Walter Mosley: The Literary Life: Michelin Distinguished Visitors Lecture

Best-known for his popular mysteries featuring private investigator Easy Rawlins, Walter Mosley transcends the conventional bounds of fiction writing. The New York Times Book Review called him "a literary artist as well as a master of mystery." The Boston Globe hailed him as "one of the nation's finest writers."

Mosley's novels depict the black experience as seen through the eyes of ordinary men. "Fully formed, complex black men have been absent from much of contemporary literature," says Mosley. Imbued with dignity, insight and whatever strength they have, Mosley's characters deal with what it means to be black and male in America while building a life of purpose and fulfillment.

His first Rawlins novel, Devil in a Blue Dress, was made into a film starring Denzel Washington. Other books in the series include Six Easy Pieces and the New York Times bestsellers, Bad Boy Brawly Brown, Black Betty and A Little Yellow Dog. His latest installment, Little Scarlet (June 2004), is a New York Times bestseller. Publishers Weekly called it "Mosley's best novel to date" and "genre writing at its finest."

Mosley is an active voice for the black community in the ongoing effort for racial equality. In his essays and nonfiction, he has examined ways that the African American perspective can contribute to political and social progress in the U.S. By looking at what blacks have attained and what they have yet to attain, Mosley keeps America focused on achieving a truly free society.

  [Text above taken from Mr. Mosley's agent's web site.]

In February of 2005, Mr. Mosley was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 21st Annual Celebration of Black Writing Festival in Philadelphia. Later in the year, he will release his first book for young adult readers, 47, blending history, science fiction, and adventure. His book Little Scarlet has been selected as the book to be read during Los Angeles's city-wide reading program "One Book, One City, L.A."

The Michelin Distinguished Visitors Lecture Series was established in 1992 by New York designer Bonnie Cashin in memory of her uncle, James Michelin, a consulting engineer, who had always hoped to attend Caltech. Previous speakers in this series have included architectural critic Vincent Scully, artist David Hockney, playwright Tom Stoppard, architect Frank Gehry, director Oliver Stone, opera singer Beverly Sills, poet Seamus Heaney, and authors Michael Crichton and Herman Wouk. The purpose of these lectures is to promote creative interaction between the arts and sciences.