Louisa May Alcott -- Her Life Was No Children's Book

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The University at Buffalo Libraries will present a series of five reading, viewing and discussion programs designed to re-introduce audiences to author Louisa May Alcott and give them new understanding of her place in American culture.

The first event will take place May 12 from 7-9 p.m. at the Barnes & Noble Bookstore, 1565 Niagara Falls Blvd., Amherst.

That evening, Stacy Hubbard and Carrie Bramen, both associate professors of English at UB, will lead a discussion of Harriet Reisen's award-winning book, "Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women" -- the first complete biography of the author.

The program also focuses attention on the 2009 award-winning documentary film by the same name, which was based on Reisen's book and co- produced by Nancy Porter Productions Inc. and Thirteen/WNET New York's American Masters series.

The UB programs, sponsored by the American Library Association Public Programs Office with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities, focus on the historical and cultural context that inspired Alcott's literary works.

Laura Taddeo, associate librarian in the UB Arts and Sciences Library, notes that Louisa May Alcott is recognized around the world for her novel "Little Women," but few know her as "the bold, compelling woman who grew up in the inner circle of the Transcendentalist and Abolitionist movements, served as a Civil War army nurse and led a secret literary life writing pulp fiction."

"Her remarkable body of work includes sensational thrillers, satires, fairy tales, Gothic novels and works of domestic realism," Taddeo says, adding that series speakers hope to familiarize readers with many of these relatively unknown works by this American icon.

For more information on the programs, contact Taddeo at 716-645-7970 or ltaddeo@buffalo.edu.