Wednesday, September 18, 2013

“A Walk in the Woods” Author Bill Bryson to Speak at Widener University


Bestselling author and humorist Bill Bryson will speak at Widener University at 12 p.m. Monday, October 1 in the Webb Room of University Center. The event is free and open to the public, but space is limited. To reserve seating, call 610-499-4112 or e-mail cjcaporale@widener.edu.

In 1989, Bryson published his first travel book, The Lost Continent, a hilarious memoir of taking trips through small-town America in his mother’s Chevy. Since then, he has become one of the world’s most beloved and prolific writers, chronicling everything from hiking the Appalachian Trail in the immensely popular A Walk in the Woods to his experience of moving from England to the United States in I’m a Stranger Here Myself. TIME magazine recently listed A Walk in the Woods as one of its “All-TIME 100 Best Nonfiction Books.”

For his quirky observations and comic sensibility, the New York Times declared Bryson “the most literate [travel] guide you’ve ever had,” and the Chicago Sun-Times claims, “Bill Bryson could write an essay about dryer lint or fever reducers and still make us laugh out loud.” He won an Aventis Award for best general science book for A Short History of Nearly Everything, and is a recipient of an honorary OBE (Order of the British Empire) for his contribution to literature.

Bryson’s most recent books include The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid in 2006, At Home: A Short History of Private Life in 2010, and several volumes on the idiosyncrasies of the English language, including Bryson’s Dictionary for Writers and Editors. Bryson is currently working on a new book titled Next Summer, which is scheduled for release this fall.

Bryson’s appearance at Widener will be in advance of his sold-out evening appearance as part of the Philadelphia Speakers Series presented by Widener at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia. Now in its tenth sold-out season, the Philadelphia Speakers Series offers annual subscribers the opportunity to spend an evening with Pulitzer and Nobel Peace Prize winners, world leaders, statesmen, distinguished journalists, authors and other celebrated personalities. For more information about the Philadelphia Speakers Series and the lineup of speakers for the 2013-14 season, visit www.philadelphiaspeakersseries.org.

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