BOWLING GREEN, O.– Rick Bragg, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and best-selling author, will talk about the joys and challenges of storytelling, writing and reporting on Sept. 30 at Bowling Green State University.

Bragg is currently co-writing, with former Iraq POW Jessica Lynch, a biography titled, “I Am a Soldier Too: The Jessica Lynch Story,” to be published by Knopf in November.

As the 2003 Currier Visiting Lecturer at BGSU, Bragg will give a free, public lecture about the writing life at 7 p.m. Tuesday (Sept. 30) in 101 Olscamp Hall. A reception and book signing will follow.

Bragg also will speak to hundreds of high school students attending the Great Lakes Interscholastic Press Association (GLIPA) conference on Oct. 1 and meet with University honors students.

Bragg has studied storytelling since his childhood in the Alabama foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. He is nationally recognized for his stories about growing up in the South and for his journalistic work about people who might otherwise be overlooked. A Nieman Fellow at Harvard University, he is the recipient of numerous writing awards, including the 1996 Pulitzer Prize for feature writing.

He joined the New York Times in 1994, after stints with the Los Angeles Times, the St. Petersburg Times, the Birmingham News and The Anniston (Ala.) Star. This summer he signed a book deal—reportedly worth a million dollars—to co-write U.S. Army Sgt. Lynch’s story.

His book, “All Over But the Shoutin,” tells the story of a mother who endured an alcoholic husband haunted by the Korean War to raise three sons. The book was a New York Times notable book of the year and was selected as one of the best books of the year by several news organizations and reader groups.

The Currier Visiting Lectures Series is made possible in part by an endowed gift from the estate of Florence and Jesse Currier who came to BGSU in 1940, he to teach English and journalism, and she, to work in residence life. Jesse Currier was responsible for a full-fledged journalism program being established at the University, and Florence Currier served as dean of women from 1949 until her retirement in 1963.

The Florence and Jesse Currier Fund at BGSU is used for journalism scholarships, faculty development, special projects and the annual lecture series that brings distinguished journalists and media professionals to campus to speak and meet with students and faculty.

Past speakers in the series have included Mara Liasson of National Public Radio; Brian Bartow, media relations manager for the St. Louis Cardinals; satirist Michael Moore, and nationally syndicated columnist Molly Ivins.

The 2003 Currier Visiting Lecture is sponsored by the University’s Department of Journalism, the School of Communication Studies and GLIPA. Contributors include the College of Arts and Sciences, the Honors Program and the Department of English.

(Posted September 25, 2003)