- This event has passed.
Common Read Lecture: Ted Chiang
September 3, 7:30 pm-9:00 pm
Free
The University of Tulsa community is invited to a lecture featuring Ted Chiang, author of TU’s 2024-25 Common Read selection “Exhalation.”
About the event
Technology and the Narrative of the Self
Chiang will give a brief talk that focuses on the themes of his story “The Truth of Fact, the Truth of Feeling” from his collection Exhalation. Afterward, he will join TU Professor Sean Latham for a conversation about other stories featured in his collection and then open the floor for audience Q&A.
If you are interested in science fiction, the rise of technology and AI, or creative writing, you will not want to miss this event.
TU Students, Faculty and Staff – You do not need to register on Eventbrite. Please bring your TU ID for admission.
TU First Year Students – Arrive early and scan your student ID with Student Life to enter into a prize raffle. Be sure to bring your copy of Exhalation for Chiang to sign after the event. If you do not have one, Magic City Books will be on site selling copies.
Members of the public are asked to register on Eventbrite. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/technology-and-the-narrative-of-the-self-with-ted-chiang-tickets-999576980657?aff=oddtdtcreator
This event is free and open to the public on a first-come, first-seated basis. However, attendees are strongly encouraged to reserve priority seating since a capacity crowd is anticipated. Seats will be held in the priority seating area until 7:20 p.m. when all seats will be released to standing room only guests.
About the book
Nine stunningly original, provocative, and poignant stories—two published for the very first time—all from the mind of the incomparable author of “Stories of Your Life and Others.”
Tackling some of humanity’s oldest questions along with new quandaries only he could imagine, these stories will change the way you think, feel, and see the world. They are Ted Chiang at his best: profound, sympathetic, revelatory.
Ted Chiang tackles some of humanity’s oldest questions along with new quandaries only he could imagine.
In “The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate,” a portal through time forces a fabric seller in ancient Baghdad to grapple with past mistakes and second chances. In “Exhalation,” an alien scientist makes a shocking discovery with ramifications that are literally universal. In “Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom,” the ability to glimpse into alternate universes necessitates a radically new examination of the concepts of choice and free will.
About the author
Ted Chiang’s fiction has won four Hugo, four Nebula, and four Locus awards, and has been featured in The Best American Short Stories. His debut collection, “Stories of Your Life and Others,” has been translated into 21 languages. He was born in Port Jefferson, New York, and currently lives near Seattle, Washington.