The idea of the Renaissance man has captured my imagination since the first time I heard of it, flitting in and out of my mind every now and then during idle moments. Removes a malignant tumor in the morning and completes an oil painting of the patient by lunch. Cooks a authentic Italian pizza made with homegrown ingredients and wins every game of Scrabble. Speaks English, Korean, Japanese, Spanish, German, Chinese, Algebra and Dog. Blessed with super writing and super reading! Able to leap over tall buildings in a single bound!
I’m getting there. I can jump higher than my house. If you seek the company of a polymath, just give me a decade or two. Feeling impatient? Check out our next reading.
Michael Collins will read Wednesday, February 22, 2017, at Hammes Campus Bookstore on Notre Dame. The reading begins at 7:00 PM. It is free and open to the public.
Michael Collins is the author of ten works of fiction. His work has been translated into seventeen languages. His novel The Keepers of Truth was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and the IMPAC Award. Other novels have won The Irish Novel of the Year, The Pacific Northwest Bookseller’s Award, along with the Prix Littéraire Lucien Barrière. His short fiction has won the Pushcart Award for Best Fiction, and he is the recipient of numerous New York Times Notable Book of the Year Awards. Collins is also an ultra-runner. As captain of the Irish National 100k Team, he earned a bronze medal at the 2010 World Masters 100k Championships in Gibraltar. Notable wins include The Everest Marathon, The North Pole Marathon, The Antarctic Marathon and the Sahara Marathon. Collins was educated at The University of Notre Dame and Oxford University and holds a doctorate degree.
He’s a man that not only runs over mountains, fields of ice and snow, and dunes of sand, but miles of them with record-setting speed. With that same spirit he’s written book after book to a reception of rewards and accolades. How does he do it? What links his running and writing? Can he beat you at Scrabble? Find out on February 22.
-Moon