Knoxville author Michael Knight to give reading at Maryville College

August 12, 2010
Contact: Chloe Kennedy, News and New Media Writer
865.981.8209; chloe.kennedy@maryvillecollege.edu

Knoxville author Michael Knight will give a reading of his latest novel, The Typist, at Maryville College Sept. 8.

Knight, director of creative writing in the English Department at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, is the author of two collections of short fiction, Goodnight, Nobody and Dogfight and Other Stories; a collection of novellas, The Holiday Season; and the novel, Divining Rod. He has also been published in The New Yorker, Esquire and Oxford American.

Kim Trevathan, assistant professor of writing/communication at Maryville College, invited Knight to the College.

“I’ve admired Michael’s work ever since his first collection, Dogfight and Other Stories, which came out in 1998,” Trevathan said. “He’s visited my fiction writing classes a couple of times to talk about his story ‘Smash and Grab,’ about a burglar who gets caught in the act and held hostage, in a sense, by the daughter of the house. Like many of Michael’s stories, it is humorous and unpredictable, and what it reveals about human nature is wise and original.”

The Typist, which is set in post-WWII Japan, was named by the Huffington Post last month as one of the most anticipated books for the rest of 2010.

Knight’s reading, which is free and open to the public, will take place at 7 p.m. in Fayerweather Hall’s Lawson Auditorium. Copies of The Typist will be available for purchase.

Knight will also speak to Trevathan’s fiction writing class that afternoon. For more information, contact the College’s Languages and Literature Division at 865-981-8224.

Maryville College is ideally situated in Maryville, Tenn., between the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Knoxville, the state‘s third largest city. Founded in 1819, it is the 12th oldest institution of higher learning in the South and maintains an affiliation with the Presbyterian Church (USA). Known for its academic rigor and its focus on the liberal arts, Maryville is where students come to stretch their minds, stretch themselves and learn how to make a difference in the world. Total enrollment for the fall 2011 semester was 1,078.