Brief Biographies of GUEST WRITERS

JAMES McPHERSON is one of America's most beloved historians. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Battle Cry of Freedom, his most famous book. In 2000 he was named the "Jefferson Lecturer in the Humanities" by the National Endowment for the Humanities. In 2007, he was awarded the $100,000 Pritzker Military Library Literature Award for lifetime achievement in military history. His latest work, Tried by War, is a celebration and tribute to the life of Abraham Lincoln for the bicentennial of his birthday, written in prose that is as eloquent as it is accurate. This Writers Studio is a “We the People” initiative of the National Endowment for the Humanities sponsored by Humanities Texas, its state affiliate.

ROBERT OLEN BUTLER has published ten novels and five volumes of short fiction, one of which, A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain, won the 1993 Pulitzer Prize. His work has appeared The New Yorker, Esquire, Harper’s, The Atlantic Monthly, GQ, Playboy, Zoetrope, The Paris Revie, and The Sewanee Review. His most recent collection, Intercourse, continues his exploration of the dramatic monologue in short short story form begun with his previous book, Severance. Recommended for mature audiences.

RICHARD PRICE is a novelist and screenwriter whose works are critically acclaimed for their stark, realistic look at the urban world. Several of his novels have been adapted for film including The Wanderers, Bloodbrothers, Sea of Love, Mad Dog and Glory, Clockers, and Ransom. In 1986, Price was nominated for an Academy Award for “Best Screenplay” for The Color of Money starring Paul Newman and Tom Cruise. He has also written teleplays for the HBO series The Wire for which he shared an Edgar Allen Poe Award and a Writers Guild of America (WGA) Award. His latest novel is Lush Life.

ERIC BOGOSIAN is best known for writing and starring in the play, Talk Radio, as well as its film adaptation. For this work, he was a Pulitzer Prize finalist and received the Berlin Film Festival Silver Bear Award. He received three Obie awards for solo performances Off-Broadway between 1980 and 2000. Bogosian has written a number of full-length plays including subUrbia, Griller, Red Angel, and Humpty Dumpty. He is the author of two novels, Mall and Wasted Beauty, and a novella, Notes from Underground. As an actor, Bogosian has appeared in numerous films and television programs including "The Caine Mutiny Court Martial," "Ararat," "Under Siege II," and "Wonderland." He currently stars in "Law & Order: Criminal Intent."