KU News Release

KU alumna Sara Paretsky to speak in Lawrence, sign copies of latest book

LAWRENCE — University of Kansas alumna Sara Paretsky, the award-winning author of “Bleeding Kansas” and the V. I. Warshawski detective novels, will discuss “Why I Write the Books I Do” at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 22, at the Lawrence Arts Center, 942 New Hampshire St.

A book signing will follow the event, and a free copy of “Bleeding Kansas” will be given to the first 100 attendees (one book per household).

Paretsky, who published her first story at age 11, is widely known for her writing and her social activism. In writing about the strong and intelligent female private investigator V. I. Warshawski, she has challenged the conventions of a genre in which women were typically portrayed as victims. Her latest novel, “Bleeding Kansas,” set in the Kaw River Valley where Paretsky grew up, is the story of two farm families whose histories have been entwined since the 1850s.

Paretsky has been awarded the Cartier Diamond Dagger for Lifetime Achievement by the British Crime Writers Association. She has been a visiting scholar at Oxford University and Northwestern University, and has established scholarships at KU to give back to the community. She is also a founder of Sisters in Crime, an organization that supports women mystery writers.

This event is supported by KU’s Hall Center for the Humanities, the Lawrence Public Library and the Raven Bookstore and is free and open to the public.

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