KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – David Madden will return to Knoxville to speak about his most recent book-length publication, a collection of stories titled “The Last Bizarre Tale,” at the September program of the Knoxville Writers’ Guild.
The event, which will be open to the public, begins at 7 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 4, at the Laurel Theater, at the corner of Laurel Avenue and 16th Street in Fort Sanders. A $2 donation is requested at the door. The building is handicapped accessible. Additional parking is available at Redeemer Church of Knoxville, 1642 Highland Ave.
“Madden is considered one of the three big literary novelists to come out of Knoxville, along with Cormac McCarthy and James Agee,” KWG member Terry Shaw said.
Born and raised in Knoxville, Madden graduated from the University of Tennessee, served in the United States Army, earned a Master of Arts at San Francisco State and attended Yale Drama School on a John Golden Fellowship. He was Louisiana State University’s first Writer in Residence and was founding director of the creative writing program from 1968 to 70. He also was founding director of the United States Civil War Center from 1992 to 1999. Currently, he is LSU Robert Penn Warren Professor of Creative Writing, Emeritus, living in Black Mountain, NC.
In l961, Random House published his first novel, “The Beautiful Greed,” based on his Merchant seaman experiences. For Warner Brothers, he adapted his second novel, “Cassandra Singing,” to the screen (not yet produced). “The Shadow Knows,” a book of stories, won a National Council on the Arts Award, judged by Hortense Calisher and Walker Percy. His second collection, “The New Orleans of Possibilities,” appeared in 1982. His stories have been reprinted in numerous college textbooks and twice in “Best American Short Stories.” A Rockefeller Grant, recommended by Robert Penn Warren and Saul Bellow, enabled him to work in Venice and Yugoslavia on his third novel, “Bijou,” a 1974 Book of the Month Club Alternate Selection. His best-known novel, “The Suicide’s Wife,” was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize and made into a CBS movie. “Pleasure-Dome,” “On the Big Wind,” “Sharpshooter: A Novel of the Civil War,” “Abducted by Circumstance” and “London Bridge in Plague and Fire” are his most recent novels. “The Last Bizarre Tale” was published August 2014.
His poems and short stories have appeared in a wide variety of publications, from “Redbook” and “Playboy” to “The Southern Review” and “Botteghe Oscure.” His plays have won many state and national contests.
Copies of “The Last Bizarre Tale” will be available for purchase and inscription at the program. For more information about this and other KWG events, please visit www.knoxvillewritersguild.org.
About the Knoxville Writers’ Guild
The Knoxville Writers’ Guild exists to facilitate a broad and inclusive community for area writers, provide a forum for information, support and sharing among writers, help members improve and market their writing skills and promote writing and creativity. Additional information about the KWG can be found at www.knoxvillewritersguild.org.
For more information, contact:
Adria Amos
Publicist
Knoxville Writers’ Guild
865-809-8723
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