Award-winning author James Brown will read today at 4 p.m. in 1210 McClung

Tower. Brown, a tenured professor at California State University, is the

author of four books, numerous short stories and a few screenplays and

teleplays. He most recently published Lucky Town, a novel, and

Second Story Theatre& Two Encores, a novella and two short stories.

He has a screenplay version of the novella, called My Life with

Henry, in production with Edgar Landsbury Productions.

Brown’s stories often deal with the problems in the relationships of

parents and children. “[They] deal with father-son relationships, or

mother-son relationships,” says Brown, “and how these turmoils are resolved

or not resolved.”

Lucky Town is the story of a teenager who leaves foster care to live

with his father on the road. He soon discovers that his father lacks a

certain amount of responsibility. Faced with a “sink or swim” situation,

the boy learns a level of maturity which his father never has.

Likewise, in “The Rat Boy,” the second story in Second Story

Theatre, a young boy must face a father whose authority remains

overbearing, though he is estranged from the family. In both tales, the

relationships are examined with brutally honest insight.

“I’ve built a small career around dysfunctional families,” jokes Brown.

“Though I’m not sure what a ‘functional’ family is. The term ‘dysfunctional

family’ is used too broadly.”

Brown is a recent recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts in

Literature Fellowship.

“It’s shock time,” says Brown of the coveted NEA award, well aware of the

forces involved in receiving such an honor.

“There’s a certain level of mastery you reach in a certain point of your

career,” he says. “So to be whittled down and selected from such a large

group, it must be a little bit of luck.”

The NEA picks just 33-34 writers from 1400 applicants to receive this

award. “What’s nice about the NEA,” says Brown, “is you are being judged by

your peers — and very good peers — so it’s a good endorsement.”

Brown is no stranger to awards, though. He won the Chesterfield Film

Writing Award in 1993, the Nelson Algren Award in Short Fiction in 1992 and

the Distinguished Service Award (from California State University) in

1992.

At today’s reading, Brown will read excerpts from Lucky Town and

some essays about Hollywood which were just published in the Denver

Quarterly.