Yale Bulletin and Calendar

September 17, 2004|Volume 33, Number 3

Norman Mailer

Renowned writer Norman Mailer
to make campus appearance

Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Norman Mailer will visit the campus on Thursday, Sept. 23, for a reading and conversation sponsored by the John Christophe Schlesinger Visiting Writer Fund and Timothy Dwight College.

The event, which is free and open to the public, will take place at 7 p.m. in Sudler Hall of William L. Harkness Hall, 100 Wall St.

Mailer, a graduate of Harvard University, first won critical acclaim for his 1948 novel "The Naked and the Dead," which drew on his combat experiences while serving in the U.S. Army in the Philippines.

Since then, he has been a prolific writer of both fiction and nonfiction, authoring more than 40 books. He won the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award for his 1968 work "The Armies of the Night," about the Vietnam War and the psyche of America during this period. He won a second Pulitzer Prize for his 1979 "The Executioner's Song," about the life of convict Gary Gilmore.

In his nonfiction, Mailer, who has long had an interest in American politics and culture, has covered such topics as the civil rights movement, the Republican and Democratic conventions of 1968 and beyond, the NASA space program, the life of Picasso and other noted figures, and the women's movement. His works in this category include "Marilyn: A Biography," about Marilyn Monroe; "Genius and Lust," a portrait of Henry Miller; "The Fight," a description of the heavyweight boxing championship in Zaire between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman; "Oswald's Tale," about Lee Harvey Oswald; and the controversial "The Gospel According to the Son," a retelling of the story of Jesus Christ told in the first person.

His fiction includes "Ancient Evenings," "Harlot's Ghost," and "Tough Guys Don't Dance." He has also published a collection of poetry and several collections of essays and commentary.

His most recent work, published as Mailer turned 80, is "The Spooky Art," a collection of writings about writing.

Over his long career, Mailer has also been a Hollywood scriptwriter and screenwriter, an independent candidate for mayor of New York City (1969), a political activist and a cultural critic. He has devoted much of his time to the Actors Studio in New York and PEN, for which he served for two years as president. He is the father of nine children and currently resides in Provincetown, Massachusetts.

The John-Christophe Schlesinger Visiting Writer Fund was established in 1999 by Mr. and Mrs. Richard Schlesinger of Pound Ridge, New York, in order to enrich the experience of student writers in Yale College by supporting annual visits to campus by distinguished or emerging authors.

T H I SW E E K ' SS T O R I E S

Yale employee's new home is the result of . . .

Neurologist Lo wins Presidential Early Career Award

Exhibit explore mysteries of the giant squid

Series will introduce new World Fellows to Yale community

Levin reports improvements in U.S. visa procedures

Grant funds study exploring the link between . . .

Yale professor's watercolors featured in JE exhibit

Bruce Carmichael is appointed an assistant provost

In Focus: Department of Surgery

Renowned writer Norman Mailer to make campus appearance

Scholars will examine the iconic career of pop star . . .

Life is portrayed as a messy affair in Rep's 'Clean House'

Fast-paced opera 'thriller' will make its American debut at Yale

Yale to give matching grant of $100,000 . . .

2003-2004 Yale United Way Donors

Artist's paintings explore common human bonds

Conference to celebrate birth of the 'founder of humanism'

Researchers find that the media's science reporting is politically biased

Grants will support two ongoing preservation projects at Yale Library

President appoints search committee for next dean of the School of Nursing

Study: Drug aprotinin reduces risk of stroke . . .

Yale scientists bring quantum optics to a microchip

IN MEMORIAM