Author Tom Mcguane to Receive Evil Companions Literary Award at Reception April 6

Author Tom McGuane is the winner of the 2000 Evil Companions Literary Award, an honor presented to poets and writers living in, writing about or with ties to the West.

McGuane, author of 10 novels and numerous screenplays, will receive the honor at a special reception April 6 in the ballroom of the Oxford Hotel on 17th Street in Denver. The event is sponsored by the Colorado Review, Colorado State University’s literary journal; Tattered Cover Book Store; Oxford Hotel; Wynkoop Brewery; Coors Brewing Company; Northern Trust Bank; Frank and Arlene Guerrand; the Denver Rocky Mountain News.

McGuane will read from his fiction and nonfiction, answer questions and sign copies of his books at the event, which runs from 6-8 p.m. Tickets are $40 per person and $70 per couple. Tickets are on sale at the Colorado Review office. To order, call (970) 491-5449. All proceeds benefit Colorado Review. Tickets are limited.

The Evil Companions Literary Award was named for the self-proclaimed Evil Companions, a group of Denver journalists and writers who gathered in the 1950s and 1960s to drink, socialize and discuss writing.

The Oxford Hotel will serve hors d’oeuvres and the Wynkoop Brewing Co. will brew a special Evil Companions Ale for the Evil Companions event. Music will be provided by the Jean Milofsky trio.

"This event is a wonderful opportunity to meet a best-selling author," said David Milofsky, editor of Colorado Review and an English professor at Colorado State.

"We’re delighted to honor Thomas McGuane this year. Along with such writers as Jim Harrison and Richard Ford, he is considered by many to be among the leading novelists of his generation."

McGuane’s most recent book, "The Longest Silence: a Life in Fishing," is a collection of 33 essays that record his lifelong love affair with fly fishing. McGuane’s novels include "The Sporting Club," "The Bushwacked Piano," Ninety-two in the Shade," "Panama," "Nobody’s Angel," "Something to be Desired," "Keep the Change" and "Nothing But Blue Skies." He also wrote "To Skin a Cat," a collection of short stories, and "An Outside Chance," a collection of essays on sport.

McGuane has received the Richard and Hinda Rosenthal Award of the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. His work has been translated into 10 languages. McGuane was born in Michigan, attended Michigan State University, earned a Master of Fine Arts at Yale School of Drama and was a Wallace Stegner Fellow at Stanford. He lives with his family in McLeod, Mont.

For more information about Evil Companions, call the Colorado Review office at (970) 491-5449 or the Colorado State Office of University Relations at (970) 491-6432.