TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Bankhead Visiting Writers Series welcomes Rikki Ducornet to The University of Alabama on Dec. 2 for a reading from her latest work at 7:30 p.m. in 205 Smith Hall.

Ducornet will serve as a Coal Royalty Chairholder and be in residence Nov. 29 – Dec. 2, teaching a one-hour class, “The Deep Zoo.”

A prolific writer and artist, Ducornet has published seven novels, including “The Jade Cabinet,” which was a finalist for the National Book Critics Award in 1998, and most recently, “Gazelle,” published by Knopf in 2003.

In addition, she has written seven collections of short fiction, six books of poetry, children’s books, an essay and a play. The magazine The Nation has described Ducornet’s work as “linguistically explosive and socially relevant.” Her work has been anthologized in Extreme Fiction and Anthologie des Poètes Surréalistes Américains.

As an illustrator, she has created art to accompany the works of Anne Waldman, Jorge Luis Borges and Robert Coover. Her paintings, prints and drawings have been exhibited around the world.

A recipient of a Lannan Literary Award, an L.A. Times Book of the Year award, and a Charles Flint Kellogg Award in Arts and Letters, Ducornet has been a Writer in Residence at Denver University and has taught at Bard College, Brown University, Writers at Work and the Vermont Studio Center.

The Bankhead Visiting Writers Series is made possible by an endowment from the Bankhead Foundation, The University of Alabama’s Program in Creative Writing, the department of English and the College of Arts and Sciences. For more information, please contact UA’s creative writing program at 205/348-0766 or visit www.bama.ua.edu/~writing.