Celebrity Lectures discussing "Writing Across Cultures":
Isabel Allende 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...
Maya Angelou 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...
E.L. Doctorow Publisher, professor, novelist, and playwright Edgar Lawrence Doctorow is introduced by John Eadie, dean of the College of Arts and Letters and Alan Suits, architect and founding president of the Dean’s Community Council. Doctorow commences his lecture by addressing “how writers write,” including the importance of sentence structure within a story,...
Carlos Fuentes 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...
Terry McMillan Author Terry McMillan is introduced by Dean John Eadie and Professor Geneva Smitherman. Smitherman summarizes McMillan's literary career and praises her representation of the African American female experience. McMillan lectures on her novel ...
Amy Tan 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 ...
Paul Theroux Introductions for writer Paul Theroux are made by Dean Wendy Wilkins and Professor Patrick O'Donnell. O'Donnell discusses the wanderings of Paul Theroux across concepts and continents in order to create "difference" in his writing. Theroux commences his lecture by discussing the oddness of being a stranger when one is traveling. He explains the con...