Author Stuart Dybek will visit Western Wednesday, Feb. 25 and Thursday Feb. 26. Dybek will give a reading from his most recent works of fiction at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 25 in the Union Sandburg Theatre, open free to the public. He will discuss the craft of writing at 10 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 26 in the Simpkins Hall Theatre.

The author of three collections of short fiction and a volume of poetry, Dybek’s writing has been frequently anthologized and has appeared in numerous journals and magazines, including “The New Yorker,” “The Atlantic Monthly” and “Harper’s.” The author Studs Terkel said of Dybek’s latest collection of fiction, “I Sailed With Magellan,” “It’s hard to tell where Nelson Algren leaves off and Stuart Dybek begins—they’re a couple of naturals. ÊThey each capture the lyricism of Chicago’s backstreets: the city behind the billboards. ÊThey celebrate our alleys as well as our boulevards. ÊStuart Dybek is, at this moment, our city’s blue-collar bard. ÊThese eleven lovely stories comprise the Chicago novel of today.”

Dybek has won numerous awards including several O. Henry Prizes, a PEN/ Bernard Malamud Prize and Pushcart Prize.

For more information contact English and Journalism Department Chair David Boocker at 309/298-1103.