2004 PULITZER WINNER IN FICTION TO READ AT BRYN MAWR

Edward P. Jones, winner of the 2004 Pulitzer Prize in fiction, is giving a reading at Bryn Mawr on Tuesday, Nov. 9, at 7:30 p.m. in Thomas Great Hall. The reading is free and open to the public.

Jones' reading at the College is part of the yearlong Creative Writing Program Reading Series with appearances by award-winning novelists, short-fiction writers and poets.

The nation's capital, where Jones was born and raised, served as the setting for his first book, Lost in the City, a collection of 14 short stories of African-American life. Described by Publishers Weekly as "insightful portraits of young people and frank, unsensationalized depictions of horrifying social ills," Lost in the City was a finalist for a National Book Award.

Jones was named a National Book Award finalist for a second time with the publication of his first novel, The Known World, which subsequently won the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for fiction. Set in antebellum Virginia, the story focuses on Henry Townsend, a black farmer, boot maker and former slave, who, with the help of a powerful landowner, becomes head of his own plantation.

In the past month Jones was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Often called "the genius award," a MacArthur Fellowship recognizes "originality, creativity and the potential to do more in the future."

A recipient of the PEN-Hemingway Award and a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship, Jones has taught fiction at Princeton University, George Mason University and the University of Maryland. His work has appeared in numerous journals and magazines, including The Paris Review, Essence and Ploughshares.

Jones' reading at Bryn Mawr is sponsored by the Whitehill-Linn Fund.

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