UA Libraries and Fayetteville Public Libraries Partner to Present Writer Evelyn C. White

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — As part of the continued celebration of Black History Month on the University of Arkansas campus, the University Libraries, in partnership with the Fayetteville Public Libraries, will present two events featuring Evelyn C. White, author of the critically acclaimed biography “Alice Walker: A Life” (Norton, 2004).

The first event will be a screening of the film “The Color Purple,” based on Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name at 5 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 21, in the Walker Meeting Room in the Fayetteville Public Library. White will provide brief introductory remarks to the film. Her biography of Walker draws parallels between “The Color Purple” and characters and events from Walker’s grandparents’ generation. The film stars Whoopi Goldberg, Danny Glover, and Oprah Winfrey and was directed by Steven Spielberg. It is rated PG-13 and runs 155 minutes.

The second event will be a lecture by White titled “The Universe Provides: Writing the Life of Alice Walker; Musings on 'The Color Purple,’ Abundance, and the Art of Biography,” which she will present at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 22, in the Helen Robson Walton Reading Room in Mullins Library on the UA campus. The lecture will be followed by a reception and book signing. The UA Bookstore will offer copies of the biography and White’s other books for sale at the event.

White is a graduate of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and also holds a master’s degree in public administration from Harvard University. She has published articles, essays, and reviews in publications such as The Smithsonian, The Wall Street Journal, the San Francisco Chronicle, The Washington Post, Essence and Ms. She is also the author of “Chain, Chain, Change: For Black Women in Abusive Relationships” (Seal Press 1995) and editor of “The Black Women’s Health Book: Speaking for Ourselves” (Seal Press, 1994), both of which are available for purchase from the UA Bookstore.

White took 10 years to research and write her biography of Walker. During that time she became acquainted with Fayetteville ophthalmologist Dr. Morriss M. Henry and his wife, Ann. In 1958 at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Dr. Henry performed surgery on the 14-year-old Walker to remove a cataract and scar tissue and to repair damage on her blind eye. Walker’s eye had been injured when she was accidentally shot by her brother with a BB gun. According to the biography, the damaged eye caused her discomfort and emotional isolation until Henry’s corrective surgery.

Also honored at the reception will be artist John L. Newman, whose exhibit “High Water” is currently being displayed in Mullins Library. For more information, visit http://libinfo.uark.edu/info/artexhibit.asp  or call (479) 575-6702.