Lynn Nottage to Lecture at Long Island University, 2/24

Brooklyn-born playwright Lynn Nottage will deliver the annual "Starting from Paumanok" lecture on American literature and culture, which will be held on February 24 at 6:30 p.m. at Long Island University's Brooklyn Campus Kumble Theater for the Performing Arts. The event is free and open to the public.

Nottage earned a Pulitzer Prize in 2009 for "Ruined," a play that focused on the plight of women in the civil war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo. Among her other works are "Intimate Apparel," "Fabulation, or the Re-Education of Undine," "Crumbs from the Table of Joy" and "Las Meninas," which have been produced and developed at theaters both nationally and internationally. She is considered one of the nation's most gifted contemporary playwrights and is the recipient of numerous awards.

Nottage's appearance at the Kumble Theater, will highlight the lecture, which is hosted by the Campus' English Department, is funded by the Mellon Foundation and the John P. McGrath Fund, and is supported by several campus departments including Africana Studies, Gender Studies and the "Voices of the Rainbow" series. The lecture takes its name from the Walt Whitman poem, which first appeared in the 1860 edition of "Leaves of Grass." Its title invokes the Native American word for "Long Island" and serves to acknowledge the University's geographic and cultural connection to one of Brooklyn's (and Long Island's) foremost literary figures.

Since its inauguration in 1983, the "Starting from Paumanok" lecture has featured scholars, playwrights and literary luminaries that have included Walter Mosley, Yvonne Seon, Colson Whitehead, Tom Kerr, Andrew Ross, Ed Bullins, Edward Said, Ann Douglas, Alfred Kazin, Vivian Gornick, Elizabeth Hardwick and Irving Howe, among others.

This year's lecture also will feature an interview of Nottage by renowned author and playwright Jessica Hagedorn, who serves as Parsons Family Professor of Creative Writing at Long Island University's Brooklyn Campus. Her novels include "Dream Jungle"; "The Gangster of Love," which was nominated for the Irish Times International Fiction Prize; and "Dogeaters," which was nominated for a National Book Award. She is a recognized and gifted poet. Her works for stage, which include "Most Wanted," have been presented nationally and internationally. The interview will be followed by a question and answer session.

Long Island University's Brooklyn Campus is located at 1 University Plaza at the intersection of Flatbush Avenue and Dekalb Avenues. For more information call: (718) 488-1050 or visit www.liu.edu/brooklyn/english.

The Campus also hosts the "Voices of the Rainbow" series, which offers exhilarating presentations of poetry and fiction by talented and spirited writers from diverse racial, ethnic, linguistic and cultural backgrounds. For more information contact (718) 488-1050 or visit www.liu.edu/brooklyn/english

Photo Credit: Walter McBride / Retna Ltd.