The life and work of renowned writer Alison Lurie will be honored at a memorial service on July 1 at 5 p.m. in the Rhodes-Rawlings Auditorium at Klarman Hall on the Cornell campus, followed by a reception at 6:30 p.m. in the Klarman Atrium. The service and reception are open to the public. The service will be visible to everyone via the livestream.

“Cornell was extremely fortunate to have Alison Lurie on our faculty,” said Robert Morgan, Kappa Alpha English Professor at the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S). “Alison was the first woman to be tenured on the creative writing team, setting a precedent for so many other women. She was a dynamic and gifted teacher of writing, children’s literature and folklore.

Lurie died in 2020 at the age of 94. The author of 11 novels, two memoirs, a storybook and numerous non-fiction books. She has received numerous accolades, including the Pulitzer Prize, a Literature Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the Prix Femina Étranger in France. Former Governor Andrew Cuomo named Lurie New York State’s author from 2012 to 2014. She started at Cornell in 1969 and taught for 36 years in the English department. In 1989, she was appointed FJ Whiton Professor of American Literature at Cornell.

Speakers at the memorial include Morgan, Professor Emeritus Lamar Herrin and writer Lorrie Moore.

Amanda Brockner is the MFA Graduate Program Coordinator in the Department of English Literature.

Read the full story on the College of Arts and Sciences website.