The 13th Writers’ Workshop Series ends with author and journalist Thomas French on November 30, 2010, 7:00 p.m. in the Dodge Room in the Reed Campus Center. Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Thomas French was a feature journalist for the St. Petersburg Times where he wrote seminal pieces such as ‘A Cry In The Night’, a story that “made a model for the rest of us to follow,” according to Washington Post reporter Anne Hull.

In 2009, his book Zoo Story was published. Based on six years of research, the book chronicles the inner world of Tampa’s Lowry Park Zoo by following a cast of animals through their adventures of captivity and addressing the moral complexities of zoo life. He has appeared on NPR’s “Talk of the Nation” and most recently on the “Colbert Report.” In 2008, French returned to his alma mater Indiana University where he has since served on the faculty of the Indiana University School of Journalism.

The Writers’ Workshop Series began in 1998 as an advanced class for aspiring student writers. Since its inception, the series has hosted an impressive group of accomplished authors, including Augusten Burroughs (Running with Scissors); Pulitzer Prize-winners Richard Russo (Empire Falls) and Gregory Maguire (Wicked); as well as Sue Miller (The Good Mother), Martín Espada (Albanza: New and Selected Poems), Arthur Golden (Memoirs of a Geisha), and many other outstanding guests. This year’s line-up offered additional renowned lecturers including Suzanne Strempek Shea (Sundays in America): Debra Monroe (On the Outskirts of Normal: Forging a Family Against the Grain), and John Marks (Fangland).

All presentations, which are free and open to the public (as indicated), take place at 7:00 p.m. in the Dodge Room of the Reed Campus Center at The Williston Northampton School. For more information, please call 413-529-3237 or visit www.williston.com/writersworkshop.