EVANSTON, Ill. ---Writer Michael Chabon -- who at age 37 won the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for fiction for "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay" -- will deliver a lecture Monday, April 13, at Northwestern University.

One of the most distinguished American writers of his generation, Chabon will speak at 7:30 p.m. in the Owen L. Coon Forum of Leverone Hall, 2001 Sheridan Road, on the Evanston campus. Free and open to the public, his lecture, titled "On Edgar Allan Poe," will be followed by a book signing.

A prominent critic and cultural observer, Chabon is a novelist, screenwriter and children's book author. His works explore themes of American "superheroism," Jewish identity and history as popular culture. His unique style of writing blends complex literary metaphor with the action and energy characteristic of comic books.

Chabon's "The Yiddish Policemen's Union," a hard-boiled detective novel set in an alternate world, won the 2008 Hugo Award for Best Novel. His bestselling second novel, "Wonder Boys," in 2000 was turned into a critically acclaimed film starring Michael Douglas and Tobey Maguire. His first novel, the bestselling "The Mysteries of Pittsburgh," originally was written for his master's degree at University of California, Irvine.

Film versions of some of his works, including "Summerland," Chabon's first novel for young adults, and "Tales of Mystery and Imagination," a collection of short stories, also are being adapted for film. Chabon himself is writing the script for a film version of "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay."

Chabon was interviewed in a History Channel documentary titled "Comic Book Superheroes Unmasked." The 2003 show was about DC and Marvel comic book superheroes, and also included interviews with Marvel Comics writer, editor and former president Stan Lee and comic book artist Will Eisner.

Chabon's visit to Northwestern is part of the "Great Authors" lecture series, which is made possible by support from the Office of the President. It is a presentation of the Program in American Studies. Cosponsors are the departments of art history, communication studies, English, history and Jewish studies as well as the Program in Rhetoric and Public Culture, Center for the Writing Arts and the Judd A. and Marjorie Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences' Leland Fund. For more information, call (847) 491-3525.