Author Bret Lott to Give Eckler Lecture at Mount Union College

March 6, 2003

Bret Lott, author of "Jewel," "The Hunt Club," and "Reed's Beach" will present the Eckler Lecture at Mount Union College on Tuesday, March 18. He will present a convocation at 10:35 a.m. in Room 100 of Tolerton and Hood Hall of Science and a public reading at 7:30 p.m. at Union Avenue United Methodist Church.

Bret Lott

 

The convocation will be a public interview, conducted by Dr. Michael Olin-Hitt, associate professor of English at Mount Union. At the evening lecture, Lott will read his essay, "Toward Humility," which won the Pushcart Prize in 2001. "Toward Humility" details Lott's experiences after his book, "Jewel," was recognized by Oprah's Book Club in 1999.

Lott is also the author of "The Man Who Owned Vermont," "A Stranger's House," the memoir "Fathers, Sons and Brothers," and the story collections "A Dram of Old Leaves" and "How to Get Home."

Lott is currently a professor of English and writer-in-residence at the College of Charleston, where he has taught creative writing for 12 years. Lott's short stories and essays have been widely anthologized, and have appeared in such journals as The Yale Review, The Iowa Review, Gettysburg Review and The Chicago Tribune.

Lott received his bachelor's degree from California State Long Beach and his master's degree from the University of Massachusetts, where he studied writing under the late James Baldwin. Prior to teaching at the College of Charleston, he taught at Ohio State.

The Eric A. and Mary W. Eckler Lecture in Literature and Drama was established through an endowment given by Mr. and Mrs. John A. Cummins (Dorothy Nelson '29) in appreciation of the Ecklers' years of service to the community and Mount Union College.

Musician Christopher Reynolds will be opening for Lott at the 7:30 p.m. public reading.

Both the convocation and evening public reading are free and open to the public.