Acclaimed mystery writer Chris Grabenstein will present a free lecture on behalf of The Center for Children's & Young Adult Literature on Thursday evening, October 1, 2009, at 7:00 p.m. The event will be held in the Frank H. McClung Museum auditorium, at 1327 Circle Park Drive. UT Office of Alumni Affairs will present Grabenstein, a graduate of UT-Knoxville, with an Accomplished Alumni Award, and will sponsor a short reception during the book signing after the lecture. Carpe Librum will have copies of Grabenstein's adult and young adult titles for purchase.
Prior to his career as a mystery writer, Grabenstein worked as a comedian in New York City with an improvisational comedy troupe. He also wrote for Jim Henson’s Muppets and co-wrote the popular holiday film “The Christmas Gift.” He had a long and successful career in advertising where he wrote commercials for television and radio.
His writing career started with his first adult thriller "Tilt a Whirl", winner of the Anthony Award for Best First Mystery. While he continues to write popular suspense novels for adults, Grabenstein has recently published two critically acclaimed mysteries for Young Adults. "The Crossroads", a spooky ghost story about a tree possessed by a vengeful spirit, was released in August 2008 to stellar reviews. It won the Agatha Award for best children’s/YA mystery and has been nominated for an Anthony. "The Crossroads" was listed as a Children’s Choice by Children’s Book Council/International Reading Association. Grabenstein’s novel has been optioned to Hollywood for a possible feature film. His second Zack and Judy mystery—"The Hanging Hill" - was released in August, and the third book in the series is due out in 2010.
Grabenstein lives in New York City with his wife J.J. (who served as narrator of the audio book for The Crossroads), three cats, and his dog Fred, a former Broadway star. To learn more about Chris Grabenstein, visit his web page at http://www.chrisgrabenstein.com. While at the University of Tennessee, Grabenstein studied in the communications and theater departments.
The Center for Children's and Young Adult Literature is sponsored by the School of information Sciences, College of Communication and Information, and works to promote the use of literature in the education and lives of children and young adults by providing workshops for teachers and librarians, and by sponsoring talks by authors and illustrators. More information is available at http://www.sis.utk.edu/ccyal. The Center thanks the Knox County Library, Oak Ridge City Schools, Maryville City Schools, the Episcopal School of Knoxville, and the Webb School of Knoxville for their support in making this lecture possible.
