The Celebrity Lecture Series

Dean John Eadie and Professor Robert Fiore of Michigan State University introduce Chilean writer, Isabel Allende. Fiore shares Allende's turbulent past with the audience, both in terms of her personal life and literary career. In her lecture, Allende explains that she has been a storyteller since her childhood. She recounts stories of how she first...

Jim McClintock of the Department of English at Michigan State University introduces writer Richard Ford. Ford begins by talking about the nature of writing. He uses language as a way of forcing himself to fit into an environment in which he doesn't belong and as a way of explaining himself to a tough audience, a skill he developed early in his life...

Introductions for Mexican author Carlos Fuentes are made by Dean John Eadie of the College of Arts and Letters at Michigan State University and Professor George Mansour, chair person of the Department of Romance and Classical Languages. Mansour describes how Fuentes' diverse background led him to become a writer of great perspective and vision. A...

Author Joyce Carol Oates is introduced by John Eadie and Leonora Smith. Oates lectures on the life of a writer as well as her life in Michigan. She relates how moving from the country to Detroit changed her both as a person and as a writer and how her environment affected her literature. Oates also describes the relationship between the city and so...

At the beginning of this clip, John Eadie, dean of the College of Arts and Letters at Michigan State University, and Tess Tavormina, professor of English and associate dean, introduce author Amy Tan. Tavormina praises the attention to detail that Tan gives to the names in her stories. Tan discusses "the ghosts of my imagination" in her lecture and ...

Joyce Ramsay, professor in the department of theatre at Michigan State University, introduces playwright August Wilson, by summarizing his impressive career in theatre. Wilson opens the lecture by talking about his past and what he has discovered about himself as a person. He speaks eloquently about his discovery of poetry, the theatre, and their...