Princeton University’s Spencer Trask Lectures: John McPhee, Writer and Pioneer of Creative Nonfiction

Writing on the Writing Process: A Reading Wednesday, November 12, 2014 6:00 pm, McCosh 50 John McPhee, author and pioneer of creative non-fiction, will read from several personal history pieces, all relating to the writing process and to Princeton. John McPhee was born in Princeton, New Jersey, and was educated at Princeton University and Cambridge University. His writing career began at Time magazine

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Princeton University’s Spencer Trask Lectures: Film and Terrorism, Discussion by Filmmaker Olivier Assayas and Critic Ian Buruma

Film and Terrorism Tuesday, March 4, 2014 6:00 pm, McCosh 50 Filmmaker Olivier Assayas and Critic Ian Buruma will present a conversation on  “Film and Terrorism.”  Ruben Gallo, Director of Princeton University’s Program in Latin American Studies, will lead the discussion, which will focus on how Assayas has portrayed terrorism in several of his award-winning films. Director and Screenwriter Olivier

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Princeton University’s Spencer Trask Lectures: Mario Vargas Llosa, Recipient of the 2010 Nobel Prize for Literature

Politics and Culture in Latin America, a Conversation with Enrique Krauze Tuesday, October 8, 2013 6:00 PM in McCosh 50 Writer and Nobel Laureate Mario Vargas Llosa will discuss the current state of politics and culture in Latin America in a conversation with Enrique Krauze, Historian and Visiting Research Scholar. Mario Vargas Llosa’s novels, including The War of the End

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Princeton University’s Spencer Trask Lectures: Edward Tufte, Data Theorist and Sculptor

NOTE:  McCosh 10 Cosponsored by the Spencer Trask Lectures Series and the Program of Belknap Visitors in the Humanities The Thinking Eye Edward Tufte, data theorist and pioneer in the field of data visualization, will discuss seeing, reasoning, and producing in high science and high art.   His latest project “The Thinking Eye” examines “forever knowledge” and helping people “see

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Princeton University’s Spencer Trask Lectures: Dava Sobel and Diane Ackerman

Dava Sobel and Diane Ackerman:  A ConversationApril 27, 2012 (NOTE: 7:00 p.m.)Cosponsored by the Spencer Trask Lecture Fund and Princeton University Diane Ackerman was conferring with Carl Sagan, creating poems about the planets for her doctoral dissertation at Cornell when she met Dava Sobel, then science writer in the University’s news bureau. Since befriending one another in the 1970s they have

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Princeton University’s Spencer Trask Lectures: Steve Martin

Stand Up: My Rise and Collapse (NOTE: Free ticket required. See below.)December 8, 2011 in McCosh Hall 50 (Simulcast in McCosh 10)Spencer Trask Lecture Update 12/01/11: There are NO more tickets available. There will be a wait line before the event for any unclaimed seats. There WILL be simulcast in McCosh 10 (no ticket necessary).

Princeton University’s Spencer Trask Lectures: Patti Smith

Picturing Robert: Remembering a friendship and artistic relationship with Robert MapplethorpeDecember 7, 2010. Spencer Trask Lecture Patti Smith is a singer, songwriter, poet, and visual artist. Her memoir, Just Kids (Ecco, Harper Collins 2010) about her relationship with Robert Mapplethorpe, just won the 2010 National Book Award for nonfiction. Smith will read excerpts from the book and her poems and perform some of the music

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Princeton University’s Spencer Trask Lectures: Chip Kidd

SIGNALS GraphicChipDesignKiddNovember 30, 2010. Spencer Trask Lecture Citing examples from his near quarter-century’s worth of work, Chip Kidd explains the way graphic design works, how our brains process it, what it means if it succeeds or fails, and why we should care. Chip Kidd is an award-winning art director and graphic designer. Currently he is associate art director at Knopf, an

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Princeton University’s Spencer Trask Lectures: Errol Morris

The AshtrayNovember 15, 2010. Spencer Trask LectureErrol Morris is a director and filmmaker. His film “The Fog of War” about Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara won the 2003 Academy Award for best documentary feature. Other films have won the Edgar from the Mystery Writers of America, the Golden Horse (Taiwan International Film Festival), the Grand Jury Prize (Sundance Film

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Princeton University’s Spencer Trask Lectures: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

The Writer as Two Selves: Reflections on the Private Act of Writing and the Public Act of CitizenshipOctober 20, 2010. Spencer Trask Lecture Born in Nigeria, novelist Chimamanda Adichie is the author of Purple Hibiscus (2003),which was nominated for a Booker Prize, andHalf of a Yellow Sun (2006), which won the 2007 Orange Prize for Fiction and revolves around the Biafran war of

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