University Of North Alabama's Writer's Series Welcomes Author, Peter Balakian

Feb. 01, 2017

Michelle Eubanks, UNA, at media@una.edu, 256.765.4392 or 256.606.2033

Bryan Rachal, University Communications FLORENCE, Ala. - The University of North Alabama Department of English will welcome author Peter Balakian as the featured guest of the 2017 Writer's Series. Balakian is the author of seven books of poetry, four books of prose, and two translations. Ozone Journal, his most recent collection, was the winner of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. He will read from his works Thursday, March 16, at 11 a.m., in the GUC performance Center. A book signing and reception will follow. Balakian's other collections include: Ziggurat (2010), June-tree: New and Selected Poems (1974-2000), Father Fisheye (1979), Sad Days of Light (1983), Reply From Wilderness Island (1988), and Dyer's Thistle (1996). He is also the author of the memoir Black Dog of Fate, winner of the PEN/Albrand Prize for memoir and a New York Times Notable Book; and The Burning Tigress: The Armenian Genocide and America's Response, winner of the 2005 Raphael Lemkin Prize, a New York Times Notable Book and New York Times and national bestseller. Born in Teaneck, New Jersey, Balakian earned his B.A. from Bucknell, an M.A. from New York University, and his Ph.D. in American Civilization from Brown University. He has taught at Colgate University since 1980, where he is currently the Donald M. and Constance H. Rebar Professor of Humanities in the Department of English, and Director of Creative Writing. He was the first director of Colgate's Center for Ethics and World Societies. The UNA Writer's Series is possible thanks to support from the UNA English Department and funding from the Alabama Humanities Foundation and the Alabama State Council on the Arts. Balakian's reading is made possible, in part, by grants from the Alabama Humanities Foundation and the Alabama State Council on the Arts. All events are free and open to the public. For more information: the UNA English Department at (256) 765-4890 or https://www.una.edu/english/una-writers-series.html