April 1, 2001 National Book Award Winner Nathaniel Philbrick to Speak at the Library of Congress on May 10

Nathaniel Philbrick, whose book In The Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex (Viking Penguin, 2000) won the 2000 National Book Award for Nonfiction, will speak about "the writing life" at the Library of Congress at 6:30 p.m., Thursday, May 10, in the Montpelier Room, sixth floor, James Madison Memorial Building, 101 Independence Ave. S.E. The program, part of the Center for the Book's "Books & Beyond" series, is cosponsored by the National Book Foundation, which administers the National Book Awards. The speaker will be introduced by Neil Baldwin, director of the National Book Foundation.

A resident of Nantucket Island, Mass., Mr. Philbrick is a leading authority on the history of Nantucket. He serves as the director of the Egan Institute of Maritime Studies and a research fellow at the Nantucket Historical Society. In the Heart of the Sea tells the story of the ordeal of 20 men from Nantucket aboard a whaling ship that is sunk by an enraged sperm whale in the South Pacific in 1820. Mr. Philbrick's other books include Away Off Shore: Nantucket Island and Its People, 1602-1890 (1994), and Abram's Eyes: The Native American Legacy of Nantucket Island (1998).

For information about the National Book Foundation, visit its Web site at www.publishersweekly.com/nbf/docs/nbf.html.

The Center for the Book in the Library of Congress was established in 1977 to stimulate public interest in books, reading, and libraries. For information about its program, publications, and the activities of affiliated centers in 41 states and the District of Columbia, visit its Web site at www.loc.gov/cfbook.