Acclaimed children's author Lois Lowry at UAlbany November 10

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Lois Lowry

ALBANY, NY (10/25/2017) (readMedia)-- Lois Lowry, Newbery Medal winner and author of more than 30 books, will visit the University at Albany for an evening of conversation with WAMC's Joe Donahue as part of the University's "The Creative Life" series at 7 p.m. Friday, November 10, at Page Hall, 135 Western Avenue on UAlbany's Downtown campus. The event is free and open to the public.

A prominent voice in children's literature, Lowry is known for books that explore such complex issues as racism, terminal illness, murder and the Holocaust. She received the Newbery Medal for both The Giver (1993), about a futuristic utopian world, and Number the Stars (1989), a historical novel set in Nazi-occupied Denmark. The John Newbery Medal is a literary award given by the American Library Association to the author making "the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children." Number the Stars also received the National Jewish Book Award for Children's Literature.

Lowry wrote three companion novels to The Giver, including Gathering Blue (2000), Messenger (2004) and Son (2012). A film adaptation of The Giver, starring Jeff Bridges and Meryl Streep, was released in 2014.

In 2007, Lowry received the Margaret Edwards Award from the American Library Association for her lasting contribution to young adult literature. She wrote the autobiographical Looking Back, following the death of her son, Grey, an Air Force flight instructor who died when his F-15 fighter aircraft crashed on takeoff in Germany in 1995.

Lowry was 40 years old and the mother of four children when her first book, A Summer to Die, was published in 1977. Since then, she has written more than 30 books, including The Giver quartet and nine books in her Anastasia Krupnik series, which was ranked 29th on the American Library Association's "The 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990–2000" list. On the topic of banning books, Lowry told The New York Times, "What I think they're really objecting to is the fact that a young person is rejecting the authority and wisdom of the governing body... That's unnerving to them."

Speaking of her work, Lowry told scholastic.com, "My books have varied in content and in style. Yet it seems to me that all of them deal, essentially, with the same general theme: the importance of human connections." Lowry is a skilled photographer and some of her work has been used to illustrate the covers of her books, including The Giver and Number the Stars. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

The Creative Life series, a major arts initiative of the New York State Writers Institute, UAlbany Performing Arts Center and University Art Museum in conjunction with regional public radio station WAMC, brings leading figures from writing, music, dance, choreography, visual arts, architecture, theatre, and filmmaking to the University for conversation with Donahue about their creative inspiration, craft, and careers.

UAlbany's Creative Life series continues next year with choreographer Garth Fagan (March 28, 2018) and two-time Tony and Grammy winner Patti Lupone (April 26, 2018). Previous guests have included fiction writer Joyce Carol Oates, tap dancer-choreographer Savion Glover, jazz violinist Regina Carter and painter David Salle.

Major support for The Creative Life is provided by The University at Albany Foundation with additional support from the UAlbany Alumni Association, College of Arts and Sciences, Office of the Provost and University Auxiliary Services.

For additional information, call the UAlbany Performing Art Center box office at 518-442-3997.

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