Literary journalist Susan Orlean shares her unconventional wisdom on travel, writing at UCI

EVENT: Susan Orlean, known for her humorous pieces in The New Yorker about quirky and unexpected topics, will discuss and sign copies of her new essay collection My Kind of Place: Travel Stories from a Woman Who’s Been Everywhere. The book chronicles her often unconventional global adventures – from Paris to the World Taxidermy Championships in Springfield, Illinois. Orlean has been a staff writer for The New Yorker since 1982 and has contributed to Vogue, Rolling Stone and Esquire. She is the author of several books, including The Orchid Thief, which led to the feature film Adaptation. This event is sponsored by Susan and William Pereira as part of the UCI School of Humanities’ Literary Journalism Program.

DATE: Tuesday, May 1, 2007
TIME: 7 p.m. lecture; book signing and reception to follow
LOCATION: Crystal Cove Auditorium, Student Center

BACKGROUND: This is the second annual Pereira Distinguished Lecture, part of a series that annually brings a prominent writer to give a public lecture and teach master classes for UCI’s literary journalism students. The series is funded by Susan and William Pereira.

The only undergraduate major of its kind, UCI’s Literary Journalism Program was created to meet the needs of a growing number of students who wish to read, study and write nonfiction prose that adopts the techniques of the finest fiction. Directed by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author Barry Siegel, the program provides students with a foundation in nonfiction feature writing as well as literary history.