Authors Bragg, Vlautin to Give Reading as Part of UA’s Bankhead Visiting Writers Series

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Rick Bragg and author Willy Vlautin will give readings Thursday, April 5 at 7:30 p.m. at the Bama Theatre, as part of the Bankhead Visiting Writers Series.

Rick Bragg is the author of “All Over but the Shoutin’,” “Ava’s Man,” “Somebody Told Me” and “I Am a Soldier, Too: The Jessica Lynch Story.” He has worked as a reporter for the Anniston Star, the Birmingham News, the St. Petersburg Times, the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times. Bragg was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in feature writing in 1996. He is a professor of writing in UA’s College of Communication and Information Sciences.

Willy Vlautin has had stories published in such magazines as Zembla, Cold Drill, Sun Dog, Southeast Review, and Chiron Review. His first novel, “The Motel Life,” has been published in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and France, and will appear in the United States this month. He is also the lead singer and songwriter of the internationally acclaimed band, Richmond Fontaine.

The reading is free and open to the public. A reception will follow.

The Bankhead Visiting Writers Series is made possible by an endowment from the Bankhead Foundation, The University of Alabama’s Program in Creative Writing, the department of English and the College of Arts and Sciences. For more information, contact UA’s creative writing program at 205/348-0766.

The College of Arts and Sciences is the University’s largest division and the largest liberal arts college in the state. Students from the College have won numerous national awards including Rhodes Scholarships, Goldwater Scholarships and memberships on the “USA Today” Academic All American Team.