RICHARDSON,
Texas (Oct. 16, 2003) – The University of Texas at Dallas professor and novelist R. Clay Reynolds
will give this years fall presentation in the McDermott Library-UTD Mercury Writers
Series at 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 29.
Dr. Reynolds presentation will be
titled, A Reading and Conversation About Writing. The free lecture will be held in the
McDermott Library Auditorium (MC 2.410) located on the ground floor of the library on the UTD campus.
Visitors are welcome and should obtain a parking pass at the security house in the middle of University
Parkway about one-eighth of a mile north of Campbell Rd.
This is the third year we have joined
our campus newspaper, the UTD Mercury, in presenting writers, but this is the first time
the speaker has been a member of our faculty, said Dr. Larry Sall, director of UTD Libraries. Through
these events we hope more people on campus and from the community will learn about the extraordinary
level of talented faculty we have here at UTD.
Larry McMurtry has called Reynolds work ambitious
and absorbing. Dee Brown acclaimed it as superb.
Reynolds, associate dean of Undergraduate
Studies in UTDs School of Arts and Humanities, has published eight novels and four non-fiction
books. His most recent novels are Threading the Needle (May 2003), Ars Poetica: A Postmodern
Parable (January 2003) and The Tentmaker (December, 2002).
Reynolds third novel, Franklins
Crossing, received the Violet Crown Award for fiction as well as other awards and honors.
He also won the Violet Crown Award in 2000 for Monuments. Both novels were finalists
for the Western Writers of America Spur Award, which has also recognized Reynolds short
fiction. Reynolds has been runner-up for both essay and fiction prizes from PEN Texas and received
grants from the Texas Commission for the Arts. He is a National Endowment for the Arts fellow.
While our newspaper staff is focused
on journalism, having a writer and editor of Dr. Reynolds caliber will provide a better understanding
of writing, publishing and editing for our students, said Jay Miller, student media adviser
at UTD.
Reynolds currently serves as a member of
the Mercurys operating board. A veteran editor of both fiction and non-fiction, Reynolds
serves as a consultant for individual manuscripts and the publishing business. He holds academic
degrees from the University of Texas at Austin (B.A.), Trinity University (M.A.) and the University
of Tulsa (Ph.D.)
Reynolds presentation on Oct. 29 will
include a book signing.
About UTD
The University of Texas at Dallas, located at the convergence of Richardson, Plano and Dallas in the heart
of the complex of major multinational technology corporations known as the Telecom Corridor,
enrolls about 13,700 students. The school’s freshman class traditionally stands at the forefront
of Texas state universities in terms of average SAT scores. The university offers a broad assortment
of bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree programs. For additional information about UTD, please
visit the university’s web site at www.utdallas.edu.