CSU students to learn from Dr. Neil Degrasse Tyson before speakers series program

Cleveland State University has formed an innovative partnership with the William N. Skirball Writers Center Stage Program that allows CSU students unusual access to work and interact with renowned writers throughout the year.

Presented by the Cuyahoga County Public Library Foundation, this year's series includes programs with Dr. Neil Degrasse Tyson, Jeannette Walls, Dave Eggers and Pete Hamill. Before their scheduled programs in the Ohio Theatre at Playhouse Square, each author will interact with students on CSU's campus.

"We are very proud to offer our students this kind of personal access to nationally recognized writers," said Kay Shames, director of CSU's Center of Arts and Innovation. "This is the type of hands-on engaged learning that has become a CSU signature."

As part of the arrangement, CSU will sponsor various special events surrounding the Writers Center Stage series. For example, students, faculty and alumni will have the opportunity to participate in online book discussions led by the Cuyahoga County Library staff and attend a special presentation by the author in a class or before an audience on campus. Alumni also have the opportunity to buy discounted tickets to the series.

CSU faculty members whose courses include Writers Center Stage authors will incorporate supporting materials from Cuyahoga County Public Library into lectures, coursework and other assignments.

Now in its seventh season, the Writers Center Stage public programs begin at 7:30 p.m. at the Ohio Theatre at PlayhouseSquare at 1511 Euclid Ave. Each program will be followed by a question-and-answer period and a book signing.

This year's distinguished authors are:

September 21, 2010

Dr. Neil Degrasse Tyson, author of nine books, including the memoir The Sky Is Not the Limit: Adventures of an Urban Astrophysicist and Origins: Fourteen Billion Years of Cosmic Evolution, co-written with Donald Goldsmith. Origins is the companion book to the PBS-NOVA four-part miniseries Origins, in which Tyson serves as on-camera host. Tyson's latest two books are the playful and informative Death by Black Hole and Other Cosmic Quandaries (a bestseller) and The Pluto Files: The Rise and Fall of America's Favorite Planet. The PBS/NOVA documentary "The Pluto Files," based on the book, premiered this spring.

October 26, 2010

Jeannette Walls, author of the New York Times best selling memoir, The Glass Castle, which was named one of the Top 10 Books of the Decade by Amazon.com and won numerous awards. She is also the author of the instant bestseller, Half Broke Horses: A True Life Novel.

March 29, 2011

Dave Eggers, an award-winning author and Pulitzer Prize finalist best known for A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, a lighthearted, fictionalized chronicle of Eggers' efforts to raise his younger brother following the death of their parents.

April 26, 2011

Pete Hamill, an accomplished novelist, essayist, and journalist. Hamill has written for numerous publications, including The New York Post and Esquire. He has published nine novels, including the novel Snow in August, Forever and his memoir, A Drinking Life. He has also published two collections of short stories.

The Writers Center Stage Program is the Cuyahoga Public Library Foundation's signature fundraising event. Funds raised enable the library system to develop programs that reconnect the community to reading, empower children to reach their maximum potential, and connect with new Americans. Subscribing to the program is a great way to support the community.

About Cleveland State University

Founded in 1964, Cleveland State University is a public institution that provides a dynamic setting for engaged learning. With an enrollment of more than 17,000 students, eight colleges and approximately 200 academic programs, CSU is listed among America's top colleges by U.S. News and World Report.

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