Author Amy Tan to Speak as Part of UB Series

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Acclaimed best-selling author Amy Tan will speak at 8 p.m. March 26 in the Mainstage theater in the Center for the Arts on the University at Buffalo North (Amherst) Campus as part of UB's 2002-03 Distinguished Speakers Series.

The Distinguished Speaker Series is presented by UB and the Don Davis Auto World Lectureship Fund. The undergraduate Student Association is the series sponsor. Lecture sponsor is the Office of Special Events.

One of the most highly acclaimed writers of our time, Tan is author of "The Joy Luck Club" (1989), an international No. 1 best-selling novel that explores the relationships of Chinese women and their Chinese-American daughters. The book has been translated into 25 languages, including Chinese, and has been made into a major motion picture.

Tan's second novel, "The Kitchen God's Wife" (1991), was the No. 1 best seller on The New York Times hardcover list and made numerous foreign best-seller lists. Her other books include the best-seller "The Hundred Secret Senses" (1995), her latest novel, "The Bonesetter's Daughter" (2001), and two children's books, "The Moon Lady" (1992) and "The Chinese Siamese Cat" (1994).

Tan's father, who was educated in Beijing and worked for the U.S. Information Service after the war, immigrated to America in 1947. Her mother came to the United States in 1949 shortly after the Communists seized control of Shanghai. Born in 1952, Tan grew up in Oakland, Fresno and Berkeley, as well as the suburbs of San Francisco, before moving with her mother and younger brother to live in Europe, where she graduated from high school in Montreux, Switzerland, in 1969.

She holds a bachelor's degree in English and linguistics, and a master's degree in linguistics, all from San Jose State University.

Tickets for Amy Tan run from $20-$30 and are available at the UB Center for the Arts box office from noon to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, and at all Ticketmaster locations.

For further information, call 645-ARTS.