Oklahoma Author Rilla Askew at OSU Library

Friday, March 4, 2016

The OSU Library will feature Rilla Askew for “Creating Women’s Lives in Fiction” in the Peggy V. Helmerich Browsing Room of the Edmon Low Library in Stillwater on March 7, at 2 p.m.

Askew is the author of four novels and a book of stories. She is a PEN/Faulkner finalist, recipient of the Western Heritage Award, Oklahoma Book Award and a 2009 Arts and Letters Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Askew considers America her subject and Oklahoma the canvas. She was raised in Bartlesville and comes from a long line of storytellers with family roots in southeastern Oklahoma. Strong female characters are a feature of her writing, and she is not afraid to address social justice issues such as inequality and human rights. Her most recent novel, “Kind of Kin,” centers on state immigration laws.

The March 7 event is presented as part of National Women’s History Month and is sponsored by the OSU Library, OSU Gender and Women’s Studies program, OSU English Department, OSU American Studies, Center for Oklahoma Studies, OSU Creative Writing Association, OSU English Graduate Student Association and OSU Writing Project.

Askew will also be in Stillwater on March 28 at 7 p.m. at the Stillwater Public Library where she will talk about her novel “Fire in Beulah” and the Tulsa Race Riots.

Both of Askew’s talks are free and open to the public. For information about the March 7 program, contact the OSU Library at 405-744-2376. For information about the March 28 program, contact the Stillwater Public Library at 405-372-3633.