Distinguished Author Award Honors Madeline Miller

New York Times bestseller author Madeline Miller will receive the 2019 Royden B. Davis, S.J., Distinguished Author Award on Oct. 5.
The author of New York Times bestsellers “Circe” and “The Song of Achilles,” Madeline Miller, will receive the 2019 Royden B. Davis, S.J., Distinguished Author Award from The University of Scranton’s Friends of the Weinberg Memorial Library on Saturday, Oct. 5, in the McIlhenny Ballroom of the DeNaples Center.
The author of New York Times bestsellers “Circe” and “The Song of Achilles,” Madeline Miller, will receive the 2019 Royden B. Davis, S.J., Distinguished Author Award from The University of Scranton’s Friends of the Weinberg Memorial Library on Saturday, Oct. 5, in the McIlhenny Ballroom of the DeNaples Center.

Madeline Miller, author of two New York Times bestsellers, will receive the 2019 Royden B. Davis, S.J., Distinguished Author Award from The University of Scranton’s Friends of the Weinberg Memorial Library on Saturday, Oct. 5, in the McIlhenny Ballroom of the DeNaples Student Center, 900 Mulberry St., Scranton. The event will begin with a book signing open to the public from 4 to 5 p.m. on the 2nd floor of DeNaples Center, followed by a dinner reception at 5 p.m., and the award presentation in the ballroom. Books will be available for sale at the event. Reservations and tickets are required for the dinner and award presentation. Proceeds from the event benefit the Friends of the Library Endowment Fund, which supports special gifts for the Weinberg Library collections and services.

Miller’ latest book, “Circe,” inspired by the mythological witch in Homer’s “Odyssey,” became a No. 1 New York Times bestseller and is currently short-listed for the Women’s Prize for Fiction. The novel won the Indies Choice Best Adult Fiction of the Year Award, the Indies Choice Best Audiobook of the Year Award, the Red Tentacle Award, an American Library Association Alex Award (adult books of special interest to teen readers) and the 2018 Elle Big Book Award.

Her first book, “Song of Achilles,” inspired by characters in Homer’s “Illiad,” was also a New York Times bestseller. It was awarded the 2012 Orange Prize for Fiction and has been translated into over 25 languages including Dutch, Mandarin, Japanese, Turkish, Arabic and Greek. Miller was also shortlisted for the 2012 Stonewall Writer of the Year. 

Miller’s essays have appeared in numerous publications including the Guardian, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Telegraph and NPR.org.

Miller has taught and tutored Latin, Greek and Shakespeare to high school students for the past 20 years. She earned her bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in classics from Brown University. She also studied at the University of Chicago’s Committee on Social Thought and in the Dramaturgy Department at Yale School of Drama, where she focused on the adaptation of classical texts to modern forms.

Named in honor of the late Rev. Royden B. Davis, S.J., who served in many roles at the University and as rector of the Jesuit Community, the Distinguished Author Award was established in 1997. The Friends of the Weinberg Memorial Library envisioned the series as a way to honor notable fiction and non-fiction authors, and to give them the opportunity to share their literary pursuits and impressions with Northeastern Pennsylvanians.

Past recipients of the award have included best-selling author Colum McCann, Jack Palance, Malachy McCourt, Mary Higgins Clark, Carol Higgins Clark, Lisa Scottoline, Linda Fairstein, James Grippando, Phillip Margolin, Mary Gordon, William Bernhardt, Steve Berry, Jay Parini, Susan Campbell Bartoletti and Lorene Cary. The 2016 winner was Scranton native Stephen Karam, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and known best for his Broadway play, “The Humans.”

For more information and to purchase tickets for the Distinguished Author Award reception and presentation, contact Kym Fetsko at 570-941-7816 or kym.fetsko@scranton.edu. For more on Miller, visit madelinemiller.com.

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