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| Journalist and author Patsy Sims will present a free, public reading at Susquehanna University March 19. |
March 13, 2007
SELINSGROVE, Pa. -- Acclaimed nonfiction writer Patsy Sims will present a reading of her work at 7:30 p.m., Monday, March 19, in Isaacs Auditorium of Seibert Hall at Susquehanna University . Her reading, sponsored by The Writers Institute's Visiting Writers Series, is free and open to the public. Books by Sims will be available for purchase and signing following the reading.
Most notable of her works is The Klan, which chronicles Sims' investigation of individual members of the Ku Klux Klan. The book was first published in 1978 and revised in 1996, following the Oklahoma City bombings and other domestic terrorist activities.
In preparing to write this book, Sims traveled over 1,200 miles of back roads in the South. She gathered more than 150 hours of taped interviews that reveal experiences of both Klanspeople and their victims. During two years spent researching the topic and writing her book, Sims kept in contact with Klan leaders as well as other members of the KKK.
“That her subjects talked so freely is a tribute to her skill,” raved Publishers Weekly.
Sims is also the author of Can Somebody Shout Amen!: Inside the Tents and Tabernacles of American Revivalists; Cleveland Benjamin's Dead: A Struggle for Dignity in Louisiana's Cane Country; and Literary Nonfiction: Learning by Example.
She has received the National Endowment for the Arts creative writing fellowship, two Associated Press awards for investigative reporting, and an Academy Award nomination for the documentary “The Klan: A Legacy of Hate.”
Sims earned her B.A. from Tulane University and her M.A. from the University of Maryland. She previously taught at the University of Pittsburgh and now serves as the director of the graduate nonfiction program at Goucher College in Maryland.
Sims is the fifth of six visiting writers scheduled to read at Susquehanna University during the 2006-2007 academic year. On April 19, the Writers Institute will host a publication reading of RiverCraft, a literary magazine produced by Susquehanna students. Visiting editor Charles Valle will speak at the event.
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Contact: Victoria Kidd
570-372-4119
#vk/5078#
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