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Book Critic Michael Dirda

Pulitzer Prize-winning book critic Michael Dirda knows books. He joins Steve Kraske for a talk about literature and the NEA's "Big Read".By Up to Date

Kansas City, MO –

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Pulitzer Prize-winning book critic Michael Dirda knows books. Since 1978 he's been the book columnist for The Washington Post and was a former writer and senior editor for The Washington Post Book World.

Host Steve Kraske talks with Dirda about classic and classical literature, and his work with the National Endowment for the Arts' Big Read and the work Dirda's done as a chair of jury for the Pulitzer Prize Administration.

We also look at what led Dirda to books, and his early work as a teenager and college student, from Bricklayer's helper, to Fuller Brush salesman, and aluminum siding and storm window installer.

Additional Information:

Michael Dirda is senior editor for The Washington Post Book World. He taught world literature at the university level and worked as a free-lance writer, translator, and editor before joining Book World in 1978. He is recipient of the 1993 Pulitzer Prize for Distinguished Criticism and is author of Open Book: Coming of Age in the Heartland. Mr. Dirda lives in Silver Spring, Maryland.

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