Albee, Rushdie to Give Reading of Early Beckett Letters

Three-time Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Edward Albee and Emory University Distinguished Writer in Residence Salman Rushdie will join actors Brenda Bynum and Robert Shaw Smith for a rare evening of readings of early letters by Samuel Beckett at 8 p.m. Tuesday, March 17 in Glenn Memorial Auditorium, 1652 N. Decatur Rd. Admission is free.

The event, titled "Fundamental Sounds: The Early Letters of Samuel Beckett," celebrates the recent publication of "The Letters of Samuel Beckett, 1929-1940" by Cambridge University Press. This is the first of a four-volume series of Samuel Beckett's letters, an international project affiliated with the Graduate School of Emory.

Playwright Tom Stoppard has said that "the prospect of reading Beckett's letters quickens the blood like none other's and one must hope to stay alive until the fourth volume is safely delivered."

While in Atlanta, Albee will participate in "A Creativity Conversation" with Rosemary Magee, vice president and secretary of the university, at 3 p.m. Wednesday, March 18 at Emory's Center for Ethics, Room 102, 1531 Dickey Drive.

Related Beckett celebration events include:

• Beckett Film Marathon, 4-10 p.m., Thursday, March 19 in Room 110, White Hall, 301 Dowman Drive. Admission is free.

• Vocal sextet Lionheart with Vega String Quartet, featuring Phil Kline's composition, "John the Revelator," which sets passages from Samuel Beckett's novel, "The Unnamable," to music, 8 p.m., Friday, March 20, part of the Flora Glenn Candler Concert Series, Schwartz Center, Emerson Concert Hall, 1700 N. Decatur Rd. For information and tickets contact Arts at Emory Box Office: 404.727.5050 or boxoffice@emory.edu.

For more information on the Beckett project and events, contact Melissa Holm at (404) 727-2981, mholm@emory.edu.