Press Releases

GRANVILLE—In association with Denison University’s creative writing program, author Tony D’Souza will discuss his award-winning novel “Whiteman,” along with his other fiction writing, as a part of the Harriet Ewens Beck Fund Visiting Writers Series.  D’Souza will be speaking on Tuesday, Feb. 12, at 8 p.m. in the Barney-Davis Board Room (200 West Loop.) The discussion is free and open to the public.

D’Souza’s “Whiteman” is the winner of the Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. “Whiteman” chronicles D’Souza’s experience during his stay in Cote d’Ivoire before, during, and after an African civil war. The novel is based on D’Souza’s life as a Peace Corps volunteer in Africa, but D’Souza himself doesn’t consider “Whiteman” to be a “Peace Corps novel.” However, according to critics, it is one of the most moving Peace Corps stories written.

An acclaimed author and honored activist, D’Souza was born in Chicago, Ill., and has earned degrees in writing from Hollins University and the University of Notre Dame. His fiction has been featured in esteemed periodicals such as The New Yorker, Salon, and Esquire and has been interviewed on Today and the BBC. He served three years in the Peace Corps in West Africa where he was an AIDS educator in rural areas. His second novel, “The Konkans,” will be released in February 2008. He lives in Sarasota, Fla.


CALENDAR LISTING, Denison University, Granville—Harriet Ewens Beck Fund Visiting Writers Series talk by author Tony D’Souza, 8 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 12, Barney Davis-Board Room (200 West Loop). Free and open to the public. Call 740-587-6220 to confirm information.