Distinguished Writers

Award-winning authors read from and discuss their works, respond to questions, and sign books.
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Widely acknowledged as a major contribution to Dallas’s cultural life, Arts & Letters Live has been a sellout at the Dallas Museum of Art since its inception in 1992. Now entering its 18th season in 2009, Arts & Letters Live has showcased over 300 regional, national, and international authors, often in combination with performing and visual arts. The Arts & Letters Live season typically runs between January and May each year.

The Distinguished Writers series has featured many of the biggest names in contemporary literature. Past participants in the Distinguished Writers series include Salman Rushdie (Midnight’s Children; The Satanic Verses), John Updike (Rabbit, Run; Rabbit is Rich), Art Spiegelman (Maus: A Survivor’s Tale), Margaret Atwood (The Handmaid’s Tale), Barbara Kingsolver (The Poisonwood Bible), Frank McCourt (Angela’s Ashes), Augusten Burroughs (Running with Scissors), Azar Nafisi (Reading Lolita in Tehran), Jeffrey Eugenides (Middlesex), Michael Chabon (The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay; Wonder Boys), Ernest Gaines (A Lesson Before Dying), and Robert Caro (Master of the Senate: The Years of Lyndon Johnson), to name only a few. For a complete list of past participants in Arts & Letters Live, please visit the “Archives” section of the Web site.

Four authors were featured in the 2008 Distinguished Writers Series:

Geraldine Brooks, winner of the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for her novel March and former Wall Street Journal correspondent in Bosnia, Somalia, and the Middle East; discussed the body of her work and her latest novel, People of the Book.

Thomas Cahill, author of the book series The Hinges of History, the bestselling phenomenon that has collectively spent years on the New York Times Bestseller List. Books in this series include How the Irish Saved Civilization and Mysteries of the Middle Ages. In his presentation, he explained reasons for the rise of feminism, science, and art in the Middle Ages.

Louise Erdrich, acclaimed author of Love Medicine (winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award) and The Painted Drum, shared insights on her fiction and her most recent novel, The Plague of Doves. She was interviewed onstage by Randy Gordon and Catherine Cuellar of Pegasus News.

Tony Kushner, Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award–winning playwright of Angels in America, discussed his life and art in an onstage interview with Kevin Moriarty, Artistic Director of the Dallas Theater Center.

To date, authors and actors who have been a part of Arts & Letters Live have won

• 27 Pulitzer Prizes
• 14 National Book Awards
• 9 Newbery Medals
• 4 National Humanities Medals
• 3 Academy Awards
• 71 Emmy Awards and nominations

Please check back in early December for the 2009 season lineup!