Michael Thomas, author of Man Gone Down, a New York Times Notable Book, and winner of the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, will read fiction at Pittsburg State University as a Distinguished Visiting Author. His reading is at 8 p.m. Thursday, November 5, in Grubbs Hall 109, and is free and open to the public.
In June of this year, Thomas was awarded the prestigious IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, one of the most lucrative literary prizes in the world-his novel was selected from 145 books nominated by libraries around the globe, of which four were from the US. The New York Times writes, "The IMPAC Dublin award is often described as 'the largest and most international' literary prize in the world after the Nobel." In a Booklist starred review of Man Gone Down, Donna Seaman wrote, "Thomas has written a rhapsodic and piercing post-9/11 lament over aggression, greed, and racism, and a ravishing blues for the soul's unending loneliness."
Thomas received his MFA from Warren Wilson College and is currently a full-time Professor of English at Hunter College in Manhattan. In an excerpt from Man Gone Down, Thomas writes of 9-11: "C's on his bunk, looking out the window. I see his face. He's a child, then he's not, at least not in his face: It's wiped clear-no chocolate, no jam smears, no innocence. Then the child returns, which is worse, because that face can't absorb the horror of the fire across the river."
Novelist Karen Stolz, Assistant Professor of Creative Writing and Literature at PSU, says, "I am thrilled we were able to get internationally recognized author Michael Thomas to come read here. Our creative writing students are really looking forward to this event." Thomas' reading is sponsored by the Distinguished Visiting Writer Series and Student Fee Council. A reception will follow Thomas' reading.
