Best-selling author of "Stiff," "Spook," "Gulp" and "Bonk" to give free reading at Englert

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Mary RoachMary Roach, best-selling science writer and a 2015 Ida Beam Distinguished Visiting Professor at the University of Iowa, will read from her work at 8:00 p.m. on Monday, April 27, at the Englert Theatre. Her reading is free and open to the public, and will be followed by a Q&A and book signing.

The author of five highly acclaimed books, Roach is known for her use of humor and metaphor to make complex, timely issues appeal to both the average reader and the not-so-average scientist.

Her books include the New York Times bestsellers GULP: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal, PACKING FOR MARS: The Curious Science of Life in the Void, STIFF: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, BONK: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex, and SPOOK: Science Tackles the Afterlife.

PACKING FOR MARS was a New York Times Editor's Choice and a One City, One Book selection for San Francisco. STIFF has been translated into 26 languages, and SPOOK was a New York Times Notable Book. Roach has also written for National Geographic, Wired, New Scientist, The New York Times, Smithsonian, and Outside. She serves as a member of the Mars Institute's Advisory Board and the Usage Panel of American Heritage Dictionary. Her 2009 TED talk made the organization's Twenty Most-Watched list, and in 2011 she served as guest editor of the 2011 Best American Science and Nature Writing.  She is also the recipient of the American Engineering Societies' Engineering Journalism Award, in a category for which, she admits, she was the sole entrant.

Roach's visit is sponsored by the Nonfiction Writing Program in the University of Iowa Department of English, with generous support from the Office of the Provost's Ida Cordelia Beam Distinguished Visiting Professor program, Prairie Lights Books, and Lensing Cremation and Funeral Services.

Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend all University of Iowa-sponsored events. If you are a person with a disability who requires an accommodation in order to participate in this program, please contact the Department of English in advance at 319-335-2535.

The University of Iowa College of Liberal Arts and Sciences offers about 70 majors across the humanities; fine, performing and literary arts; natural and mathematical sciences; social and behavioral sciences; and communication disciplines. About 15,000 undergraduate and nearly 2,000 graduate students study each year in the college’s 37 departments, led by faculty at the forefront of teaching and research in their disciplines. The college teaches all Iowa undergraduates through the college's general education program, CLAS CORE. About 80 percent of all Iowa undergraduates begin their academic journey in CLAS. The college confers about 60 percent of the university's bachelor's degrees each academic year.