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​Westminster College to Bring Josip Novakovich to Campus

Posted on Monday, February 9, 2015

Westminster College welcomes Josip Novakovich, writer, novelist and essayist, to campus to present "War Stories from Ex-Yugoslavia," February 19 at 7:00 p.m. in Mueller Theatre, McKelvey Campus Center. The event is free and open to the public.

"He is, as one reviewer put it, particularly skilled at conveying ‘the tragic ludicrousness of ethnic hatred and war,'" notes Dr. Bethany Hicok, honors program director and professor of English. "And, his stories of war and displacement are entertaining, poignant, and thought-provoking."

Novakovich was born in the former Yugoslavia (now Croatia) and grew up under the authoritarian rule of Marshal Tito in the central Croatian town of Danuvar. He moved to the United States at the age of 20. He received a bachelor of arts in psychology from Vassar College, a master of divinity from Yale University, and a master of arts in English/Creative Writing from the University of Texas at Austin. Some of his works include April Fool's Day; Infidelities: Stories of War and Lust; Yolk; Salvation and Other Disasters; and Shopping for a Better Country. He is the recipient of many awards, including three Pushcart Prizes, a Guggenheim, a Fulbright, a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, and he was a finalist for the Man Booker International Prize in Fiction.

His visit is sponsored by the Westminster All-College Honors Program, the Department of English and Public Relations, and the Department of Modern Languages. For more information, please contact Dr. Hicok at 724-946-6263.