On April 25, Wesleyan welcomed award-winning writer and scholar André Aciman to campus to deliver the 2018 Annie Sonnenblick lecture.Aciman is an American essayist and New York Times best-selling novelist originally from Alexandria, Egypt. He is the author of four novels—Call Me by Your Name, Eight White Nights, Harvard Square, and Enigma Variations—as well as nonfiction works including Out of Egypt: A Memoir, False Papers, and Alibis. He is also the co-author and editor of Letters of Transit and The Proust Project. He signed copies of his books during the event.
Anne Greene, University Professor of English and director of the Wesleyan Writers Conference and Writing Certificate program, introduced Aciman to the audience.Aciman is the recipient of a Whiting Writers’ Award and a Guggenheim Fellowship, as well as a fellowship from The New York Public Library’s Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers.The annual lecture is named in memory of Annie Sonnenblick ’80, who died in 1984. A gifted writer, her interests ranged widely in the fields of language, literature, history, and architecture. The lecture series was established by Annie’s parents, the late Dr. Edmund Sonnenblick ’54 and Linda Bland Sonnenblick, and her sisters, Dr. Emily Sonnenblick and (shown above) Charlotte Sonnenblick Van Doren ’84. Wesleyan also offers the Annie Sonnenblick Writing Award, which provides up to $4,000 to a junior who wishes to undertake a nonfiction writing project during the summer between junior and senior year. The lecture series, which brings distinguished writers to campus to participate in discussion with members of the University community, is coordinated by the Writing Certificate program.A contributor to The New York Times, The New Yorker, The New Republic, and The New York Review of Books, Aciman has also had his work appear in several volumes of Best American Essays. He teaches Comparative Literature at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.The lecture was well attended by students.Aciman answered questions from the audience during his talk. (Photos by Caroline Kravitz ’19)
Olivia Drake
Mike Mavredakis
Ziba Kashef
Andrew Chatfield