Authors Lauren Groff and Stephen King to speak at USF Sarasota-Manatee

 

SARASOTA, FL (March 18, 2008) – Stephen King will be speaking at USF Sarasota-Manatee this month, and not to promote his new book, “Duma Key,” which takes place on a fictional island south of Casey Key.

 

This time he will visit to support an up-and-coming author whose work he gives high praises.  Lauren Groff’s novel, “The Monsters of Templeton,” has attracted both critical praise and admiration from the mystery writer.

 

"The Monsters of Templeton” is everything a reader might have expected from this gifted writer, and more...I was sorry to see this rich and wonderful novel come to an end, and there is no higher success than that," said King, a part-time resident of Sarasota.

 

“Lauren Groff in Conversation with Stephen King,” will take place at USF Sarasota-Manatee’s Selby Auditorium on Thursday, March 27 at 6:30 p.m. and will feature Groff and King in dialogue about her book.  .

 

Tickets to the event are $25 and include the book.  They can be purchased at Sarasota News & Books in downtown Sarasota.  Groff will be available after the presentation to autograph the book.  King will not be available for autographs.

 

The same day, students at USF Sarasota-Manatee will have a chance to speak with Groff in a casual conversation about her book.  Groff will discuss topics such as getting published, her writing style, and the importance of education. This meeting is planned for 3:00 p.m. in the Einstein Bros. Bagels on campus.

 

Groff was born in 1978 in Cooperstown, N.Y., and grew up one block from the Baseball Hall of Fame. She graduated from Amherst College and has an MFA in fiction from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her short stories have appeared or are forthcoming in a number of journals, including The Atlantic Monthly, Ploughshares, Glimmer Train, Hobart, and Five Points as well as in the anthologies Best American Short Stories 2007, Pushcart Prize XXXII, and Best New American Voices 2008. She was awarded the Axton Fellowship in Fiction at the University of Louisville, and has had residencies and fellowships at Yaddo and the Vermont Studio Center.  She currently resides in Gainesville, Florida.

 

The event is being sponsored by USF Sarasota-Manatee, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune’s Book Club, and Sarasota News and Books.

 

USF Sarasota-Manatee is an upper-level campus for those with an associate’s or bachelor’s degree interested in pursuing a baccalaureate or master’s degree, professional certification, or continuing education credit. The regional campus offers the prestige of a nationally ranked research university with the convenience of a hometown campus, including classes in south Sarasota County at Manatee Community College Venice. 

For more information, please call 941-359-4572 or visit www.sarasota.usf.edu.