ALBANY, NY (04/23/2008)(readMedia)-- Nicholas Delbanco, Major American Novelist, to Discuss New Book Based on the Life of Forgotten American Inventor, Count Rumford, May 6, 2008

Nicholas Delbanco, major novelist, will discuss his new novel based on the life of the Colonial American inventor Count Rumford, a fascinating figure nearly forgotten by history, on Tuesday, May 6, 2008 at 8:00 p.m. in Assembly Hall, Campus Center, on the University at Albany’s uptown campus. Earlier that same day at 4:15 p.m. the author will present an informal seminar in Science Library 340 on the uptown campus. The events, which are free and open to the public, are sponsored by the New York State Writers Institute.

Nicholas Delbanco, author of more than twenty books, has been called “...as fine a pure prose stylist as any writer living” (“Chicago Tribune Book World”). John Updike has said that Delbanco, “wrestles with the abundance of his gifts as a novelist the way other men wrestle with their deficiencies.”

Delbanco’s newest book is “The Count of Concord” (2008), a fictionalized biography of the real-life Count Rumford, born Benjamin Thompson in Woburn, Massachusetts in 1753. A boy genius and inventor, Rumford declared himself a British loyalist during the American Revolution, fled the newborn United States, and eventually became a Count of the Holy Roman Empire. A pioneer of the science of thermodynamics, Rumford invented, among other things, more efficient fireplaces, ovens, roasters, and coffee pots. Now nearly forgotten, Rumford has been ranked by his admirers with such better known figures of American history as Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. Franklin Delano Roosevelt included Rumford on a list of history’s “five most interesting people.”

Andrea Barrett praised Delbanco’s novel saying, “. . . this brilliantly written novel—by turns wrenching, antic, and deep—marvelously illuminates a complicated scientist’s life and times.” The “Library Journal” reviewer said, “Delbanco writes beautifully.... he skillfully depicts the count’s loneliness and deteriorating mind as he catalogs his contributions to humanity, justifies his transgressions, and lashes out at his second wife. Highly recommended....”

Delbanco’s previous novels include “Spring and Fall” (2006), “The Vagabonds” (2004), “What Remains” (2000), “The Sherbrooke Trilogy” (1977-1980), and “The Martlet’s Tale” (1966). His recent nonfiction includes “Anywhere Out of the World: Essays on Travel, Writing, and Death” (2005) and “The Sincerest Form: Writing Fiction by Imitation” (2004).

A past recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and two Writing Fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, Delbanco served as director of the creative writing program at the University of Michigan for nearly 20 years. On the occasion of his retirement in 2002, Stephen Kinzer of the “New York Times” noted that Delbanco “has had more than 1,000 students and through them has helped shape modern American literature.”

For additional information, contact the Writers Institute at 518-442-5620 or online at http://www.albany.edu/writers-inst.

Cristina Garcia, Major Voice in Contemporary Latin American Fiction, to speak About New Work on May 8, 2008

Cristina Garcia, National Book Award finalist for “Dreaming in Cuban” and former bureau chief for TIME, will discuss her new novel, “A Handbook to Luck,” about the Las Vegas immigrant experience, on Thursday, May 8, 2008 at 8:00 p.m. in the Assembly Hall, Campus Center, on the University at Albany’s uptown campus. Earlier that same day at 4:15 p.m. the author will present an informal seminar in Science Library 340 on the uptown campus. The events, which are free and open to the public, are sponsored by the New York State Writers Institute.

Garcia is the author most recently of “A Handbook to Luck” (2007). The novel tells the stories of three immigrants from countries in conflict—Enrique of Cuba, Marta of El Salvador, and Leila of Iran—whose fortunes intersect, unpredictably, in the casinos of Las Vegas. “Elle” magazine called it “a magically lyrical meditation on life and human dreams.” “USA Today” called it “graceful... beautiful... provocative.” “People” magazine said, “Garcia expertly braids each of the stories together, tenderly tracing the passage of these 1960s children into 1980s adults as they begin to discover the often unavoidable gap ‘between what you planned and what actually happened.’”

Garcia’s previous novels include “Monkey Hunting” (2003), a novel of the Chinese Cuban experience; “The Agüero Sisters” (1997), winner of the Kafka Prize; and “Dreaming in Cuban” (1992), a finalist for the National Book Award. With “Dreaming in Cuban,” Garcia established a reputation as an important new voice in Latin American literature. The novel chronicles the irrevocable effects of the Cuban revolution on the del Pino family from the 1930s to the early 1980s. Garcia worked on “Dreaming in Cuban” as a workshop participant at the New York State Summer Writers Institute. She credits workshop instructor Russell Banks with helping her to find an agent and publisher for the book.

Garcia is also editor of “Bordering Fires: The Vintage Book of Contemporary Mexican and Chicano Literature” (2006) and “Cubanismo: The Vintage Book of Contemporary Cuban Literature” (2003).

Cristina Garcia left Havana with her family when she was two and grew up in New York City. She has been a Guggenheim Fellow, a Hodder Fellow at Princeton University and the recipient of the Whiting Writers Award.

For additional information, contact the Writers Institute at 518-442-5620 or online at http://www.albany.edu/writers-inst.

“City Lights” to be Screened on May 9, 2008

“City Lights” (U.S., 1931, 87 minutes, b&w, 35 mm, silent with live piano accompaniment by Mike Schiffer, directed by Charlie Chaplin), will be shown on Friday, May 9, 2008, at 7:30 p.m. in Page Hall, 135 Western Avenue, on the University at Albany’s downtown campus. Sponsored by the New York State Writers Institute, the screening is free and open to the public.

Both moving and laugh-out-loud funny, Chaplin’s slapstick masterpiece about the love affair between a “tramp” and a blind flower girl will be screened in a newly restored print. The “Chicago Reader’s” Dave Kehr called it, “A beautiful example of Chaplin’s ability to turn narrative fragments into emotional wholes.... as eccentric as it is sublime.” Jazz pianist Mike Schiffer will provide live piano accompaniment for the silent film.

For additional information contact the Writers Institute at 518-442-5620 or online at www.albany.edu/writers-inst.

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Posted Wednesday April 23, 2008 at 09:57 am by New York State Writers Institute