Author Joyce Johnson visits UWSP

National Book Critics Award-winning author Joyce Johnson will visit the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and make two public presentations on Thursday and Friday, Nov. 18 and 19.

At 7 p.m. on Thursday, Johnson will discuss "Beat Women: A Transitional Generation." The address in Room 125 of the University Center is open to the public free of charge.

On Friday at 7 p.m. at the Mission Coffee House, 1319 Strongs Ave., she will read a portion of her memoir, "Minor Characters." The reading also is free to the public.

During her visit to UWSP, she will lead two seminars for teachers of writing.

In addition to her award-winning memoir, Johnson is the author of "What Lisa Knew: The Truths and Lies of the Steinberg Case," and the novels "In the Night Caf�," "Bad Connections," and "Come and Join the Dance." Her fiction and articles have been published in The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Harper's, Mirabella, Ploughshares, the New York Times Magazine, the Washington Post, Harper's Bazaar, New York and other publications.

Her new book, "Door Wide Open: A Love Affair in Letters," will be published next spring by Viking Press. Johnson was the recipient of a 1992 NEA grant. She worked for many years as a book publishing editor and was executive editor of Dial Press for 11 years.

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