GRANVILLE- Michael Zadoorian, winner of the Great Lakes Colleges Association New Writers Award for 2001 in fiction, will visit Denison University as part of the Harriet Ewens Beck Lecture Series. This lecture, set for 8 p.m., Thursday (Nov. 8) in the Faculty Lounge of Slayter Hall, is free and open to the public.

Michael Zadoorian

A native and current resident of Detroit, Zadoorian earned the GLCA award forSecond Hand: A Novel(W.W. Norton Publishers). The book was a Booksense 76 selection and also was chosen for the Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers Program. It was released as a paperback in May 2001 by Random House/Dell.

Second Handis the story of a junk-store owner who swoons over kitsch and castoffs but toughens when it comes to affairs of the heart. His quiet life is turned upside down when his mother suddenly dies, leaving him to sift through her belongings and make sense of her life. And when a "junk goddess" wanders into his store, Richard finds himself reconsidering his once complacent existence.

Zadoorian earned both his bachelor's and master's degrees in English at Wayne State University, where he received three Tompkins Awards for his fiction and essays as well as the Longhead-Elredge Scholarship for Creative Writing. His short fiction has appeared in The Literary Review, The North American Review, Beloit Fiction Journal, American Short Fiction and The Pre-Press Awards 2: Michigan Voices (an anthology of new Michigan writers).

The Beck Lecture Series features scholars whose work is in the field of creative writing and is made possible by the Harriet Ewens Beck Fund. The fund is named in honor of the late Harriet Ewens Beck and was established by her husband, Gordon Clark Beck, a 1906 Denison graduate. Over 250 distinguished writers -- poets, novelists, short story writers, dramatists, and critics -- have visited Denison as Beck lecturers in the past 32 years.

For press inquiries:

Name

Barbara Stambaugh

Position Title

Director, Media Relations

Primary Email

stambaughb@denison.edu

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(740) 587-8575