The One Marvelous Thing

Sept. 21, 2009 -- Author Rikki Ducornet, the Visiting Fannie Hurst Professor of Creative Literature in The Writing Program in Arts & Science, will read from her work at 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 1.

In addition, Ducornet will lead a talk on the craft of fiction at 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 8.

Rikki Ducornet

Both events — presented as part of The Writing Program's fall Reading Series — are free and open to the public and take place in Hurst Lounge, Room 201, Duncker Hall. A reception and book signing will immediately follow each.

For more information, call (314) 935-7130 or email David Schuman at dschuman@wustl.edu.

Ducornet, the is the author of seven novels, including The Fan Maker's Inquisition (2004) — a Los Angeles Times Book of the Year—and The Jade Cabinet (1993), a finalist for the National Book Critics' Circle Award.

Other books include three collections of short fiction — most recently The One Marvelous Thing (2008) — as well as five books of poetry and a collection of essays. In 2004 Ducornet received the Lannan Literary Award in Fiction. Other honors include a Lannan Fellowship and an Academy Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

In addition to her writing, Ducornet is an accomplished artist whose drawings have been widely exhibited in the United States and abroad, most recently at the Museo de la Solidaridad in Santiago, Chile. She has illustrated books by Jorge Luis Borges and Robert Coover as well as her own short story, "The Volatilized Ceiling of Baron Munodi" (1991).

Ducornet was born in New York in 1943 and received a bachelor's degree from Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y. (where she inspired future Steely Dan band member Donald Fagen to pen the song "Rikki Don't Lose That Number"). She has lived in France, Algeria, Egypt and Chile, and currently resides in Denver.