February 11, 2004

CONTACT: Kimberly Stark, (901) 333-4023 -- Marilyn Duncan, (901) 333-4247

AUTHOR RICHARD WRIGHT IS SUBJECT OF SOUTHWEST LUNCHTIME LECTURE SERIES

“Decapitated and Smashed Heads: A Gender-based Study of Richard Wright” will be the featured presentation at the upcoming Brown Bag Luncheon series at Southwest Tennessee Community College.

On Monday, February 23, Dr. Yvonne Robinson Jones, associate professor of English, will kick off the series with a look at the life and works of Wright, an African-American author who is the subject of Jones’s doctoral dissertation. Jones teaches African-American literature and completed her Ph.D. in English at the University of Mississippi with an emphasis in 20th-Century American and African-American literature and gender studies. Jones’ presentation is scheduled for noon in the Fulton Building, Room 112 at the College’s Macon Cove Campus.

Dr. Jones and her husband, Eddie Jones, a photographer and instructor of Graphic Arts at Southwest, were instrumental in creating a freestanding exhibit on Wright, ‘Richard Wright and the Mid-South,’ which is on view in the Parrish Library on the College's Union Avenue Campus. Jones is especially proud to be an advisory member of The Richard Wright Circle that publishes the Richard Wright Newsletter at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.

The Honors Program Brown Bag series will feature Southwest faculty and local experts who will make presentations in their areas of specialization or interest. The series is designed to promote interest in and awareness of the Honors Program at Southwest and is open to the entire college community and the public.