The U of A programs in creative writing and translation in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences are proud to announce their 2014 Distinguished Reader, acclaimed writer Joyce Carol Oates. She will give a free reading at 7 p.m. Monday, April 21, in the Fayetteville Town Center. All members of the public are invited to attend. No tickets are required. Books will be for sale at the venue, and a book signing will follow the reading.

Author of more than 50 novels, Oates is one of the most admired and accomplished writers of our time. Since 1963, 40 of Oates’ books have been included in the New York Times list of notable books of the year. Her novel, Them, won the National Book Award in 1970. In 2009, Oates was given the Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award by the National Book Critics Circle and the next year was awarded the National Humanities Medal for her contributions to American letters.

The Distinguished Readers Series is made possible by the U of A Fine Arts Activities Fee, the department of English, the Walton Family Foundation, and the James E. and Ellen Wadley Roper Professorship in Creative Writing. For more information, visit mfa.uark.edu/7972.