RELEASED: Jan. 15, 2004

DANVILLE, KY—The Centre College English program will sponsor a free monologue performance by acclaimed writer and monologist Peter Trachtenberg on Jan. 20 at 9 p.m. in the coffeehouse in the Combs Center.

Trachtenberg's performance is titled "Though He Slay Me Yet Will I Trust In Him: A Meditation on Job." The monologue, written by Trachtenberg and directed by

Peter Maloney, has been referred to as "part sermon and part stand-up comedy routine."

Trachtenberg will perform his interpretation of the Book of Job using comic references and projected animations.

Trachtenberg's interest as a writer and monologist is the intersection of the spiritual and the profane.

Mark Rasmussen, associate professor and chair of the English program at Centre comments, "Few of us at the College have seen anything like the fierce and funny performance of Peter's monologue on the Book of Job. For audiences in New York and elsewhere, this performance piece has been a mesmerizing experience, and it will be a special treat to have it take place in the informal, intimate setting of our College's coffeehouse. I would urge both students and folks from the community to come and share in this unique opportunity to see a New York performance artist at the very top of his game."

Trachtenberg, a visiting writer-in-residence, is on campus during CentreTerm to teach a creative non-fiction writing workshop.

Described by the Washington Post as "a genuine American Dostoevsky," Trachtenberg is the author of Seven Tattoos: A Memoir in the Flesh that tells the stories behind seven of the tattoos that cover his body and how they mark important moments in his life. He is the author of fiction and essays published in The New Yorker, Harper's, Book Forum and others. He is currently at work on The Book of Calamities, a non-fiction exploration of suffering and its narratives, an excerpt from which appears in the anthology Killing the Buddha: A Heretic's Bible.

Trachtenberg has performed his monologues across the country and his commentaries have been on National Public Radio's All Things Considered.

Trachtenberg has taught creative writing at the School of Visual Arts, the New York University School of Continuing and Professional Studies, the Johns Hopkins University School of Continuing Studies and the New School University.

- end -

For news archives go to http://www.centre.edu/web/news/newsarchive.html.

Back to News and Events Home Page