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May 1, 2000
Contact: Donna Urschel (202) 707-9191

E. Ethelbert Miller to Discuss His New Memoir at the Library of Congress on Wednesday, May 31

Poet and author E. Ethelbert Miller will discuss his new book, Fathering Words: The Making of an African American Writer, on Wednesday, May 31, in the Mumford Room, sixth floor, James Madison Building, at 6 p.m. The program is free and open to the public. No tickets are required.

The program is sponsored by the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress as part of its "Books & Beyond" author series. Fathering Words will be published in June 2000 by St. Martin's Press.

The author of five collections of poetry, Mr. Miller has read from his works many times at the Library of Congress. In Fathering Words, Mr. Miller looks back at his family, especially his father, and on his development as a writer. In the process he explores what he, as a man, as an African American, as a poet, as a son, and as a father, learned from his own father.

Mr. Miller's poetry collections include Where Are the Love Poems for Dictators? (1986), First Light (1994), and Whispers, Secrets, and Promises (1998). He also is editor of many anthologies, including In Search of Color Everywhere: A Collection of African American Poetry (1994). He has been the director of the African American Resource Center at Howard University in Washington, D.C., since 1974.

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 future events and about its projects and those of its affiliated state centers and national reading promotion partners, call the center at (202) 707-5221 or visit its Web site at www.loc.gov/loc/cfbook.

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PR 00-070
5/1/00
ISSN 0731-3527