Baylor University Will Welcome Award-Winning British Authors for Lectures on ‘Writing Lives’

Follow us on Twitter: @BaylorUMedia

Media contact: Terry Goodrich, (254) 710-3321

WACO, Texas (Oct. 23, 2015) – Baylor University’s department of English in the College of Arts & Sciences, the Armstrong Browning Library and the Beall Poetry Festival will bring award-winning British authors Ann and Anthony Thwaite to campus to speak about “Writing Lives” on Oct. 28-29.

Ann Thwaite, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and Whitbread Prize-winning biographer, will share her reflections on 30 years of writing about other people’s lives at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 28, in the Cox Lecture Hall of Armstrong Browning Library.

Anthony Thwaite, English poet, critic and editor of many works, including the writings of Philip Larkin, will speak and read from a lifetime of poetry at 2 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 29, in the Hankamer Treasure Room of Armstrong Browning Library.

“Ann and Anthony Thwaite are an extraordinary literary couple, and their contributions to literature have been duly rewarded with some of the highest literary awards in Great Britain,” said Kevin Gardner, Ph.D., chair of the English department. “It is a rare treat to hear writers of this magnitude speak in Waco.”

Ann Thwaite was born in London and has traveled extensively throughout the world. She has written five major biographies, including “Edmund Gosse: A Literary Landscape” and “Emily Tennyson: The Poet’s Wife.” She writes and reviews children’s books and runs a library for local children out of her home. Her most recent book, “Running in the Corridors,” is a collection of short stories that was published in 2014. She holds honorary doctorates from the University of East Anglia and Oxford University.

Anthony Thwaite has been part of English literary life for more than 50 years. In 1990, he was awarded the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire for his contributions to poetry. He has been a director at the London publishing company Andrew Deutsch, a producer for BBC radio, literary editor of “The Listener” and an assistant professor of English at the University of Libya. Together with Andrew Motion, he is the literary executer of the estate of poet Philip Larkin.

“I think their literary interests are an ideal fit for the Baylor audience,” Gardner said. “Ann Thwaite’s biographical research into the lives of 19th-century literary figures is right in line with the scholarly mission of the Armstrong Browning Library. Anthony Thwaite’s poetry grapples with many subjects, but of notable interest to the Baylor community is the way he engages with Christian experiences and struggles with faith.”

Receptions will follow both lectures.

Armstrong Browning Library is located at 710 Speight Ave.

For more information, contact the department of English at 254-710-1768.

by Ashton Brown, student newswriter, (254) 710-6805

ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY

Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked research institution, characterized as having “high research activity” by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The University provides a vibrant campus community for approximately 16,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 80 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions. Baylor sponsors 19 varsity athletic teams and is a founding member of the Big 12 Conference.

ABOUT BAYLOR COLLEGE OF ARTS & SCIENCES

The College of Arts & Sciences is Baylor University’s oldest and largest academic division, consisting of 24 academic departments and 13 academic centers and institutes. The more than 5,000 courses taught in the College span topics from art and theatre to religion, philosophy, sociology and the natural sciences. Faculty conduct research around the world, and research on the undergraduate and graduate level is prevalent throughout all disciplines. Visit www.baylor.edu/artsandsciences.