The Words of Wideman to be Shared in Reading

Pittsburgh native and literary giant John Edgar Wideman will return to the city to present a free reading and book signing, at an event sponsored by the McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts and the Hill House Association.

The free, public event will be held at the Kaufmann Center of the Hill House Association (located at 1825 Centre Ave.) on Friday, March 27, from 4 to 7 p.m.

Wideman was the second African American to be named a Rhodes Scholar and the first author to receive the International PEN/Faulkner Award twice for fiction. In addition to the Anisfield-Wolf 2011 Lifetime Achievement Book Award for his contributions to understanding racism and appreciating diversity, he has received a MacArthur “Genius Grant” and many other awards.

In such works as Sent for You Yesterday, Philadelphia Fire and Brothers and Keepers, Wideman has focused on the contemporary, urban experiences of African American men. He has taught at the University of Pennsylvania, where he established the Department of African American Studies, and at the University of Massachusetts, the University of Wyoming and Brown University.