August 28, 2011, Greencastle, Ind. — Barbara Kingsolver, the critically acclaimed best-selling author and 1977 graduate of DePauw University, will appear at Virginia's Emory & Henry College on September 29-30 as part of E&H's 175th anniversary celebration. Kingsolver will deliver a reading on September 29 and will be interviewed the following day in conjunction with the college's 30th annual literary festival.
Read more in this news report or at the college's website.
Kingsolver's books include The Poisonwood Bible; The Bean Trees; Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food
Life; and The
Lacuna, which received the UK's Orange Prize and the Library of Virginia's 13th Annual Library of
Virginia Literary Award for fiction. The Poisonwood Bible was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and won South Africa's National Book Award. 
In 2000, President Clinton presented Kingsolver with a National Humanities Medal, America's highest award for service in the arts and humanities.
In April, Kingsolver received the LEAF Award for Lifetime Environmental Achievement in the Fine Arts from Duke University's Nicholas School of the Environment. This fall, she will be presented with the Richard C. Holbrooke Distinguished Achievement Award, which is given to writers whose work promotes peace.
A zoology (biological sciences) major at DePauw, Barbara Kingsolver delivered the 1994 commencement address at DePauw, and was also awarded an honorary doctoral degree during the ceremony.
A summary of Kingsolver's speech -- including an MP3 of the complete address, which was titled "As Little Advice as Possible" -- can be found here.