Sources: Elizabeth Dodd, 785-532-0384, edodd@k-state.edu;
and Karin Westman, 785-532-2190, westmank@k-state.edu
News release prepared by: Katie Mayes, 785-532-6415, kmayes@k-state.edu

Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2009

K-STATE'S VISITING WRITERS SERIES TO FEATURE AUTHOR ROBERT DAY NOV. 19

MANHATTAN -- Author Robert Day will read from his Kansas-based works as part of Kansas State University's Visiting Writers Series at 4 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 19, in Hale Library's Hemisphere Room.

Day is best known for his 1977 novel "The Last Cattle Drive," a Kansas tale that has been compared to Mark Twain's "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn."

"While the great trip is along the east-west roads of Kansas rather than south along the Mississippi, and there's no raft and plenty of cattle, the mixture of hilarity and seriousness is quite similar," said Elizabeth Dodd, professor of English and director of K-State's creative writing program. "Day has a lively, engaging voice on the page and I'm sure readers -- whether Kansans by birth or not -- will enjoy an afternoon hearing him read from his work."

Day's "The Last Cattle Drive" was a Book-of-the-Month Club selection and has been reprinted in a 30th anniversary edition. Day also has published several novellas and a collection of short stories, "Speaking French in Kansas," in addition to a number of poems and essays.

A reception and book signing will follow the reading from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the Strecker-Nelson Gallery, 406 1/2 Poyntz Ave., downtown Manhattan.

Day has a bachelor's and a master's from the University of Kansas. He presently teaches English at Washington College in Chestertown, Md.

Additional information on the series is available at: http://www.k-state.edu/english/visit.html