Prolific children’s author Jane Kurtz, known for her books set in Africa and other far-off lands, will reflect on her life experiences in a free public lecture Sept. 11 at 7:30 p.m. in the Whiteman - McMillan Highlander Room of Monmouth College’s Stockdale Center.

During her three-day visit to Monmouth, Kurtz will make several speaking appearances at area public schools, the Warren County Library and Monmouth College classes.

The public is invited to a reception for Kurtz on Sept. 10 at 4:30 p.m. in the college’s Rankin Room, located in the admission building, 700 East Broadway. At that time, she will be available to autograph copies of her books, several of which are currently available in the Monmouth College bookstore. She will also be available to meet with the public Sept. 12 from 3:30 until 4:30 p.m. at the Warren County Library.

A 1973 graduate of Monmouth College, Kurtz spent most of her childhood in Ethiopia, where her parents were Presbyterian missionaries.  Now living in Grand Forks, N.D., she teaches in the English department at the University of North Dakota, writes books and magazine articles and a weekly column about children’s books, and speaks around the region.

Of all the things she writes, Kurtz loves children’s books best and has published at least one a year since 1994. “Fire on the Mountain” (Simon & Schuster, 1994) and “Pulling the Lion’s Tail” (Simon & Schuster, 1995) are re-tellings of folk tales she heard as a child in Ethiopia. “Miro in the Kingdom of the Sun” (Houghton, 1996) is a re-telling of an Inca folktale. “Trouble” (Harcourt, 1997) is set in Eritrea, one of the newest countries of the world. “Only a Pigeon” (Simon & Schuster, 1997) is set in the contemporary city of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Recent Kurtz books include “Jakarta Missing” (Greenwillow, 2001),  “Faraway Home” (Harcourt Brace, 2000) and “River Friendly River Wild” (Simon & Schuster, 2000), about the 1997 flooding of the Red River in Grand Forks, N.D. That book recently won the prestigious Golden Kite Award, the only award presented to children’s book authors and artists by their fellow authors and artists.

Born in Portland, Ore., Kurtz moved with her family to Maji, Ethiopia at the age of 2. Since there were no televisions, radios, or movies, her memories are of climbing mountains, wading in rivers by the waterfalls, listening to stories, and making up her own stories, which she and her sisters acted out for days at a time.

When she was in fourth grade, she went to boarding school in Addis Ababa. Her family left Ethiopia in the late 1970s, but a decade later, first her brother and his family and then her older sister and her family went back to teach in a girls’ school in Addis Ababa.

By the time Kurtz came back to the United States for college, she felt there was no way to talk about her childhood home to people here. It took nearly 20 years to finally find a way -- through her children’s books. Now she often speaks in schools and at conferences, sharing memories from her own childhood and bringing in things for the children to touch and taste and see and smell and hear from Ethiopia. “It's been a healing and inspiring experience,” she says, “to re-connect with my childhood and also be able to help people know just a little of the beautiful country where I grew up.”

Kurtz’s visit is co-sponsored by the Warren County Library, the Western Illinois Reading Council, the  Henderson - Mercer - Warren Regional Office of Education and the Len G. Everett Foundation.

Released by the Office of College Communications
Barry McNamara, Associate Director of College Communications
Phone: 309-457-2117
Fax: 309-457-2330

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