National Audience To Hear Duke Professor's Short Story

DURHAM, N.C. -- A short story by Duke University writing professor Elizabeth Cox has been selected to be read aloud on Broadway and broadcast nationally by National Public Radio. "The Third of July," a story in Cox's newest book Bargains in the Real World (Random House, 2001), will be read as part of Symphony Space's program called "Selected Shorts: A Celebration of the Short Story." "We thought it was a really compelling story we thought would be read well aloud," said Katherine Minton, producer of literary programs for Symphony Space, a community-based arts organization with a national following through programs such as the Selected Shorts broadcasts. In the Selected Shorts program, Broadway and Hollywood actors read aloud short stories on 11 Wednesday evenings at Symphony Space's theater at 95th Street and Broadway in New York City. Cox's story will be read May 15 along with lª´hi diem thº"The Gangster We Are All Looking For" and Sylvia Brownrigg's "Amazon." The theme for the evening is "Amazing Women." Cox's story is about a woman who plans to leave her husband and then decides to return home after seeing a fatal accident. Cox said she was delighted to learn her story would be read aloud by actress Joan Allen, who was nominated for an Academy Award for her portrayal of Pat Nixon in Oliver Stone's "Nixon" and also was in the film "Pleasantville." "I was very excited to think of it being read by her," said Cox, professor of the practice of creative writing. "It's a quiet story, with one large action, but the main tension lies in the subtleties." Cox said the story was rejected for four years before it was finally published. It won the O. Henry Prize in 1994 and has been anthologized, in addition to this most recent recognition. Cox will be introduced and interviewed for the program, which then will be edited for radio broadcast in October 2003. The program is broadcast in North Carolina in Asheville, Wilmington and Franklin. This spring also marks Cox's last semester at Duke after 17 years. She is moving to Boston to be with her husband and write books, she said.

Note to editors: Elizabeth Cox can be reached for comment at (919) 401-1875 or at (978) 486-8911 after May 10.