4/29/97
CONTACT: Stanford University News Service (650) 723-2558
The Stanford University Libraries will mark the acquisition of the literary archives of William Saroyan with "The Spirit of Saroyan," a series of free public programs from May 6 through 10 that includes film screenings, readings, talks by Saroyan scholars and associates, and an exhibition.
Books, manuscripts, correspondence, photographs and other items from the writer's archives will be on display in "William Saroyan: the Times of His Lives," in the lobby of Green Library from May 9 through Aug. 10.
The William Saroyan Collection is expected to encourage critical assessment of the writer's work by publishing new materials and providing access to cataloged works. The libraries will announce plans for the collection in May, including a curatorship and a writer's prize established in Saroyan's name.
"Saroyan's papers will provide source materials for Stanford professors and students, and inevitably have already become a draw for their counterparts from other institutions," said Michael Keller, director of Academic Information Resources and the Ida M. Green University Librarian.
Saroyan published more than 4,000 literary works and won the Pulitzer Prize and an award from the New York Critics' Circle for his drama The Time of Your Life. He also won an Academy Award for the film The Human Comedy, from his novel of the same name.
Two films based on Saroyan's writings, The Human Comedy and The Time of Your Life, will be screened in video format at 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 6, and Thursday, May 8, at the Stanford Humanities Center Annex.
Associates of the Stanford University libraries will read from Saroyan's stories from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. on Friday, May 9, on the steps of the Bookstore.
Saroyan scholars will discuss the writer's work starting at 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 10, in Annenberg Auditorium of the Cummings Art Building.
For more information, call (415) 723-9426.
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By Diane Manuel