Alice Walker at UGA

The Willson Center announced that the great Alice Walker will visit UGA in the fall, as the inaugural Delta Visiting Chair for Global Understanding Oct. 14-15:

Walker is the first African-American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize in fiction for her 1982 novel "The Color Purple," which also earned a National Book Award. She has written six other novels, four collections of short stories, four children's books and volumes of essays and poetry. Her first collection of poetry, "Once," was published in 1968, followed by her first novel, "The Third Life of Grange Copeland," in 1970. Throughout her public life, she has been an international activist for civil and human rights and a forceful advocate for women and girls.

Walker offered a personal message to the UGA and Athens communities: "This gathering at the historic University of Georgia offers a unique and splendid opportunity for the Southern community from which I come to gather for a time of introduction, contemplation and learning.

As the release states, Walker has been gone from Georgia and the South for some time, but her roots here remain strong. Should be a great experience for our students and faculty to interact with this great American author. Nice going Willson Center and Delta. Can't wait for this.