SEARCY — Harding University Graduate Reading Programs will host four writers from the Authors Reader’s Theatre performing dramatic readings of their work at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 4, in the Benson Auditorium.
The group — including Richard Peck, Avi, Bruce Coville and Sarah Weeks — helps bring their own work to life in a lively and educational presentation in which authors read as different characters from the selected books.
Peck has written more than 20 novels, earning recognition across the nation for his work. He taught high school in Illinois until he decided to use the lessons he learned as a teacher to write books that would apply to problems he saw his students facing. Peck is a Newbery Award winner, and his work includes A Year Down Yonder, Father Figure and Lost in Cyberspace, just to name a few.
Avi is well known for the diversity of his works, including The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle and the Poppy books. He has received many awards, including the Newbery Medal, and has recently published his 70th publication, Murder at Midnight.
Coville has written 95 books for children and young adults, including the international best seller My Teacher Is an Alien and Unicorn Chronicles. He is the founder of FULL CAST AUDIO, a publishing company for books on tape devoted to creating full-cast recordings.
Sarah Weeks has been writing for 25 years and is the author of more than 40 children’s picture books and novels. One of her novels, So B. It, was recognized as an ALA Best Book for Young Adults and a Booksense 2004 Best Book of the Year and received the 2004 Parent’s Choice Gold Award. She serves as an adjunct faculty member in the prestigious New School University Writing Program in New York.
Doors to the Benson Auditorium will open at 6 p.m., and the performance will begin at 6:30. The nonrefundable cost is $15 and includes a book purchase. For more information or to sign up to reserve a spot, e-mail YAAS.harding@gmail.com. One adult chaperone is required for every four students.
For more information, call the Graduate Reading Programs office at (501) 279-5107.