The Celebrity Lecture Series

Playwright Edward Albee is introduced by Dean John Eadie and Professor Joyce Ramsay of Michigan State University. Ramsay praises Albee as “the most important American playwright who is writing today” while enumerating the playwright's many works and awards. Edward Albee begins his lecture by talking about his chaotic education that eventually led h...

Introductions for poet and writer Maya Angelou are made by Dean John Eadie of Michigan State University and poet Diane Wakoski, who details the wide array of Angelou's accomplishments. Angelou begins her lecture topic, poetry, with a poem. To discuss poetry is to reflect on love and the human condition. Angelou stresses the importance of becoming f...

Author Margaret Atwood is introduced by Dean John Eadie and Professor Anita Skeen. Skeen describes the intertwining of human love and cruelty in Atwood's works. Atwood commences the lecture by discussing the nature of being a writer and details that her lecture is to be about the bad behavior of female characters in novels. In her writing, she repr...

Dean John Eadie and Professor Katherine Fishburn introduce popular writer Pat Conroy; Fishburn describes the correlations between the writer's life and his works. Conroy begins his lecture, using humor and captivating storytelling, by detail the hardships of his childhood and family life in the south. He also describes his family members' reactions...

Introductions for writer Norman Mailer are made by Dean John Eadie and Professor Kathleen Rout who describes many of Mailer's controversial works for the audience. Mailer begins his lecture by stating that he has no idea about what he is going to lecture. The first topic he stumbles onto is the perks of being an artist, in which he discusses the dr...

Professor Derek Walcott is introduced by Dean John Eadie and Professor Diane Wakoski. Wakoski compares the originality and beauty of Walcott's poetry to that of Walt Whitman. Derek Walcott talks about his epic poem, ...

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...