EVENT:	Susan Shreve, author of nine novels and 23 children's books, will speak about the challenges of using Washington, D.C as a fictional setting. She will discuss both her own work and that of other writers. A reception will follow.
WHEN:	Thursday, April 16, 1998 6:30 p.m.
WHERE:	The George Washington University Gelman Library 2130 H Street, NW, Room 202 Washington, DC
COST:	Free and open to the public.

BACKGROUND:

Susan Shreve has been a professor of creative writing at George Mason University since 1976, and was the founder of that institution's MFA Program in Creative Writing. She also writes and delivers short documentary essays frequently for the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer. A current member of the Advisory Board of Washington Independent Writers, Shreve is also one of three producers for Voices, Inc., an education production company. Her most recent novel is The Visiting Physician (Nan A. Talese/Doubleday, 1996). One of her books, A Country of Strangers (Simon Schuster, 1989) has been optioned for film, and another, Daughters of the New World (Nan A. Talese/Doubleday, 1989) is in development as a new series for NBC.

Shreve was president of the P.E.N./Faulkner Foundation from 1985-1990. She is also the recipient of numerous grants and awards from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Lila Wallace Readers Digest Foundation. She was a fellow and on staff at Bread Loaf (1974-'76), a Jenny McKean Moore Writer in Residence at GW (1977-'78), and has held visiting professorships at Bates College, Columbia University, and Princeton.

This program is held in conjuntion with the exhibit City of Magnificent Illusions: The Washington, D.C. of Fiction, an exhibition in the Special Collections Department of GW's Gelman Library that focuses on novels set in Washington, D.C. Displaying more than 70 books, the exhibit includes scandal novels, romances, accounts of political intrigue, and mysteries, all dating from the early 19th through late 20th centuries. The exhibit is open Monday through Friday, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and will be open both before and after Shreve's lecture.

GW's Special Collections Department, part of the Gelman Library, has a strong commitment to introducing the public to its collection through exhibits and public programming. Special Collections acquires, preserves, interprets, and makes available materials and information in selected areas of research in support of the mission of The Gelman Library and The George Washington University. The main strength of the collection is the materials on the history of Washington, D.C. Other important research collections include materials documenting the history of GW, the I. Edward Kiev Judaica Collection, a collection of holy land maps, and the Carneige Peace Pamphlet Collection. Located in the Gelman Library, Room 207, at 2130 H Street, the department is open to researchers Monday through Friday from noon to 5:00 p.m.

Located four blocks from the White House, The George Washington University was created by an Act of Congress in 1821. Today, GW is the largest institution of higher education in the nation's capital. The University offers comprehensive programs of undergraduate and graduate liberal arts study as well as degree programs in medicine, law, engineering, education, business/public management and international affairs. Each year, GW enrolls a diverse population of 19,000 undergraduate, graduate and professional students from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and 120 countries.