LOWELL, Mass. – Bestselling author Ann Patchett will join acclaimed writer and UMass Lowell English Professor Andre Dubus III next month for a free program offered to UMass Lowell alumni, students, staff and faculty, as well as members of the community.
The second Andre Dubus III UMass Lowell Alumni Book Club event, to be held online Thursday, July 16 at 4 p.m., will feature Patchett sharing insights into her work and creative process, including a discussion of her latest novel, “Whistler.” The book club series is sponsored by the university’s Office of Alumni Relations.
“Ann Patchett is one our country’s finest writers, and we are thrilled that she has agreed to join our book club for the discussion of her beautifully written and deeply moving new novel, ‘Whistler.’ She’s also a good friend, and I’m very much looking forward to our conversation on July 16,” Dubus said.
The conversation between Patchett and Dubus will be the second installment of the Book Club, which last October featured writer Stephen King talking about his 2023 crime novel, “Holly.” The virtual event is open to the public.
Individuals who would like to attend the Zoom session should visit
alumni.uml.edu to register, as space is limited. Attendees may also submit their questions to Patchett as part of the discussion.
“UMass Lowell launched the book club last year with Professor Dubus to share the works of celebrated authors with our alumni network and the public. We’re excited to feature Ann Patchett and we’re grateful to Professor Dubus, an esteemed author himself, for his work in creating this program,” said Scott Conway, executive director of alumni relations.
Patchett’s books have been named both New York Times Notable Books and New York Times bestsellers, and her work has been translated into more than 30 languages. She is the author of 10 novels: “Whistler,” “The Patron Saint of Liars,” “Taft,” “The Magician’s Assistant,” “Bel Canto,” “Run,” “State of Wonder,” “Commonwealth,” “Tom Lake” and “The Dutch House,” for which she was a finalist for the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
She has written five nonfiction books, “Truth & Beauty,” “What now?,” “This is the Story of a Happy Marriage,” “Nashville: Scenes from the New American South,” and “These Precious Days,” along with three children’s books with illustrator Robin Preiss Glasser, “Lambslide,” “Escape Goat,” and “The Verts.” She was also a guest editor of the 2006 edition of the anthology series, “Best American Short Stories.”
The recipient of a National Humanities Medal and the PEN/Faulkner Award, Patchett was named one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. She often contributes to The New Yorker, Harper’s Magazine and The New York Times.
A champion of independent booksellers, in 2011, she opened Parnassus Books in Nashville, Tennessee.
Dubus’ books include the New York Times’ bestsellers “House of Sand and Fog,” which was adapted into a film by the same name; “The Garden of Last Days;” and his memoir of growing up in Haverhill, Massachusetts, “Townie.” His novel “Such Kindness” appeared on Amazon’s “Best Books of 2023” list, and a collection of personal essays, “Ghost Dogs: On Killers and Kin,” received praise for its unvarnished honesty. He has been a finalist for the National Book Award, and has received a Guggenheim Fellowship, The National Magazine Award for Fiction, three Pushcart Prizes, and is a recipient of an American Academy of Arts and Letters Award in Literature.
