By Daily Press staff
Santa Monica College will launch a Literary Series — featuring some of America’s leading writers — on Sept. 30. The series is being held as part of the college’s celebration of the completion of a $23.6 million library expansion and modernization project.
The literary series, free and open to the public, will feature Marcos McPeek Villatoro in September, SMC faculty writers in October, and the works of Zora Neale Hurston in November. The series is sponsored by the SMC Associates, a private organization that funds speakers and special programs on campus, and the SMC English department. Seating is on a first-come, first-seated basis, except for the Nov. 14 Hurston event, when reservations are required.
“I’m very excited about this literary series, not only because of the caliber of writers we are featuring, but because it celebrates our beautiful new and improved library as well as the diversity found in modern American literature,” said Judy Neveau, SMC community relations director and producer of the series.
The lineup is: ■Thursday, Sept. 30 at 11:15 a.m. — Marcos McPeek Villatoro, who will lecture and read from his book Minos, the latest Romilia Chacon mystery. Villatoro is an acclaimed author and poet who holds the Fletcher Jones Endowed Chair in Writing at Mount St. Mary’s College in Los Angeles and is a regular commentator for National Public Radio’s new show, “Day to Day.” The event will be in the SMC Concert Hall, 1900 Pico Blvd. ■Friday, Oct. 24 at 7 p.m. — “An Evening with SMC Faculty Writers,” featuring poetry, prose and dialogue with distinguished SMC faculty authors including Wil Doucet, Carol Davis, Mario Padilla and others. The event will be in the SMC Concert Hall, 1900 Pico Blvd. ■Friday, Nov. 14 at 7 p.m. — “An Evening of Zora Neale Hurston: A Writer Beyond Her Time.” The event features historical background by author and USC professor Dr. Carla Kaplan, who edited Zora Neale Hurston: A Life in Letters, and dramatic readings of Hurston’s works by Denise Woods, A California Institute of the Arts theater professor who recorded Hurston’s “Their Eyes Were Watching God.” The event will be in the SMC Library, 1900 Pico Blvd.
SMC’s library opened Aug. 26 for the fall semester, but a grand opening ceremony will be held at 11:15 a.m., Tuesday, Oct. 14. The long-awaited project nearly doubles the size of the facility and provides widespread Internet access.
For information about the SMC Literary Series, call (310) 434-4003.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on September 25, 2003. Read the original PDF.