works: novels, short stories, essays, memoirs, and literary criticism. He grew up in Harlem and began his career as a novelist at age nineteen. By the time he was twenty-five (1967), he had published nine novels and won two Nebula Awards, given to the year's best works of science fiction.
Since then, he has continued to produce groundbreaking science fiction and fantasy. Major works include novels Babel-17 (1966); The Einstein Intersection (1967); Nova (1968); the trilogy The Fall of the Towers (1970); Dhalgren (1975); Triton (1976); a series of fantasy novels, Return to Neveryon (1979-87); Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand (1984), Equinox (1994), and Phallos (2004). He has two collections of short-stories, Driftglass: Ten Tales of Speculative Fiction (1971) -and Aye, and Gomorrah and other Stories (2003), which includes the stories of the earlier volume. His nonfiction includes critical essays about literature and about language, sexuality, and race -- among a wide range of other subjects.
In addition to four Nebula Awards, Delany has twice received the Hugo Award for science fiction, the Science Fiction Research Association's Pilgrim Award for Excellence and the William Whitehead Memorial Award for Lifetime Achievement for Gay and Lesbian Literature. He has also been elected to the Science Fiction Hall of Fame.
Delany has taught at a number of universities, including the University of Michigan the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee; SUNY Buffalo; Cornell University and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Since 2001 he has been professor of English and creative writing at Temple University in Philadelphia.
Jane Branham Weedman, author of one of four book-length studies of Delany's work, has written, "Few writers approach the lyricism, the command of language, the powerful combination of style and content that distinguishes Delany's works." She adds, "Few writers . . . so successfully create works which make us question ourselves, our actions, our beliefs, and our society as Delany has helped us do."
Committed to a vision of Urban Leadership, Marygrove College is a private liberal arts college located at 8425 W. McNichols Road in Detroit. More than 1,200 students are enrolled in undergraduate and graduate programs in education, business, human resource management, social justice, social work, science, theater, music, dance, the fine arts, and many others. Nearly 1,300 students are enrolled in its online and distance learning Master in the Art of Teaching program. Call 866-313-1927 or visit www.marygrove.edu to Learn to Change the World.