In celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Jewish Studies program at Kent State University, the Guest of Honor University Artist/Lecture Series presents New York Times Bestselling Author Gary Shteyngart on March 18 at 7:00 p.m. in the KIVA.
A candid, witty, and deeply poignant account of his life so far, Shteyngart will read selections from his New York Times bestselling memoir, Little Failure, in which he shares his American immigrant experience, moving back and forth through time and memory with self-deprecating humor, moving insights, and literary bravado.
Off the page, Shteyngart is a masterful storyteller recounting his life as a Lenin-loving, ratty-fur-overcoat-wearing child to his anxiety-attack-prone twenties in New York. As a speaker, Shteyngart explores what it means to be an immigrant, a son, an American, a grown-up, and a writer.
Shteyngart is the author of three acclaimed novels including Super Sad True Love Story, which won the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize and was selected as one of the best books of the year by more than forty news journals and magazines around the world; Absurdistan, which was chosen as one of the ten best books of the year by The New York Times Book Review and Time magazine; and The Russian Debutante’s Handbook, winner of the Stephen Crane Award for First Fiction and the National Jewish Book Award for Fiction. His work has appeared in The New Yorker, Travel + Leisure, Esquire, GQ, The New York Times Magazine, and many other publications.
Shteyngart earned a degree in politics from Oberlin College in Ohio and an MFA in creative writing from Hunter College. He currently teaches creative writing at Columbia University and Princeton University and lives in New York City.
This event is free and open to the public. A reception will follow in the Multicultural Student Center. Books will be available for purchase and signing.
For questions about the event or for special accommodations for accessibility, please contact the Honors College at 330-672-2312 or honors@kent.edu.
For more information about Gary Shteyngart, visit garyshteyngart.com.
The Guest of Honor University Artist/Lecture Series is sponsored by the Office of the Provost and coordinated by the Honors College. The Spring 2015 Guest of Honor: Gary Shteyngart is co-sponsored by the Jewish Studies program.