Author, Alumna to Give Presentation

11/03/2014 3:37 PM

Bradley University’s Visiting Writers Series will host a presentation by author Heather Augustyn on Wednesday, November 12, at 7:30 p.m. in the Wyckoff Room of Cullom-Davis Library.

Reading from and discussing her article, “Lonesome No More! Vonnegut’s Freethinking Heritage,” Augustyn will discuss her use of research, interviews, and historical primary sources as means to create new content and arguments for publication.

Augustyn, a 1994 Bradley graduate, has authored four books. Her book Ska: An Oral History (McFarland, 2010), features a foreword by Cedella Marley and was nominated for the ARSC Award for Excellence. Her other works include Don Drummond: The Genius and Tragedy of the World’s Greatest Trombonist (McFarland, 2013), with a foreword by Delfeayo Marsalis; Ska: The Rhythm of Liberation (Rowman & Littlefield, 2013); and Songbirds: Pioneering Women in Jamaican Music (Half Pint Press, 2014). Augustyn has lectured on women in ska and music of Jamaican independence at the International Reggae Conference in Kingston, Jamaica. She has also spoken on ethnomusicology at DePaul University, Indiana University, and Purdue University.

Augustyn has been a correspondent for The Times of Northwest Indiana, the state’s second largest newspaper, since December 2004. Contributing editor for Shore Magazine, she has placed her work in such national publications as The Village Voice, The Humanist Magazine, and World Watch Magazine. She was the last journalist to interview the late novelist Kurt Vonnegut, her interview appearing in In These Times Magazine.