Arts & Culture

Both events are part of The Writing Program’s spring Reading Series, are free and open to the public and will take place in Hurst Lounge.

The celebrated writer and essayist’s talk, titled “Metaphor,” will explore the true essence of metaphors and their connection to language and creativity.

The Edison Theatre performances update the biblical story of Susannah and the Elders to 1940s Appalachia; Jolly Stewart directs.

“After the Digital Divide: German Aesthetic Theory in the Age of New Media” March 30-April 1 is sponsored by the Department of Germanic Languages & Literatures.

The concerts will feature more than a dozen dancers in nine original, contemporary works by student choreographers in the PAD’s Dance Program.

Mitsuru HamadaPorous DrapeJapanese architect Mitsuru Hamada has won Washington University’s 2006 Steedman Fellowship in Architecture International Design Competition. The biennial competition, sponsored by the College of Architecture and Graduate School of Architecture & Urban Design — both divisions of the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts — is open to young architects from around the world. The $30,000 first place award supports study and research abroad and is the largest such award in the United States.

David MarchantHeather WigmoreThe Performing Arts Department (PAD) will present its biennial Young Choreographers Showcase in the Annelise Mertz Dance Studio March 30 to April 1. The concert will feature more than a dozen dancers performing original, contemporary works — selected by jury — from nine choreographers in the PAD’s Dance Program.

Celebrated fiction writer and essayist William H. Gass will present the John and Penelope Biggs Residency in the Classics Lecture for the Assembly Series at 4 p.m. Thursday, March 30 in Graham Chapel. The lecture, titled “Metaphor,” will explore the true essence of metaphors and their connection to language and creativity.

Joe Angeles/WUSTL Photo ServicesMosaic WhispersMosaic Whispers, Washington University’s award-winning a cappella ensemble, will celebrate its 15th annual Splash of Color concert in Graham Chapel March 31 and April 1. The event will feature a cappella music and comedy as well as several guest groups from the university’s vibrant a cappella community, including The Amateurs, The Greenleafs, The Pikers, After Dark and Mama’s Pot Roast.

Fiction writer Sigrid Nunez, the visiting Fannie Hurst Professor of Creative Literature, will read from her work March 30 and speak on the craft of fiction April 4. Nunez is the author of five novels, including the acclaimed The Last of Her Kind (2006), A Feather on the Breath of God (1995) and Mitz (1998).