PEN New England Presents...

"The Henry David Thoreau Prize"
for Literary Excellence in Nature Writing

E.O. Wilson
Edward O. Wilson to Receive Thoreau Prize
  7:00 p.m., Tuesday, February 8, 2011
  Harvard Museum of Natural History's Geological Lecture Hall
24 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA

PEN New England will present this year's prize to author Edward O. Wilson in recognition of his exceptional talents as a nature writer.  Regarded as one of the world's preeminent biologists and naturalists, Wilson grew up in South Alabama and the Florida Panhandle, where he spent his boyhood exploring the region's forests and swamps, collecting snakes, butterflies, and ants--the latter to become his lifelong specialty.  The author of more than twenty books, including the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Ants and On Human Nature, Wilson, a professor at Harvard University, makes his home in Lexington, MA.

"Frankly, I do not know of another working scientist whose prose is better than his. He can be witty, scathing and inspirational by turns... an intellectual hero."

-Ian McEwan     

Anthill
Anthill (2010) marked Wilson's debut as a novelist







PEN New England

PEN (Poets/Playwrights, Essayists/Editors, Novelists)New England is an organization of published authors, aspiring writers, and all who love the written word.  Our mission is to advance a culture of literature in New England and defend free expression everywhere. PEN New England is a branch of PEN American Center, and part of International PEN, the oldest international literary organization and also the oldest human rights organization in the world.  Visit us online at www.pen-ne.org