Sean Michaels (image: John Londono)
The next instalment of the Canadian Writers in Person Lecture Series takes place on Nov. 17, from 7 to 10 pm, and features award-winning novelist, music critic and blogger Sean Michaels.
The lecture will be held at 206 Accolade West Building, and will include a reading and discussion with the Quebec-based writer.
Michaels’ debut novel, Us Conductors, is the winner of the 2014 Scotiabank Giller Prize. The book is a national bestseller, exploring the true life and loves of Russian scientist and inventor Lev Termen.
The story is based on a letter written by Terman while imprisoned on a ship travelling from Manhattan back to Leningrad; a letter addressed to his one true love, Clara Rockmore, that outlines his life story.
The novel was a finalist for the 2014 Paragraphe Hugh MacLennan Prize for Fiction, as well as the 2014 Concordia University Book Prize.
Michaels is the founder of one of the earliest music blogs, “Said the Gramaphone.” His written contributions are many, and include publication in the Guardian, McSweeney’s, The Believer, Pitchfork, Maisonneuve, the Observer, The Wire and the National Post. He also appears in a weekly music column, “Heartbeats,” in the Globe and Mail.
He was born in Scotland in 1982, raised in Ottawa and settled later in Montreal.
The Canadian Writers in Person Lecture Series, presented by the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (LA&PS), is bringing 11 Canadian writers to campus this year for an up-close and personal event.
More events in the series include:
Dec. 1 – Lee Maracle, Celia’s Song
Jan. 12 – Heather O’Neill, The Girl Who Was Saturday Night
Jan. 26 – Gregory Scofield, Louis: The Heretic Poems
Feb. 9 – Colin McAdam, A Beautiful Truth
March 1 – Sue Goyette, Ocean
March 15 – Aisha Sasha John, Thou
For more information, email gailv@yorku.ca or leslie@yorku.ca.