NYS Writers Institute announces Fall 2018 schedule of events

Fall series includes appearances by Sean Penn, three-time Olympic gold medalist Aly Raisman, Tara Westover, along with the inaugural Albany Book Festival and installation of the New York State Author and New York State Poet

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ALBANY, NY (08/27/2018) (readMedia)-- Albany, NY - The New York State Writers Institute at the University at Albany announces its fall 2018 schedule, featuring numerous notable authors in our Visiting Writers Series and Classic Film Series along with the inaugural Albany Book Festival and the installation of the New York State Author and New York State Poet. Events take place on the UAlbany uptown and downtown campuses, and other locations in Albany. All events are free and open to the public.

"We think this fall lineup is our most diverse, interesting and ambitious series of events in the 35-year history of the Writers Institute," said Writers Institute Director Paul Grondahl,."Also, the Albany Book Festival at the University at Albany celebrates the importance of books and literature in our lives. This inaugural event highlights our strengths: community engagement, student engagement, and family-friendly programming offered free of charge to the Capital Region."

A highlight of the fall schedule is the two-day Albany Book Festival, which kicks off with a Friday, Sept. 28, evening ceremony installing Colson Whitehead as the New York State Author and Alicia Ostriker as the New York State Poet. Whitehead is author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning and bestselling novel The Underground Railroad, and Ostriker has published several award-winning poetry volumes, including The Old Woman, the Tulip, and the Dog. The laureates will meet fans and sign books at the Book Festival on Saturday.

Saturday's daylong program includes panel discussions with Pulitzer Prize-winning authors, mystery writers, food writers and a special event about the immigrant experience. Some of the featured writers include UAlbany alumnus Gregory Maguire, author of the bestseller Wicked, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, and Writers Institute founder and Pulitzer Prize winner William Kennedy, who will sign copies of the new collection Bootlegger of the Soul: The Literary Legacy of William Kennedy.

The fall Visiting Writers Series includes two-time Oscar winner and author Sean Penn, who will take part in a conversation and Q&A discussing his debut novel, Bob Honey Who Just Do Stuff, Friday, Sept. 21. Also, "Milk," an acclaimed film in which Penn portrayed UAlbany alumnus Harvey Milk, a politician and gay rights activist in California who was assassinated in 1978. The film will be shown on Friday, Sept. 7, at Page Hall on the university's downtown campus.

On Wednesday, Oct. 10, the Writers Institute will feature rapper, activist and writer Mona Haydar and Olympic medalist and memoirist Ibtihaj Muhammad -- known for being the first hijab-wearing Muslim United States Olympian -- for a program titled "Muslim Women in 21st Century America." The craft talk and conversation is also presented by several UAlbany offices, including the Office of Diversity and Inclusion.

Evan Narcisse will be the guest on Friday, Oct. 12. He and Ta-Nehisi Coates co-authored The Rise of the Black Panther, which lays out the backstory of the black comic book character and protagonist of the synonymous Marvel box office hit. Narcisse will discuss the film and participate in an audience Q&A following clips of the film "Black Panther."

Recent UAlbany alumnus Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah returns to campus on Tuesday, Oct. 30. Adjei-Brenyah's first book, Friday Black, offers a satirical look at what it's like to be young and black in America.

Olympic gymnast and author Aly Raisman -- three-time gold medalist, a hero of the #metoo movement, and a recent recipient of the ESPN Arthur Ashe Award for Courage -- will engage in a conversation about her life and sports career on Monday, Dec. 3 at the SEFCU Arena on the UAlbany uptown campus.

U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand closes out the season on Friday, Dec.7. She will discuss her first children's book, Bold & Brave: Ten Heroes Who Won Women the Right to Vote.

The complete listing of the Visiting Writers Series and Classic Film Series follows.

VISITING WRITERS SERIES

SEPTEMBER

Wednesday, Sept. 5: Bibbe Hansen, performance artist, musician, actress. A Creative Life Series conversation with Joe Donahue. 7 p.m., University Art Museum

Thursday, Sept. 6: Elizabeth Acevedo, poet and bestselling young adult author, with The Poet X. Craft Talk at 4:15 p.m. at the Multi-Purpose Room, Campus Center; 7:30 p.m. presentation, Recital Hall, Performing Arts Center

Thursday, Sept. 13: John Leland, New York Times journalist and author of Happiness is a Choice You Make. 9 a.m. presentation at the Carondelet Hospitality Center, 385 Watervliet Shaker Road, Latham (SOLD OUT); 4:15 p.m. craft talk, Alumni House Conference Room, University at Albany Uptown Campus

Friday, Sept. 21: Conversation with Sean Penn, actor, author of Bob Honey Who Just Do Stuff. 7:30 p.m., Page Hall

Friday, Sept. 28: New York State Author and Poet Awards. Visit albanybookfestival.com/nysauthornyspoet

Saturday, Sept. 29: Albany Book Festival. Visit albanybookfestival.com

OCTOBER

Monday, Oct. 1: Helen Rothberg, author of The Perfect Mix and business consultant. 4:15 p.m. craft talk, Multi-Purpose Room, Campus Center; 7 p.m. "Science on Tap" conversation, Albany Pump Station, 19 Quackenbush Square, Albany

Thursday, Oct. 4: Tara Westover, author of the #1 New York Times bestselling memoir, Educated, about her experiences as the daughter of an "anti-education" survivalist family that devoted its time and energy to preparing for the End of Days in the mountains of Idaho, 4:15 p.m. craft talk at Standish Room in the Science Library; 7:30 p.m. presentation at Page Hall

Tuesday, Oct. 9: Justine Bateman, "Family Ties" actress, director, and author of Fame: The Hijacking of Reality. 4:15 p.m. craft talk, Multi-Purpose Room, Campus Center; 7:30 p.m. presentation, Campus Center Ballroom

Wednesday, Oct. 10: "Muslim Women in 21st Century America" with Mona Haydar and Ibtihaj Muhammad. 4:14 p.m. craft talk, Recital Hall; 7 p.m. conversation, Recital Hall

Friday, Oct. 12: Evan Narcisse, cultural critic and Black Panther Marvel comic book author. 7:30 p.m. screenings, conversation, Page Hall

Sunday, Oct. 14: "Beyond Sacred: Voices of Muslim Identity." 7:30 p.m. performance and 8:45 p.m. post-show discussion at the Main Theatre at the Performing Arts Center. Advance tickets $15 for general admission, $10 for students, seniors and UAlbany faculty/staff; $20 general admission and $15 for students, seniors and UAlbany faculty/staff for day-of tickets.

Thursday, Oct. 16: David Gersten, writer and architect. 4:15 p.m. conversation, Standish Room, Science Library; 7 p.m. conversation/Q&A, Recital Hall. A College of Arts and Sciences 25th Anniversary event

Thursday, Oct. 18: Amy Wallen, novelist and memoirist of When We Were Ghouls. 4:15 p.m. craft talk, Standish Room, Science Library

Friday, Oct. 19: Virginia Eubanks, UAlbany professor, author of Automating Inequality. 7 p.m. conversation, University Club of Albany, 141 Washington Ave., Albany

Monday, Oct. 22: Melanie Wallace, senior series producer for "NOVA." 4:15 p.m. conversation, Standish Room; 7 p.m. Q&A and film clips, Recital Hall, A College of Arts and Sciences 25th Anniversary event

Tuesday, Oct. 23: Sujatha Gidla, NYC subway conductor and memoirist of Ants Among Elephants: An Untouchable Family and the Making of Modern India. 4:15 p.m. craft talk, Standish Room; 7:30 p.m. conversation, Huxley Theatre, NYS Museum, 222 Madison Ave., Albany

Thursday, Oct. 25: Stephen Lang, author and playwright of "His Dark Land." 7 p.m. ceremony, conversation at Chancellors Hall, NYS Education building, 89 Washington Ave., Albany

Tuesday, Oct. 30: Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, UAlbany alumnus, author of Friday Black. 4:15 p.m. craft talk; 7:30 p.m. conversation, Recital Hall

NOVEMBER

Thursday, Nov. 1: Jean Shin, sculptor and public installation artist. 7 p.m. Creative Life Series conversation with Joe Donahue, Recital Hall

Tuesday, Nov. 6: Ntozake Shange, playwright and poet, to discuss Wild Beauty, New and Selected Poems of Ntozake Shange. 4:15 p.m. craft talk, Standish Room; 7:30 p.m. conversation, Main Theatre, Performing Arts Center

Thursday, Nov. 8: Esmeralda Santiago, author of When I Was Puerto Rican. 4:15 p.m. craft talk, Multi-Purpose Room; 7 p.m. Creative Life Series conversation with Joe Donahue, Campus Center Ballroom

Tuesday, Nov. 13: Alexander Heffner, host of "The Open Mind" on PBS. 4:15 p.m. craft talk, Multi-Purpose Room; Community readings of America's founding documents, Q&A starting at 7 p.m., Huxley Theatre, NYS Museum

Friday, Nov. 16: Screening and panel discussion of "More Than Words: The Photography of Newsman Bob Paley." 7 p.m. start, Page Hall

Thursday, Nov. 29: Alvaro Enrigue and Valeria Luiselli, "the first couple of Mexican fiction" and authors of Sudden Death (Enrigue) and Tell Me How It Ends: An Essay in 40 Questions (Luiselli). 4:15 p.m., Enrigue talk, Standish Room; 7:30 p.m. Luiselli talk, Touhey Forum, School of Education, College of Saint Rose, 1009 Madison Ave., Albany

DECEMBER

Monday, Dec. 3: Aly Raisman, Olympian, advocate and author of Fierce: How Competing for Myself Changed Everything. 7:30 p.m., SEFCU Arena, Uptown Campus. A ticketed event. More information to follow.

Friday, Dec. 7: Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, author of Bold & Brace: Ten Heroes Who Won Women the Right to Vote. 7:30 p.m. conversation, Page Hall.

CLASSIC FILM SERIES

Friday, Sept. 7: Screening of "Milk," 7:30 p.m., Page Hall, 135 Western Ave., downtown campus

Friday, Sept. 14: Screening of "In The Last Days of the City," with commentary by writer/director Tamer El Said. 7 p.m., Page Hall

Friday, Oct. 5: Screening of "The Seventh Seal," part of the Ingmar Bergman Centennial Film Series. 7:30 p.m., Page Hall

Friday, Oct. 26: Screenings of Japanese-American films "Great Grandfather's Drum" and "Picture Bride." 7 p.m., Page Hall

Friday-Sunday, Nov. 2-4: WCI Film Festival and Lecture Series featuring author Eugene Lim, screening of "Save The Green Planet!" Starts at 7 p.m., The Linda, 339 Central Ave., Albany

Friday, Nov. 9: Screening of "Cries and Whispers" part of the Ingmar Bergman Centennial Film Series. 7:30 p.m., Page Hall.

Friday, Nov. 30: Screening of "The Best Intentions" part of the Ingmar Bergman Centennial Film Series. 7 p.m., Page Hall

Events and panelists subject to change.

For the latest information on the schedule and participants. go to https://www.nyswritersinstitute.org

For additional information contact the Writers Institute at 518-442-5620 or at writers@albany.edu.

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