RICHARDSON, Texas (Aug. 10, 2005) — Dr. Tim Redman, a popular professor of literary studies in the School of Arts and Humanities at The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD), has been elected interim president of PEN Texas, an association of prominent literary writers and editors.

Among other tasks, Redman will focus on updating the group’s bylaws and cultivating its Web presence. He is expected to serve as president for about a year, or until a permanent president is named.

 
Dr. Tim Redman

PEN is an acronym for Poets, Playwrights, Editors, Essayists and Novelists. PEN International was established in London in 1921 as a literary community unbounded by politics or government. The group works to advance literature, defend free expression, foster international fellowship and to dispel national, ethnic and racial hatreds. Among the organization’s founders were such literary luminaries as George Bernard Shaw, D. H. Lawrence, Clara Dawson Scott, Joseph Conrad and John Galsworthy.

PEN Texas was founded in 1991 by Patton Howell, who served as the state organization’s first and only president until his death last spring. Redman, who along with about a dozen other writers and editors also helped establish the chapter, has served on the PEN Texas board of directors since the organization’s inception. Membership is open by application to the national center to those who have demonstrated work of substantial literary value. In 1993, Redman was accepted as a member of PEN Center U.S.A., a national organization based in Los Angeles.

The author of Ezra Pound and Italian Fascism (Cambridge University Press, 1991), Redman currently is at work on a biography on Pound. He also is the founder and director of UTD’s world-famous chess program. Redman is an occasional book reviewer for The Dallas Morning News and organized “The Writers’ Toolbox: How to Get a Literary Agent” for PEN at U. T. Dallas in 2003. He currently serves as chief Texas judge for the PEN Southwest Book Awards (jointly sponsored by PEN Texas and PEN New Mexico).

Redman received a lifetime achievement award from PEN Texas in 2001 for his involvement with the Lone Star Writing Contest, his commitment to the Freedom-to-Write Committee, his biographical work on Pound and his involvement with chess as an educational tool.

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 more than 14,000 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.