"Watsons" author to speak at UAB

The event is part of the College of Arts and Sciences Alumni Lecture Series and 50 Years Forward.

Christopher-Paul-Curtis_sChristopher Paul Curtis, author of the critically-acclaimed “The Watsons Go to Birmingham – 1963,” a historical-fiction novel about an African American family traveling to Birmingham, Ala., from Flint, Mich., in 1963, will give a lecture at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 10, 2013.

The event is presented by the University of Alabama at Birmingham College of Arts and Sciences as part of its Alumni Lecture Series and 50 Years Forward, a collaboration with the City of Birmingham to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the seminal events of the U.S. Civil Rights Movement. The free, public lecture will take in Hulsey Recital Hall, 950 13th Street S.

Curtis, a graduate of the University of Michigan-Flint, will speak about the family behind the “Watsons Go to Birmingham – 1963.” He has acquired a list of writing accolades that includes the prestigious Anne V. Zarrow Award for Young Readers’ Literature, which honors a nationally acclaimed author who has made a significant contribution to the field of literature and young adults.

Curtis also penned “Bud Not Buddy,” which was the first book ever to receive both the Newbery Medal and the Coretta Scott King Author Award. Other books of his include “Mr. Chickee’s Funny Money,” “Mr. Chickee’s Messy Mission” and “Bucking the Sarge.”

This event is sponsored by the Jemison Visiting Professorship in Humanities.