Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist to lecture at VCU

By Tom Gresham

Doug Marlette, author and Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist, will deliver the 21st Annual James Branch Cabell Lecture on Wednesday at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Marlette will speak at 7 p.m. in the Richmond Salons of the VCU Student Commons, 907 Floyd Ave. The event is free and open to the public. A book signing and reception will follow the lecture.

Marlette is currently the editorial cartoonist for the Tulsa World newspaper in Tulsa, Okla. Both his editorial cartoons and his comic strip, "Kudzu," are syndicated in newspapers worldwide. Marlette, whose work is collected in 19 volumes, has won every major award for editorial cartooning, including the 1988 Pulitzer Prize. He is the only cartoonist ever awarded a Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University.

Marlette's first novel, "The Bridge," was voted the best fiction book of the year in 2002 by the Southeast Booksellers Association. His second novel, "Magic Time," was published last year. He also co-wrote a screenplay, "Ex," with author Pat Conroy.

Marlette's lecture is sponsored by the VCU Libraries, the Friends of the Library and the James Branch Cabell Library Associates.