Summer Reading Author Gwendolyn Oxenham to Speak at Meredith

Gwendolyn Oxenham, author of “Finding the Game,” will speak at Meredith College on Wednesday, August 28, 2013, at 7 p.m. in Jones Auditorium.

Oxenham’s book was Meredith’s 2013 Summer Reading Program selection. “Finding the Game” and the accompanying documentary follow Oxenham and her friends around the world in search of pickup soccer, reflecting a unique combination of her writing and athletic skills.

Seating in Jones Auditorium is limited; live video viewing is available in Jones Chapel. A public reception will be held in Johnson Hall Rotunda following the lecture.

About the Author
Oxenham, who was a starter and leading goal-scorer on Duke University’s soccer team, became the youngest Division I athlete in NCAA history at age 16. When the women’s professional soccer league ended shortly after Oxenham graduated, her U.S. soccer career was over. First, she played professionally for a Brazilian women’s soccer team, and then she earned an M.F.A. in creative writing.

In “Finding the Game,” Oxenham describes pickup games in 20 different countries, including Bolivia, Kenya and Iran. Oxenham traveled the world to play and film informal soccer games and to observe the ways that people connect and enrich their lives through the sport. The book describes her adventures and, more generally, shows how a determined and creative person can pursue ambitious goals, adjust to disappointments and circumstances, and ultimately find success.

Summer Reading Program Events
In addition to the lecture, the following activities related to Meredith’s 2013 Summer Reading Program will be held on campus.

“Pelada” Film Showing
August 25, 8:30 p.m.
Meredith Soccer Field

Pickup Soccer Activity
August 28, 3:30-4:30 p.m.
Begins on Main Campus Drive

The Summer Reading Program was created to enhance the academic climate on campus and to engage incoming first year students in a shared intellectual endeavor with the entire campus community, including students, faculty, staff and alumnae.

For more information on Meredith’s Summer Reading Program, meredith.edu/summer-reading.

-Melyssa Allen, Marketing