Aspen, CO, March 8, 2011 — On March 24, bestselling author Joyce Maynard brings a triumphant close to Winter Words 2011, the Aspen Writers’ Foundation’s 14th annual literary performance series. The award-winning author of 11 books that span half as many genres, Maynard is an apt choice for the final author in the organization’s “Off The Page” season that, like Maynard, has overflowed with literary talent of all stripes — novelists, performance artists, poets, memoirists, singer-songwriters, magazine journalists, and comedians, among them. The genre-bending Maynard will give a reading and talk, followed by an audience Q&A and book signing, at 5:30 pm (doors at 5pm) at the Little Nell. Tickets start at $15 and are available from Aspen Show Tickets.
“Joyce Maynard’s dexterity across genres is a testament to her storytelling prowess,” said Lisa Consiglio, executive director of the Aspen Writers’ Foundation (AWF). “She is beloved by her readers for writing novels that seem real enough to be memoir and memoirs that are gripping enough to be novels.”
Author Profile
Joyce Maynard first came to national attention with the publication of The New York Times cover story, “An Eighteen Year Old Looks Back on Life” in 1973, when she was a
freshman at Yale. Since that auspicious debut, the hard-working writer has built a career as a reporter and columnist for The New York Times; a contributor to the CBS program “Spectrum;” a syndicated newspaper columnist whose “Domestic Affairs” column appeared in over 50 papers nationwide; a storyteller for The Moth; and a regular contributor to NPR and national magazines including O, The Oprah Magazine, Newsweek, The New York Times Magazine, and many more. She has appeared on Good Morning America, The Today Show, CNN, Hard Ball, Charlie Rose, and (on NPR) on Fresh Air. Always ahead of her time, Maynard was a pioneer in the blogging movement even before it had a name, becoming one of the first authors to communicate to her readers directly and regularly, using an online discussion board (and later posts on her website) since the late 90s.
She is well known for her numerous books, including the bestsellers Labor Day (a 2008 novel), At Home in the World (a 1999 memoir about her relationship with J.D. Salinger), and the 1992 novel To Die For (whose film adaptation by Gus Van Sant, starring Nicole Kidman, earned a Golden Globe Award). Her novel, The Usual Rules, a story about surviving loss, has been a favorite of book club audiences of all ages, and was chosen by the American Library Association as one of the Ten Best Books of The Year for Young Readers. She has been touring for her most recent novel, The Good Daughters, which Elizabeth Berg called “hard to put down and impossible to forget.”
As a writer who works across genres – which, in addition to novels and memoir, include young adult, children’s literature, and true crime – she has said: “I approach it always as storytelling. Sometimes the story actually happens, sometimes you invent the story, but my goal as a writer has not changed; it’s to tell a story well.”
The mother of three grown children and two recently-adopted girls from Ethiopia, she spends her time in Mill Valley, California; in Lake Atitlan, Guatemala; and in various retreat centers, where, in addition to pursuing her own work, she runs and teaches writing workshops.
Winter Words & The Great Read
Joyce Maynard is the last of five authors who together formed the 2011 Winter Words literary performance series that launched on January 5th with Terry Tempest Williams. In addition to these five events, the AWF’s “Off The Page” season included The Great Read community reading program, featuring dozens of events celebrating F. Scott Fitzgerald’s modern American classic, The Great Gatsby. Upcoming Great Read events include: Jazz Downstairs at the Little Nell presented by Jazz Aspen Snowmass (March 26), Jazz Poetry Night presented by the Aspen Poets’ Society at the Hotel Lenado (March 27) and the Plum TV’s Speakeasy (March 31).
The Details
Tickets to Joyce Maynard’s Winter Words event are $15. Discounts are available for AWF members, students and educators (with current school I.D.), and groups. Also available are tickets to the Author Salon series of Winter Words private after-parties honoring each author ($40/event, which includes event and party, with AWF or Society of Fellows membership). Tickets to Winter Words and the Author Salons may be purchased from Aspen Show Tickets at 970.920.5770 and through www.aspenshowtix.com. More information is available from the AWF at 970.925.3122 and www.aspenwriters.org.
The Aspen Writers’ Foundation, one of the West’s pioneering literary centers and a program of the Aspen Institute, has been bringing readers and writers together since 1976. The organization’s mission is to provide programs that encourage writers in their craft and readers in their appreciation of literature. Through its repertoire of ten year-round programs and projects, the Aspen Writers’ Foundation annually serves 100,000+ literary enthusiasts of all ages.
The Aspen Institute mission is twofold: to foster values-based leadership, encouraging individuals to reflect on the ideals and ideas that define a good society, and to provide a neutral and balanced venue for discussing and acting on critical issues. The Aspen Institute does this primarily in four ways: seminars, young-leader fellowships around the globe, policy programs, and public conferences and events. The Institute is based in Washington, DC; Aspen, Colorado; and on the Wye River on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. It also has an international network of partners.
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