- June 9, 2009 -

WHAT: The 33rd Annual Aspen Summer Words Writing Retreat and Literary Festival. The "World of Words" festival will feature presenters from countries including Ireland, Kenya, Egypt, India, Mexico, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, and the United States.

WHO: The festival will feature literary all-stars including Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Ishmael Beah, David Davidar, Hallie Ephron, Gary Ferguson, Dana Gioia, Walter Isaacson, Scott Lasser, William Loizeaux, Colum McCann, Christopher Merrill, Catherine O'Connell, Pamela Painter, Nic Pizzolatto, Mohamed Salmawy, Luis Alberto Urrea, Binyavanga Wainaina, and the 2009 Aspen Prize for Literature recipient, Ron Carlson. Program highlights include:

• The world premier of bestselling and award-winning Irish author Colum McCann's new novel, Let the Great World Spin on Tuesday, June 23, at 5 pm at the Doerr-Hosier Center on the Aspen Meadows Campus, followed by a ticketed dinner, Carte du Monde, benefitting the education programs of the AWF.
  
• Four more books will make their Aspen debut during Summer Words, including Chimamanda Adichie's The Thing Around Your Neck, Ron Carlson's The Signal, Luis Alberto Urrea's Into the Beautiful North, and Scott Lasser's The Year That Follows.
  
• Ron Carlson will receive the 2009 Aspen Prize for Literature, sponsored by the Bedell World Citizenship Fund (BWCF). Past recipients of the Aspen Prize for Literature include Wole Soyinka, Ngugi wa Thiong'o, N. Scott Momaday, Paul Muldoon, Edna O’brien, and Salman Rushdie.
  
• The Readers' Retreat with David Davidar, a two-day literature appreciation course covering the writing and works of Festival presenters.
  
• "Why Literature Matters," one-day symposium with Dana Gioia, former chairman of the NEA and current director of the Aspen Institute’s Harman-Eisner Program in the Arts, on Friday, June 26.

• June 21-26, 2009

• The Doerr-Hosier Center on the Aspen Meadows campus, Aspen, CO

The Aspen Writers’ Foundation presents the 33rd annual Aspen Summer Words Writing Retreat and Literary Festival at the Doerr-Hosier Center on the Aspen Meadows campus in partnership with Explore Booksellers and thanks to a generous gift from Cheryl and Sam Wyly.

^**For press credentials, a full press kit, bios, schedule of events, interview requests, or other questions, contact Nicole Hernandez 970-925-3122 ext. 2# or nicole@aspenwriters.org, or visit http://www.aspenwritersfoundation.org/www/pressroom.html^**

The Aspen Writers' Foundation, Colorado's oldest nonprofit literary arts organization and a program of the Aspen Institute, has been bringing readers and writers together since 1976. The organization's mission is to provide programs that encourage writers in their craft and readers in their appreciation of literature. Through its repertoire of ten year-round programs and projects, the Aspen Writers' Foundation annually serves 20,000 literary enthusiasts of all ages. More information is available at 970.925.3122 and aspenwriters.org.

The Aspen Institute’s mission is twofold: to foster values-based leadership, encouraging individuals to reflect on the ideals and ideas that define a good society, and to provide a neutral and balanced venue for discussing and acting on critical issues. The Aspen Institute does this primarily in four ways: seminars, young-leader fellowships around the globe, policy programs, and public conferences and events. The Institute is based in Washington, DC, Aspen, Colorado, and on the Wye River on Maryland’s Eastern Shore and has an international network of partners. For more information, visit www.aspeninstitute.org.

Aspen Institute

Aspen Institute

The Aspen Institute is an educational and policy studies organization based in Washington, DC. Its mission is to foster leadership based on enduring values and to provide a nonpartisan venue for dealing with critical issues. The Institute has campuses in Aspen, Colorado, and on the Wye River on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. It also maintains offices in New York City and has an international network of partners. For more information, visit www.aspeninstitute.org or follow on Twitter @AspenInstitute.

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