October 20, 1998

Contact:
Contact: Yvonne French (202) 707-9191
Public Contact: Center for the Book (202) 707-5221

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Lecture by William Styron and His Biographer James L. West To Be Broadcast Live on the Internet

WHAT: A computerized broadcast, or cybercast

WHO: Author William Styron and his biographer, James L.W. West III

WHEN: 5:30 p.m. EST Wednesday, November 4

WHERE: www.loc.gov or www.broadcast.com

HOW: The Library and Broadcast.com will broadcast the live audio of the lecture; a video version will be made available on the above sites the next day. The lecture will be accessible to computer users for two months after the discussion takes place.

BACKGROUND:

The computerized broadcast is the second in a cooperative pilot project between the Library and Broadcast.com. The first was Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky's October 8 lecture, "Poetry and American Memory." The first cybercast from the Library of Congress was a flute concert by Jean-Pierre Rampal last February.

William Styron, one of America's leading novelists, and James L.W. West III, author of William Styron: A Life (Random House, 1998), will present a joint program at the Library on Wednesday, Nov. 4, at 5:30 p.m. in the Montpelier Room on the sixth floor of the Madison Building. It is sponsored by the Center for the Book as part of its "Books & Beyond" author series.

Mr. Styron is known primarily for his novels such as Lie Down in Darkness (1951), The Confessions of Nat Turner (1967), and Sophie's Choice (1989). Mr. West, who has studied Mr. Styron's life and career for more than 20 years, used the Styron papers at the Library and at Duke University in producing his well-received biography. Mr. West is Distinguished Professor of English at Pennsylvania State University and general editor of the Cambridge edition of the works of F. Scott Fitzgerald.

The Center for the Book in the Library of Congress was established in 1977 to stimulate public interest in books, reading and libraries. For information about the center's activities and publications, visit its site on the World Wide Web at: www.loc.gov/loc/cfbook.

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PR 98-172
10/20/98
ISSN 0731-3527