Bowling Green, Ky. - Sena Jeter Naslund, the 2005-2006 Kentucky Poet Laureate, will read from her latest book at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 6 in the Recital Hall of Western Kentucky University's Ivan Wilson Fine Arts Center.

Her visit and presentation titled "Imagination As a Spiritual and Moral Force: Fictionalizing the Civil Rights Movement" are co-sponsored by the Women's Studies Program, Rodes-Helm Lecture Series, English Department, Creative Writing Program and Potter College.

The presentation is free and open to the public. Book sales and signing will follow.

Naslund, a distinguished teaching professor at the University of Louisville, is a native of Birmingham, Ala., and winner of the Harper Lee Award.

The Courier-Journal review recently praised Naslund's "Four Spirits' for being "the essential book of daring originality and universal significance." The New York Times Book Review also applauded "Four Spirits," claiming that "Naslund has done something unusually fine - she's written a drifting, collective portrait of a city in distress... Naslund brings a measure of dignity and moral complexity to her portrayal of a city that came to be known as 'Bombingham.' "

Enthusiastic reviews, however, are nothing new for Naslund. Six major publishing companies bid for rights to her novel "Ahab's Wife." In this novel, Naslund tells the tale of Una Spenser, the wife of Captain Ahab from Herman Melville's classic "Moby Dick." In a recent interview with CNN, Naslund calls "Ahab's Wife" a 20th century response to a 19th century novel. Though Naslund's tale is consistent with Melville's, in "Ahab's Wife," Una Spenser becomes the central character taking on an adventurous life of her own.

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For information, contact Women's Studies at (270) 745-6477.