Press Releases
 

July 6, 2004

Special On-Stage Events Highlight Southampton College Writers Conference
Tickets Available to the Public for Evening Performances With Billy Collins, Frank McCourt, Alan Alda, Mercedes Ruehl and others

Contact:
Patricia Conway
631-287-8313

Southampton, NY — Four one-of-a-kind on-stage events will highlight this year’s nationally renowned Southampton College Writers Conference, taking place July 14-25.

An exciting weekend of events is planned on July 16 and 17 when former U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins and author Frank McCourt present a special evening on Friday, and Roger Rosenblatt’s staged reading "Ashley Montana Goes Ashore in the Caicos or What Am I Doing Here?" starring Alan Alda and Mercedes Ruehl, takes the stage on Saturday.

The weekend is followed by a staged reading of a new play "Miss Witherspoon," by Christopher Durang on Monday, July 19 and "Splendor in the Grass," a gala reading and benefit with Collins, McCourt, Rosenblatt, Peter Matthiessen, Nora Ephron and surprise guests, will take place on Friday, July 23.

All events are open to the public. Tickets are $25 per person to the Collins/McCourt evening, which will take place on the College’s Chancellor’s Hall Lawn at 7:30 p.m., and $45 for the two staged readings, both in the Avram Theatre, at 8 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., respectively. A donation is requested to the "Splendor in the Grass" event, which will be held on the Chancellor’s Hall Lawn from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Call (631)287-8175 for reservations.

Billy Collins, author of seven collections of poetry, including "Questions About Angels," and "The Art of Drowning," is a Distinguished Professor of English at Lehman College of the City University of New York and a visiting writer at Sarah Lawrence College. He was appointed Poet Laureate of the United States for 2001-2002.

Frank McCourt is the author of "Angela's Ashes," for which he won the 1997 Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Critics Circle Award, The Boston Book Review's Non-Fiction Prize, the ABBY Award and the Los Angeles Times Book Award. He is also the author of "Tis."

Winner of a Robert F. Kennedy Book Prize, a Peabody Award, an Emmy, and two George Polk awards, Roger Rosenblatt is University Professor of Writing at Southampton College of Long Island University. He writes essays for Time magazine and for "The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer." Rosenblatt’s latest book is "Anything Can Happen: Notes on My Inadequate Life and Yours."

Alan Alda is best known for his role as Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce in the long running television hit, "M*A*S*H." He has appeared in nearly 20 films, serving as writer, director and star of four of them. He currently hosts "Scientific American Frontiers," an award-winning series of science programs on PBS.

Alda has also been a friend to Southampton College for the past several years. He delivered the Southampton College commencement speech in 2003 and gave a lecture on dramatic writing to film, theater and English students that attracted hundreds of his fans that same spring. He also participated in a reading of John Guare’s play, "Lydie Breeze," at the 2002 Southampton College Writers Conference.

Mercedes Ruehl made a big splash as a gun-toting mafia moll in "Married to the Mob," and received an Oscar award as best supporting actress for her role in "The Fisher King." She won a Tony award for her Broadway performance in 1991’s "Lost in Yonkers" and appeared in the movie of the same name in 1993. Her other film appearances include "Radio Days," "Slaves of New York," "Last Action Hero," "Out of the Cold," "What's Cooking?" and "More Dogs Than Bones." She also had a three-year recurring role on the television sitcom "Frasier."

Playwright Christopher Durang has had plays both on and off Broadway including "The Nature and Purpose of the Universe," "Titanic," "A History of the American Film," "Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You," "The Marriage of Bette and Boo" and "Betty's Summer Vacation." He is a two-time Obie winner, a Tony Award nominee and received a Drama Desk nomination for "Betty's Summer Vacation." He has also written several screenplays and has been awarded numerous fellowships and grants for his work. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild Council and is co-chair of the playwriting program at Juilliard.

The 29th annual Southampton College Writers Conference runs July 14-25. Through workshops, lectures, readings and discussions, the Conference offers inspiration and guidance to new and established writers. This year’s faculty and lecturers include Rosenblatt, McCourt, Collins, Tom Wolfe, E.L. Doctorow, Joyce Carol Oates, Carol-Muske-Dukes, Melissa Bank, Clark Blaise, Matt Klam and Bharati Mukhrejee.

For more information on the Writers Conference, call the Southampton College Summer Office at (631)287-8175 or visit: http://www.southampton.liu.edu/summer/2004/wc2004.htm