Celebration of Ideas Lecture Series Continues
Fairmont State University's Celebration of Ideas Lecture Series brings nationally
prominent speakers of diverse viewpoints to campus each fall and spring.
"The mission of this series is to expose students to a wide range of ideas that will
better prepare them for life in today's complex world," said Persis Bates, Coordinator
of Multicultural Affairs. "We are very fortunate to be able to bring this diverse
and talented group of speakers into the Fairmont community."
This year's speakers include prominent anti-racist writer Tim Wise; leading journalist
Juan Williams; author, educator and political strategist Donna Brazile; scholar, entrepreneur
and leader Dr. Randal Pinkett; native West Virginian author and former gossip columnist
Jeannette Walls; and author and poet Ha Jin.
Admission is free and open to the public for all of the events in the lecture series.
Tickets are not required. For more information, call the Student Affairs Office at
(304) 367-4215.
Ha Jin
April 2, 2007
8 p.m.
Turley Center Ballroom
Ha Jin grew up in mainland China and came to the United States in 1985 to do graduate
work at Brandeis University. Since 1990 he has written exclusively in English.
To date, he has published three volumes of poetry: Between Silences (1990), Facing
Shadows (1996) and Wreckage (2001). He has also written three books of short fiction:
Ocean of Words (1996), which received the PEN/Hemingway Award; Under the Red Flag
(1997), which received the Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction; and The Bridegroom
(2000), which received The Asian American Literary Award (2001) and the Townsend Fiction
Prize (2002). He has authored four novels: In the Pond (1998); Waiting (1999), which
received the National Book Award (1999) and the PEN/Faulkner Award (2004); The Crazed
(2002); and War Trash (2004), which won the PEN/Faulkner Award (2005). Jin's work
has been translated into over thirty languages.
Currently he is a professor of English at Boston University and lives in the Boston
area.
