Date:
2/9/2005
Contact: Wendel Sloan at 505.562.2253
Reporter: Helen Carroll
PORTALES — The 29th annual WilliamsonLectureship series will be held on the campus of Eastern New MexicoUniversity in Portales on March 3, 2005.
Theday's events include a luncheon, hosted by noted science fiction authorConnie Willis. The luncheon will begin at 11:45 a.m. in the CampusUnion Ballroom and will be attended by honoree and world-renownedscience fiction writer Dr. Jack Williamson, and guest speakers GregoryBenford and Walter Jon Williams. There will also be a panelpresentation by the authors at 7 p.m. that evening in Buchanan Hall ofthe Music Building. This year's lectureship will address "PosthumanityEvolving," and will engage the audience in discussion.
Thelectureship honors distinguished science fiction author, scholar andENMU Emeritus Professor of English Williamson, whose recent and widelyacclaimed novel, "Terraforming Earth," (2001) will soon be joined by"The Stonehenge Gate" (Tor, anticipated publication, August 2005).Joining Williamson will be two other noted science fiction authors,Benford and Jon Williams.
Benfordis a physicist and astronomer at the University of California, Irvine,and serves as a consultant for NASA. His best-known novel, "Timescape"(1980), his popular Galactic Center series "In The Ocean of Night"(1977), "Across the Sea of Suns" (1984), and "many others are allmarked by the talent of a gifted writer and the knowledge of apracticing scientist," according to a supplied biography.
WalterJon Williams is the author of 20 novels and several short storycollections. His science fiction is "varied, intelligent and powerfullyimaginative," according to his bio. "Hardwired" (1986) and "Voice ofthe Whirlwind" (1987) extend cyberpunk in new directions. "The Rift"(1999), "Metropolitan" (1995), "City on Fire" (1996, Hugo and Nebulanominee), and his trilogy of "Dread Empire's Fall" "create worlds thatreaders want to explore and long to escape from," according to his bio.
Below is the schedule of events:
Williamson Lectureship Luncheon
11:45 a.m. — Campus Ballroom ($7, payable at the door)
RSVP (for lunch) by Friday, Feb. 25, by calling 505.562.2315
Williamson Lectureship Panel
7 p.m. — Buchanan Hall, ENMU Music Building
Free of charge. For more information, contact Patrice Caldwell at 505.562.2315
Web site:www.enmu.edu/williamson-lectureship