H. Louise & H.E. "Ed" Cobb Speaker Series

This Year's Speaker is Charles Johnson

Dr. Charles Johnson, a scholar of African-American literature and short story writer, is the first African-American man to win National Book Award since Ralph Ellison.

Johnson, whose balance of philosophy and folklore has been praised since the publication of his first novel in 1974, gained prominence when his novel Middle Passage won the National Book Award in 1990.

He has authored 18 books, more than 20 screenplays, 1000 drawings, and numerous essays, articles, short stories, literary reviews and works of criticism. He has also worked as an editor, cartoonist, journalist and, until his retirement in 2009 after 33 years of teaching, was a very popular professor at the University of Washington.

Event Details

November 5, 2010
ConocoPhillips OSU Alumni Center, OSU-Stillwater

6 pm Welcome Reception
Reservations will be held at the door, guests may check-in at the reception table.
6:30 pm Dinner & Program
Charles Johnson will present the after-dinner program and take questions from the audience.
8:30 pm Booksigning Reception
Selections of the Johnson's work will be available for purchase. Guests are welcome to bring personal copies to be signed.

Dress is business attire. Guests can park in the Student Union Parking Garage off University Avenue.

Ticket Information
(including how students can receive free tickets!)

About the Speaker Series

The H. Louise & H.E. "Ed" Cobb Speaker Series was established in 1991. It is the primary fundraising event for the Friends of the OSU Library. All proceeds from the event directly benefit the OSU Libraries.

The series is presented annually by the Friends of the OSU Library to recognize an outstanding body of work that has profoundly influenced the way in which we understand ourselves and American society at large. A selection committee chooses the keynote speaker on a noncompetitive basis.

This event is made possible each year thanks to the ongoing generosity of the Cobb family.

Contact

For more information on giving to the Library contact the Library Dean's Office at lib-pub@okstate.edu or 405-744-6321.