“The Lost Generation on the French Riviera” September 14, 2011

“The Lost Generation on the French Riviera” will be the topic of a free public lecture at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, by the 2011-12 Penn State Laureate.

Dr. Linda Patterson Miller, a professor of English at Penn State Abington and national and international lecturer on Modernism’s influence on American art and literature, will speak at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 14, in 236 Jack Burke Research and Economic Development Center. Her presentation is free and open to the public; parking will be available in the deck located behind Burke Center, on Technology Drive.

Miller’s area of expertise is early 20th-century American literature and art. She especially is interested in the emergence of Modernism and the intersection of literature and art, looking at such writers and artists as Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein, Pablo Picasso and Fernand Leger. Her acclaimed book, “Letters from the Lost Generation: Gerald and Sara Murphy and Friends,” explores the group dynamics of the Lost Generation to reveal how their lifelong friendships shaped their art. She has two books forthcoming: “Summer of ’26,” an examination of American expatriate artists in France, and “Reading Hemingway: In Our Time.”

Miller served as the guest scholar for C-SPAN ’s “American Writers: A Journey Through History” episode on Ernest Hemingway, and is a longtime board member of the Ernest Hemingway Foundation. She is visiting each Penn State campus during her Laureate year to encourage conversation and exchange with students, faculty, staff, and members of the community.

For additional information about Miller’s Penn State Laureate presentation, contact Dr. Sarah E. Whitney, lecturer in English and women’s studies, at 814-898-6325 or e-mail [email protected].