Join us for a special reception and reading as the Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library celebrates an exciting recent acquisition—the literary archives of award-winning writer Allan Gurganus. 

The author of such works as The Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All, White People, and The Practical Heart: Four Novellas, Gurganus was described by novelist John Cheever as “the most technically gifted and morally responsive writer of his generation.”

Gurganus will read a selection from his forthcoming book, The Erotic History of a Southern Baptist Church. Attendees will also be invited to view some of the author's papers, which include drafts, correspondences, and a selection of his original artwork.

Gurganus’s short stories have been widely anthologized, while his longer fiction has received such accolades as the Lambda Literary Award, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and the Sue Kaufman Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Gurganus has taught writing and literature at Duke, Stanford, Sarah Lawrence, the Michener Center at the University of Texas-Austin, and the Iowa Writers’ Workshop.

Gurganus’s papers will further enrich the Rubenstein Library’s already robust collection of papers from other authors in the southern literary tradition who have achieved national and international prominence, including Reynolds Price, Anne Tyler, Michael Malone, and William Styron.

Reception begins at 5:00 p.m. Free and open to the public.

Don't Miss the Related Exhibit! 

Allan Gurganus: A Writer's Sketchbooks
Power Plant Gallery, American Tobacco Campus
320 Blackwell St., Durham, NC 27701
On view December 4 - January 19, 2019
Exhibit Opening Reception: December 5, 6:00 p.m.

To celebrate the acquisition of his papers, Duke's Power Plant Gallery at the American Tobacco Campus will feature an exhibit of Gurganus's artwork, including 60 never-before-seen drawings and paintings. The exhibit will run through January 19, 2019.