Photo by Martha Updike

Author John Updike to speak at Lenoir-Rhyne

Internationally recognized author John Updike will speak at Lenoir-Rhyne College at 8 p.m. Nov. 16 in the P.E. Monroe Auditorium, located at 775 6th St. NE in Hickory.

His appearance is presented free of charge to the public through the college's Visiting Writers Series: In Their Own Words and Resource Partners LLC Portfolio and Wealth Management. No reservations or tickets are required; doors open at 7:30 p.m.

New this fall is a Visiting Writers Book Club, which provides an opportunity to learn more about the author before his appearance. A discussion about Updike's book "Terrorist" (published in 2006) will be held at 7 p.m. Nov. 9 in the Quiet Room of the Rudisill Library. "Terrorist" tells the story of a disaffected Arab-American teenager and his involvement with the jihad movement. The discussion leader will be Stephen Neuville, an adjunct faculty member at Lenoir-Rhyne. Anyone interested in learning more about this book is invited.

Updike is an internationally recognized novelist, poet, short story writer and literary critic. Born in 1932 in Reading, Pennsylvania and raised in Shillington and Plowville Pennsylvania, he attended college at Harvard. He has published more than 40 books.

His numerous awards include the Guggenheim Fellowship, National Book Award, O. Henry Prize, American Book Award, National Book Critics Circle Award, National Medal of the Arts and Pulitzer Prize. In 1976, he became a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. In 2003, he received the National Medal for Humanities at the White House, joining a very small group of notables who have been honored with both the National Medal of Art and the National Medal for the Humanities.

He is best known for his novels about Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom, including "Rabbit Run," "Rabbit Redux," "Rabbit is Rich" and "Rabbit at Rest." The series chronicles the life of everyman Rabbit Angstrom as he lives through different decades of the 20th century.

All readings in the Visiting Writers Series are free and open to the public thanks to the generous support of our donors. This project received support from the North Carolina Arts Council, an agency funded by the state of North Carolina and the National Endowment for the Arts, which believes that a great nation deserves great art. Other supporters of this year's Visiting Writers Series include Barnes & Noble Booksellers; Ron and Sandra Deal; the Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina; Holiday Inn Select; the Thomas W. Reese Institute for Conservation of Natural Resources; the Trust for Public Land; People's Bank; Resource Partners LLC Portfolio and Wealth Management; United Arts Council of Catawba County; and WFAE 90.7, Your NPR News Source.