HAMMER Readings
David Francis
David Francis grew up on his family’s farm in rural Australia, then came to the US to ride in the equestrian circuit based outside New York. He moved to California to work for an American law firm and later began writing fiction. In 2002, he was awarded the Australia Literature Fund Fellowship to the Keesing Studio in Paris. Agapanthus Tango, his first novel, was published to acclaim in seven countries and was re-released in the USA in 2005 as The Great Inland Sea. Stray Dog Winter is his second novel.

A series of contemporary fiction and poetry readings organized by Benjamin Weissman, author of two books of short fiction, most recently Headless, and professor of creative writing at Art Center College of Design and Otis College of Art and Design.

This series is made possible, in part, with support from Bronya and Andrew Galef.

Hammer Lectures
UCLA Department of Art Lectures
Rachel Whiteread
Rachel Whiteread was awarded the 1993 Turner Prize and the 1997 Venice Biennale Award for Best Young Artist. Her commissions include the Water Tower Project for the Public Art Fund, New York (1998); the Holocaust Memorial, Judenplatz, Vienna (2000); and Embankment for the Unilever Series, Tate Modern, London (2005). She lives and works in London.

The UCLA Department of Art’s visiting lecture series is made possible through the generous support of the William D. Feldman Family Endowed Art Lecture Fund.

Sunday Afternoons for Kids
The Perfect (Literary) Crime
Wendy West
Sleuth your way through what makes a good detective story. Wendy West, who has created cases for the detectives of Law and Order and The Closer, will show students how to craft red herrings and unexpected twists for their own personal mysteries.

HAMMER Readings
TC Boyle
TC Boyle’s twentieth book of fiction, The Women, will be published in February 2009. His stories regularly appear in The New Yorker, Harper’s, and McSweeney’s, among others, and he has received a number of literary awards, including both the PEN/Faulkner and PEN/Malamud prizes for work in the novel and short story, respectively. His 1995 novel, The Tortilla Curtain, won France’s Prix Médicis étranger and has become something of a
modern classic, subject of dozens of community-wide readings and innumerable student essays, a sin for which he hopes to be forgiven someday. He teaches at USC.

A series of readings organized by Mona Simpson, author of Anywhere But Here, and Off Keck Road. Readings are followed by discussions with Simpson. Sponsored by the UCLA Department of English and Friends of English.

Hammer Lectures
UCLA Department of Art Lectures
Amy Sillman
Amy Sillman’s paintings are in the collections of many prominent museums including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Museum of Modern Art, and the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; the Boston Museum of Fine Arts; and the Art Institute of Chicago. Her work is included in the Hammer’s Oranges and Sardines exhibition. She lives and works in New York.

The UCLA Department of Art’s visiting lecture series is made possible through the generous support of the William D. Feldman Family Endowed Art Lecture Fund.

HAMMER Conversations
Lynda Barry & Matt Groening
Lynda Barry has worked as a painter, cartoonist, writer, illustrator, playwright, editor, commentator, and teacher and found that they are all very much alike. She is the inimitable creator behind the syndicated strip Ernie Pook’s Comeek featuring the incomparable Marlys and Freddy, as well as the books One! Hundred! Demons!, The! Greatest! of! Marlys!, Cruddy: An Illustrated Novel, Naked Ladies! Naked Ladies! Naked Ladies!, and her first book for Drawn & Quarterly, 2008’s What It Is. Matt Groening, creator and executive producer of the Emmy Award-winning series The Simpsons, made television history by bringing animation back to primetime and creating an immortal nuclear family. Previously, he was best known for his Life In Hell cartoon strip, an irreverent portrayal of love, work, school, life, and relationships that debuted in 1977. His many awards include Emmys, Annies, the prestigious Peabody Award, and the Rueben Award for Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year, the highest honor presented by the National Cartoonists Society.

Lynda Barry (Drawing by Lynda Barry); Matt Groening (The Simpsons TM and © 2008 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All Rights Reserved.)

Hammer Lectures
"What is the West's Problem with Islam?"
Christopher Caldwell
Is Islamic belief and culture incompatible with Western institutions? Or is there such a thing as “Islamophobia,” poisoning immigrants’ efforts to integrate on European terms? Christopher Caldwell writes for the Financial Times, The New York Times Magazine, and The Weekly Standard, and talks about themes from his upcoming book, Reflections on the Revolution in Europe: Immigration, Islam and the West.

For more information and the Zócalo calendar please visit www.zocalola.org.

Hammer Presents
Flux
Young Man Falling
Special guests include Danish filmmaker Martin de Thurah, who has directed videos for Röyksopp, Kanye West, and Carpark North, presenting the US Premiere of his short film Young Man Falling, which screened at the Cannes Film Festival.

Flux and the Hammer present special events showcasing innovative film and music with courtyard receptions. Free admission, RSVP suggested at www.flux.net. Please note that reservations do not guarantee seating.