KINGSTON, R.I. – April 5, 2012 – Tom Perrotta, acclaimed novelist and screenwriter, will speak at the University of Rhode Island Tuesday, April 24 at 7 p.m. His talk and reading, free and open to the public, will be held in Doody Auditorium, Swan Hall, 60 Upper College Road, Kingston.

Perrotta is the author of six works of fiction, including The Leftovers, The Wishbones, and Joe College. He is best known for his novels Election and Little Children. Both books were made into Golden Globe-nominated films. Perrotta co-wrote the screenplay for Little Children, for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay.

“The University of Rhode Island is developing a strong reputation among budding authors as a place to be nurtured and encouraged in their efforts to become published, professional writers. They meet, interact with, and learn from some of today’s most prominent writers and poets during the year and at our Ocean State Summer Writing Program in June,” says prizewinning poet Peter Covino of URI’s English Department.

“Tom Perrotta is highly respected among his fellow writers and his readership—his work is at once poignant and extremely funny too. His visit has been made possible because of our new affiliation with PEN New England, a vital and respected literary organization that will help writers and the URI community become even more linked to literary professionals, and cutting-edge literary events.”

Perrotta’s visit is part of URI’s Read/Write Guest Writers and Scholars Series. URI’s English Department, Film Studies Program, and PEN New England sponsor the evening.

NOTE: A pre-event reception with the author, sponsored by the URI Alumni Writers’ Affinity Group, will be held at 5:30 p.m. in the Alumni Center, 73 Upper College Road, Kingston. To attend the reception you must register at https://secure.www.alumniconnections.com/olc/pub/RIU/event/showEventForm.jsp?form_id=123731