KNOXVILLE — The James Agee Centennial Celebration, a monthlong series of events marking the 100th birthday of the Knoxville native and Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, screenwriter, journalist, author and poet, continues this weekend with an outdoor reading of selected Agee works in James Agee Park.
“An Afternoon in Agee Park” is set for 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 1, in the park at the corner of James Agee Street and Laurel Avenue, and is free and open to the public. Knoxville architect, UT Knoxville Chancellor’s Associate and historic preservationist C. Randall DeFord will present a history of the Park and various local writers will read from selected portions of Agee’s works, with opening remarks by Knoxville poet, singer, songwriter, musician, playwright and actor RB Morris. In case of inclement weather, the event will be moved to Sunday, Nov. 8.
The James Agee Centennial Celebration wraps up on Sunday, Nov. 22.
Born on Nov. 27, 1909, in a home on Highland Avenue near James Agee Street, Agee spent the first seven years of his life in Knoxville before leaving town to attend boarding school. He returned to Knoxville for a year of high school and then left again, eventually graduating from Harvard University.
Agee went on to write for magazines such as Time, Life, Fortune and The Nation. He wrote the screenplays for the films “The African Queen” and “The Night of the Hunter,” and won a posthumous Pulitzer Prize for his book “A Death in the Family.”
Upcoming events will feature lectures, film screenings, a music performance at Laurel Theater and exhibits at the UT Libraries’ Special Collections, the Knoxville Museum of Art and the East Tennessee History Center.
For the full schedule of Agee Centennial events, visit http://web.utk.edu/~english/news/agee100.html.
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C O N T A C T :
Michael Lofaro (865-974-4928, mlofaro@utk.edu)
Charles Primm (865-974-5180, primmc@utk.edu)