MEDIA CONTACT: Wendy Leopold at (847) 491-4890 or w-leopold@northwestern.edu

September 30, 2003

Dave Eggers to Speak Here

EVANSTON, Ill. --- Dave Eggers, the writer who burst onto the literary landscape with the publication of “A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius,” will speak about Mark Twain and Twain’s work at 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 13, at Northwestern University.

Eggers -- this year’s “Great Authors on Great Books” speaker -- will deliver a lecture titled “Mark Twain’s Journals and A Tramp Abroad: Is This Man Funny or Just Dead?” Free and open to the public, it will take place in Room 107 of Harris Hall, 1881 Sheridan Road, on the University’s Evanston campus. A reception will follow.

Eggers’ 1999 memoir “A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius” recounted the story of the deaths from cancer of both his parents within a five-week period and his own subsequent role as caretaker, at 21, of his 8-year-old brother. The work quickly became a bestseller and Eggers became a celebrity of sorts, getting such an abundance of media coverage that the media soon began covering the massive coverage.

Eggers began his literary career as co-founder of a satirical publication called Might Magazine. He is the founder of McSweeney’s, a literary journal and Web site that features work by established and up-and-coming writers. He also founded and works as a teacher at 826 Valencia, a San Francisco writing laboratory for city youth. His most recent book is the self-published “You Shall Know Our Velocity.”

Eggers’ lecture is sponsored by Northwestern’s Program of American Studies. For further information, call Phyllis Siegel at (847) 491-3525.