Two UF professors' books on Oprah's Summer Reading List

July 17, 2009

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — When Oprah Winfrey reads a book, millions of readers follow – and this summer, they will be reading the works of two University of Florida English professors.

For her 2009 “25 Books You Can’t Put Down” Summer Reading List, Winfrey selected Mary Robison’s “One D.O.A., One on the Way” and Jill Ciment’s “Heroic Measures.” Robison and Ciment are both faculty in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS) Graduate Creative Writing Program.

Robison, a winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for fiction and frequent contributor for the New Yorker, is thrilled to be a part of the selection.

“Oprah has done a lot to help bring people back to reading. It’s very exciting.”

Ciment, a winner of the Kafka Prize for fiction and co-director of the Creative Writing Program, agrees.

“I’m honored and amazed to be on the list. It’s an extraordinary event.”

UF’s Creative Writing Program began in 1948 and is one of the oldest writing programs in the U.S. It currently is ranked in the top-20 programs listing by U.S. News & World Report.

For more information on these books, visit CLAS Bookbeat online at http://www.clas.ufl.edu/bookbeat/200907_bookbeat.html.