2009-2010 Rosamond Gifford Lecture Series
The Rosamond Gifford Lecture Series is now the largest library-related lecture series in the country. We will be celebrating our 15th season this year. Our lectures have enriched the Central New York community by presenting some of the best literary talent of our time to entertain, delight and inform our audience.
The success of our series has allowed the Friends of the Central Library [FOCL] to contribute over a quarter of a million dollars to the Onondaga County Central Library to purchase new books and materials, and to support their adult and children’s programming.
Past seasons have featured a variety of talented writers, including Pulitzer and Nobel prize winners.
FOCL Office Hours
Tuesday – Thursday
9:00 AM to 5:00 PM
E-mail and Voicemail are checked regularly
Contact FOCL
Friends of the Central Library
The Galleries of Syracuse
447 South Salina St.
5th Floor
Syracuse, NY 13202
315-435-1832
FOCL@onlib.org
giffordlectureseries.org
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Ticket Information
To purchase tickets for the Rosamond Gifford Lecture Series contact the OnCenter Box Office at 315-435-2121. Individual tickets for the 2009-2010 season are on sale now. Contact the FOCL office if you have questions regarding season tickets.
FOCL Press Releases
Friends of the Central Library Announce 2009-2010 Season
Friends of the Central Library donate $50,000 to the Central Library
2009-2010 Authors
Khaled Hosseini - Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Khaled Hosseini Official Website
Khaled Hosseini was born in Afghanistan. After being granted political asylum to the United States in 1980, he and his family moved to San Jose, CA. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Biology in 1988 from Santa Clara University, and a Medical Degree from the University of California – San Diego’s School of Medicine. He completed his residency at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in LA, and was a practicing internist between 1996 and 2004, when he began writing his first novel, The Kite Runner. The book became an international best seller and was published in 48 countries. A Thousand Splendid Suns followed, and again Hosseini’s second book was wildly popular. He is the first author in the 2009-2010 line up of the Rosamond Gifford Lecture Series.
Geraldine Brooks - Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Geraldine Brooks Official Website
Geraldine Brooks grew up in the suburbs of Sydney Australia, and worked as a reporter and feature writer. After winning a scholarship to the journalism Masters Program at Columbia University, she moved to NYC where she worked for the Wall Street Journal covering the crisis in the Middle East. She is the author of People of the Book, March, and The Year of Wonders.
Pete Hamill - Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Q & A with Pete Hamill in The Boston Globe
Pete Hamill is a novelist, essayist, and journalist. He was born in Brooklyn, NY to a family of Irish Catholic immigrants from Belfast, Northern Ireland. At the age of 16 he began working as a sheetmetal worker, and then went on to the United States Navy, where he completed his high school education. He attended Mexico City College where he studied painting and writing and later went to Pratt Institute. In 1960 he went to work as a reporter for the New York Post and this followed a long career in journalism. He has written two short stories and nine novels including Snow in August, Forever, North River, News is a Verb, and Why Sinatra Matters.
Richard Russo - Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Richard Russo, is a fellow Upstate New Yorker. He received his BA in English at the University of Arizona along with his Ph.D. in American Lit in 1980. He also earned a master of fine arts degree in creative writing in 1981. In addition to being a novelist he was a former fiction instructor and professor of creative writing. He writes about blue collar life and “Main Street USA.” He is the author of Empire Falls, Straight Man, and Nobody’s Fool.
Sara Gruen - Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Interview with Writer's Digest
Sara Gruen is a Canadian born dual citizen who moved to the States in 1999 to pursue a job in technical writing. She was laid off within two years time and decided to try her hand at writing fiction. An avid animal lover she began writing about what she loves most. She lives in Ashville, NC with her husband, three children, two dogs, two cats, three goats, and a horse. She is the author of Riding Lessons, Flying Changes, and Water for Elephants.
Jeffrey Toobin - Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Jeffrey Toobin Official Website
Jeffrey Toobin. Toobin received his Bachelor’s degree from Harvard College and graduated Magna Cum Laude from Harvard Law School. After completing law school he worked as an Associate Counsel in the office of Independent Counsel, Lawrence E. Walsh. He became an Assistant United States Attorney in Brooklyn, NY and took up his post as a writer for The New Yorker in 1994. After a six-year tenure at ABC News he joined CNN as a legal analyst for the CNN News Group where he now serves as a high-profile senior analyst. He is an expert on politics, media and the law. He is the author of Too Close for Comfort, A Vast Conspiracy, and The Nine.
Ticket prices remain the same:
Initial Lecture Ticket: $25
Season Subscription: $125
Patron Level: $225
Literary Circle Level: $500
Tickets are available now, please contact FOCL at 315-435-1832 with any questions or concerns. The Oncenter Box Office is located on the second floor of the War Memorial.
You may also call the Oncenter Box Office at (315) 435-2121.
Lectures are held in the John H. Mulroy Civic Center, 441 Montgomery Street, Syracuse, New York.
All lectures begin at 7:30 PM.
For information on how to become a sponsor of the Rosamond Gifford Lecture Series, please contact
our FOCL office at 315-435-1832.
Proceeds of the Rosamond Gifford Lecture Series will be used by Friends of the Central Library for new book and material acquisitions as well as children's programming at the Central Library and city branches.
Last updated: October 13, 2009