Press Release

For Immediate Release
Maggie Killackey Jurgensen
Chicago Public Library
312-747-4051

COLUMBIA COLLEGE CHICAGO PRESENTS AUTHORS JONATHAN LETHEM AND SALMAN RUSHDIE AT THE CHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY
February 26, 2007

The Chicago Public Library welcomes Columbia College Chicago Fiction Writing Chair Randall Albers, who will moderate a discussion on writing with Jonathan Lethem, author of You Don't Love Me Yet and Motherless Brooklyn and Salman Rushdie, author of Shalimar the Clown and Midnight's Children. The free program takes place on Wednesday, March 14, at 3:00 p.m. in the Cindy Pritzker Auditorium (Lower Level) at the Harold Washington Library Center, 400 S. State Street. This event, which is part of the Story Week Festival of Writers 2007, sponsored by the Fiction Writing Department of Columbia College Chicago, will NOT include a book signing. Doors will open at 2:00 p.m. Seating is limited and will be available as first come first served. Seats cannot be held for late arrivals.

Mr. Rushdie will also appear at a free Author Series program on March 14, at 6:00 p.m. in the Winter Garden. Rushdie’s books will be available for purchase and signature during this program. Jonathan Lethem is the author of six novels, including the bestsellers The Fortress of Solitude and Motherless Brooklyn, which won the National Book Critics Circle Award. He is also the author of two short story collections, Men and Cartoons and The Wall of the Sky, The Wall of the Eye, and a collection of essays, The Disappointment Artist. Critics have described Lethem’s most recent novel, You Don’t Love Me Yet, as a humorous and affectionate send-up of the alternative band scene, the city of Los Angeles, and the entire genre of romantic comedy. Salman Rushdie is the author of eight previous novels: Grimus, Midnight’s Children, Shame, The Satanic Verses, Haroun and the Sea of Stories, The Moor’s Last Sigh, The Ground Beneath Her Feet and Fury. His latest, Shalimar the Clown: A Novel, has been labeled as a fast-paced blend of modern thriller, courtroom drama, slapstick comedy, wartime adventure, and political satire. Rushdie also has published a collection of short stories including East, West, and The Jaguar Smile; two essays including Imaginary Homelands and Step Across This Line; and a critique about film The Wizard of Oz.

Rushdie’s noteworthy literary awards include the Booker Prize, one of the world's most prestigious literary prizes, for Midnight’s Children in 1981. Rushdie received The Booker of Bookers in 1993. This special honor was given to the best novel among 25 years of winners of the Booker Prize to celebrate the 25th anniversary of this award. Rushdie’s additional literary prizes include the Whitbread Novel Award, the Prix du Meilleur Livre Etranger, the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and the Austrian State Prize for European Literature. The Chicago Public Library is comprised of the Harold Washington Library Center, two regional libraries and 76 neighborhood branches. Chicago Public Library offers a rich resource of books, DVDs, audio books and more, provides free access to the Internet and WiFi in all of its locations, as well as free public programs for children, teens and adults.

The Harold Washington Library Center, Carter G. Woodson Regional Library and Conrad Sulzer Regional Library are open 7 days a week, the remaining 76 branch libraries are open 6 days a week and patrons can access all of the libraries’ collections online 24 hours a day. For more information, please visit the website at chicagopubliclibrary.org, or call the Chicago Public Library Press Office at (312) 747-4050.