22 January at 6:30 pm, The Crystal Room, Alumnae Hall, 194 Meeting Street

Please join the Brown Literary Arts Department for a reading by novelist John Banville. Described in the Los Angeles TImes as “Without question, one of the greatest living masters of English-language prose,” Banville has been awarded the Man Booker Prize (for his novel, The Sea), the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, the Guardian Fiction Prize and the Franz Kafka Prize.

Take a look at his interview with The Paris Review to learn more about how he writes under two names: John Banville and Benjamin Black.

“As a novelist, he is famous for his difficulty. In their architecture and in their style, his books are like baroque cathedrals, filled with elaborate passages and sometimes overwhelming to the casual tourist. For this, Banville makes no apologies—he says he is committed to language and to rhythm above plot, characterization, or pacing. Being Benjamin Black, however, allows him to play more loosely with character and storytelling; in interviews and in correspondence, he refers to Black (“the rogue”) fondly and mischievously, delightedly playing this identity against his own.”