Vonnegut At Twain House

HARTFORD — Renowned novelist, short story writer and social critic Kurt Vonnegut, considered by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution to be “the Mark Twain of our times,” will return to the podium of The Mark Twain House on April 30 to speak at the first 2003 Clemens Lecture.

Mr Vonnegut – the author of international best sellers such as Slaughterhouse Five (which is in the top 20 of Modern Library’s list of the 100 greatest novels of the 20th Century), Cat’s Cradle, Breakfast of Champions and God Bless You, Mr Rosewater – will speak on Wednesday, April 30, at 6:30 pm, at The Wallace Stevens Theatre of The Hartford Financial Services Group, 690 Asylum Avenue, Hartford. Free parking is available in The Hartford’s ramp garage.

General admission tickets are $25, or $15 for seniors and teachers, and $10 for students with proper ID. Registrations can be made by calling 860-247-0998, extension 40 or online at www.MarkTwainHouse.org.

Vonnegut is making his second public appearance at The Mark Twain House. When he spoke to a Hartford audience in 1979 he noted that, “It seems clear to me, as an American writing 100 years after this house was built, that we would not be known as a nation with a supple, amusing, and often beautiful language of our own if it were not for the genius of Mark Twain.”

At the time, Vonnegut also mentioned that he had named his son Mark after the famed American writer, lecturer and social critic who lived in Hartford from 1871 to 1891. During his time in Hartford, Twain, born Samuel Clemens, wrote seven of his greatest works, including The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court.

The Clemens Lectures, part of the educational initiative of The Mark Twain House, bring to the public major figures whose work continues the legacy of Mark Twain. Past lecturers have included New York Times columnist Russell Banker, author and humorist Calvin Trillin, Doonesbury creator Garry Trudeau, CBS News Managing Editor Dan Rather, author David McCullough, and Lewis Lapham, editor of Harper’s.