TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Bankhead Visiting Writers Series’ second event of the fall semester welcomes authors Jiro Adachi and Sarah Messer to The University of Alabama Nov. 4 when they will give a public reading from their latest works at 7:30 p.m. in 205 Smith Hall.

In addition to the reading, there will be a question and answer session with both authors Nov. 4 at noon in 301 Morgan Hall.

Adachi was born and raised in New York City to a Japanese father and a Hungarian mother. He drew on both his experiences as a bicycle messenger and as a teacher of English as a foreign language for his first novel, “The Island of Bicycle Dancers” (St. Martin’s), which bestselling author Amy Tan calls, “amazingly good,” adding, “… this novel has everything going for it – a strong new voice, wonderful characters, real life in the story, visceral language, ironic humor and underlying intelligence.”

His essays “The Miseducation of Jackie Chan” and “Ghost Worlds” appeared in The New York Times. Adachi received his Master of Fine Arts from Colorado State. He lives with his wife and daughter in New York City.

Sarah Messer is the author of a book of poems, “Bandit Letters,” and a memoir of place, “Red House.” The Kenyon Review, Paris Review, Boulevard and other journals have published her poems. She teaches poetry and creative non-fiction at the University of North Carolina - Wilmington.

She is a graduate of the Master of Fine Arts program at the University of Michigan, and she has received fellowships from the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, the Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing, the American Antiquarian Society and the National Endowment for the Arts.

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.