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Novelist Yann Martel to read, speak Oct. 20-21
Andrea
Lynn, Humanities Editor
217-333-2177; andreal@illinois.edu
10/15/03
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. —
Canadian writer Yann Martel will read from and discuss his works at
two events at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Martel is the author of three books in English, including his most recent
novel, “Life of Pi,” for which he earned England’s
prestigious 2002 Man Booker Prize.
Both Martel events, scheduled for Oct. 20 and 21 (Monday and Tuesday),
are free and open to the public.
In his first event, set for 7:30 p.m. Monday in the auditorium of Smith
Memorial Hall, 805 S. Mathews Ave., Urbana, Martel will read from his
body of work.
Host sponsors of the reading are the U. of I. Carr
Visiting Authors Series, English department and MFA Program in Creative Writing, in conjunction with
the Center for Advanced Study/MillerComm Lecture Series and several other campus units.
Martel’s second event is a panel discussion set for 4 p.m. Tuesday
in the Levis Faculty Center, 919 W. Illinois St., Urbana.
The panel discussion will focus on “Yann Martel, Life of Pi and
the World of Religion.” Participants on the panel, in addition
to Martel, are U. of I. religious
studies professors Valerie Hoffman, Richard Layton and Rajeshwari
Pandharipande. Gary Porton, also of religious studies, will serve as
moderator.
The Illinois Program for Research
in the Humanities (IPRH) is sponsor of the panel discussion.
“Life of Pi,” published in 2001, is Martel’s second
novel and an international best seller. The novel revolves around a
young South Asian man who is simultaneously a practicing Hindu, Muslim
and Christian, and who finds himself abandoned in a lifeboat with a
Bengal tiger in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
According to Philip Graham, a professor of English and the chairman
of the Carr series, the novel “deals profoundly with the vivifying
force of any religion’s storytelling powers, and the healing potential
of storytelling in general.”
“It also is an unusual meditation on the nature of animals and
the will to survive.”
Martel’s first book, published in 1993, was a short-story collection
titled “The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios.” The
title story from “Facts” won the 1991 Journey Prize and
was included in the 1991-1992 Pushcart Prize anthology.
His novel “Self,” published in 1996, was a finalist for
the Chapters/Books in Canada First Novel Award.
Future Carr series talks will feature authors Susan Perabo, March 15
and 16; Tony Hoagland, late February/early March; and Gregory Orr, early
April.
