Award-winning young adult author Alan Gratz will speak at the first Writers in the Library event of the semester on Tuesday, September 2 at 7 p.m. in the Lindsay Young Auditorium of Hodges Library.

Gratz is the author of the young adult books Samurai Shortstop (Dial 2006), one of ALA’s 2007 Top Ten Best Books for Young Adults, Something Rotten (Dial 2007), Something Wicked (Dial 2008), and the soon to be released The Brooklyn Nine (Dial 2009). He has written plays, magazine articles, episodes of A&E’s City Confidential, and thousands of radio commercials.

A graduate of UT’s College Scholars program with a concentration in creative writing, Gratz also has a Master’s degree in English education from UT.

At the Writers in the Library event, Gratz will discuss his path to becoming a full-time writer and provide helpful tips on the “nuts and bolts” of writing novels. He’ll also read a section of Samurai Shortstop.

Gratz will be selling copies of his books at the event. To learn more about Alan Gratz and his work, visit www.alangratz.com/index.htm.

The Writers in the Library series is sponsored by the University of Tennessee Libraries and the Creative Writing Program of the UT English Department. For further information, please contact Jo Anne Deeken, head of technical services, UT Libraries, at 974-6905 or jdeeken@utk.edu, or Kali Meister, Jack E. Reese writer in residence, UT Libraries, at meisterkali@gmail.com.