President's Lecture Series: Roz Chast

September 22, 2017

Roz Chast

New Yorker magazine cartoonist Roz Chast will be the first President's Lecture Series speaker for the 2017-18 academic year when she visits Old Dominion's campus Oct. 5.

Chast has worked for the iconic publication since 1978. She is the author of "Can't We Talk about Something More Pleasant?" The book, which chronicles her relationship with her aging parents, was which was the first graphic novel to win the National Book Critics Circle Award for autobiography and was also a National Book Award finalist.

The lecture will be held at 7:30 p.m. in the Ted Constant Convocation Center's Big Blue Room. The event is free and open to the public, however, seating is limited and RSVPs are requested. For more information, and to register, visit the University Events website.

Her recently released book, "Going into Town: A Love Letter to New York," is a graphic memoir of her lifelong relationship with Manhattan.

Chast has written more than a dozen books for adults as well as others for children. She collaborated with comedian Steve Martin on "The Alphabet from A to Y with Bonus Letter Z!" She lives in Connecticut with her family and several parrots.

The lecture is presented in conjunction with the University's 40th annual Literary Festival "Lust for Life" that runs Oct. 1-5, bringing 17 internationally known writers and artists to Norfolk to present their work in events that are open to the University community and general public.

The President's Lecture Series serves as a marketplace for ideas, featuring fascinating personalities who share their knowledge, experience, opinions and accomplishments. Discussing timely topics, the series puts diversity first, offering an international lineup of authors and educators, business innovators and political figures.

The Series presents to the region a platform for equal exchange of dialogue and ideas. It began in 1991 with its first lecturer, James J. Kilpatrick, a controversial journalist in the 1950s against desegregation in Virginia's public schools. Kilpatrick spoke on campus in a traditional lecture format, including a question and answer session, which allowed for a source of lively dialogue and free speech, trademarks of the series. Today, the President's Lecture Series maintains this format and is free and open to the public.