The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) will host a lecture by novelist, short story writer, and essayist Jim Sanderson, on Wednesday, Feb. 2 in the Jonsson Performance Hall at 8:00 pm. The event, part of the Claire Rich Lecture Series, is free and open to the public. The Claire Rich Lecture Series was established in honor of Claire Rich, a graduate teaching assistant at UTD, after her tragic death in 1997. The series brings a renowned scholar in humanities to UTD each year to present a lecture.

Sanderson's premiere novel, El Camino del Rio, earned him a multiple book contract from the University of New Mexico Press and the first Frank Waters Southwest Writing Award. El Camino del Rio and Sanderson's second novel, Safe Delivery, are crime thrillers set in Texas and Mexico. In 2000, Safe Delivery was one of three books chosen as a finalist for the Violet Crown Award for fiction from the Austin Writers’ League.

Semi-Private Rooms, a collection of short stories, received the Kenneth Patchen Prize for fiction, which Sanderson calls "one of the best awards a writer can get in this state." With this award, Sanderson joined the Texas Institute of Letters, whose membership includes Jim Lehrer, Molly Ivins, Larry McMultry, Horton Foote, and Larry L. King.

Sanderson was born in San Antonio. Much of his work is set in Texas, particularly West Texas. Currently, Sanderson is Professor of English at Lamar University in Beaumont.

Bio: Jim Sanderson
Jim Sanderson’s collection of short stories, Semi-Private Rooms (1994), won the Kenneth Patchen Prize for fiction in 1992, sponsored by Pig Iron Press. A collection of essays, A West Texas Soapbox appeared in June of 1998 from the West Texas A&M State University Series from Texas A&M University Press. Sanderson’s first novel, El Camino del Rio, won the 1997 Frank Waters Prize, and was published by The University of New Mexico Press. The University of New Mexico Press also published two other novels: Safe Delivery (2000, 2000 finalist for Violet Crown Award) and La Mordida (2002). Nevin’s History, a historical novel, appeared from Texas Tech University Press in April 2004.

Sanderson has previously published about fifty short stories, essays, or scholarly articles. Sanderson has a Ph.D. in fiction writing from Oklahoma State University. For a living, he teaches fiction writing and American literature and film at Lamar University. He is the 2002 Distinguished Faculty Lecturer at Lamar University.