2005-2006

News Release

REF NO.: 54

SUBJECT: Alberto Manguel to give a public reading from A Reading Diary

DATE: October 17, 2005

Internationally-acclaimed anthologist, translator, essayist, novelist and editor Alberto Manguel will give a reading from his book A Reading Diary on Thursday, Oct. 20, 2005. The reading will take place at 7:30 p.m.in the Petro-Canada Hall, Schoolof Music on Memorial’s St. John’scampus. Members of the public are invited to attend. Admission is free and free parking is available in Area 15, across from the School of Music.

A Reading Diary(2004) is a journey through a year’s worth of best-loved books. From June 2002 to May 2003, Manguel set out to re-read 12 of his favorite books and to share with readers his impressions and experiences while doing so. The result is an enjoyable collection of something resembling an intimate diary, a collection of literary thoughts and the best travel memoir. Readers are re-introduced to books by well-known writers such as Margaret Atwood, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, H. G. Wells and Cervantes and introduced to other lesser known writers like Sei Shonagon and Adolfo Bioy Casares. Touching on themes of home and wandering, memory and loss, Alberto Manguel perfectly traces the threads between our reading and our lived experience.

Alberto Manguel is the author of several award-winning books including international bestseller A History of Reading, chosen as one of the best books of the year by the Times Literary Supplement and winner of France’s Prix Medicis, and Reading Pictures which was short-listed for the Governor General’s Award for Non-Fiction. He was born in Buenos Aires, became a Canadian citizen in 1982, and now lives in France, where he was named an Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters. His most recent book is a novella titled Stevenson Under the Palm Trees.

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