Presented by Frances Mayes
Tuesday, March 16, 7 p.m.
Admission is free and no reservations are required.

Frances Mayes has alway adored houses, and when she saw Bramasole, a neglected 200-year-old Tuscan farmhouse nestled on five overgrown acres, it was love at first sight. Out of that instant infatuation have come marvelous and hugely popular books: the best-sellers Under the Tuscan Sun and Bella Tuscany. These highly popular books are about taking chances, living in Italy, loving and renovating an old Italian villa and the pleasures of food, wine, gardens and the "voluptuousness of Italian life." The third book in her Tuscan trilogy, Every Day in Tuscany: Seasons of an Italian Life, to be released in March, is about Tuscan seasons and Mayes' reflections on Italian life, food and gardens.

Her first novel, Swan, a family saga and mystery published in 2002, returns Mayes to her childhood home in Georgia. Formerly a professor of creative writing at San Francisco State University, where she directed The Poetry Center and chaired the Department of Creative Writing, Mayes now devotes herself full time to writing and to her At Home in Tuscany furniture and accessory lines. She and her husband divide their time between North Carolina and Cortona, Italy.

Don't miss an exclusive opportunity to Meet Frances Mayes at a pre-lecture reception. Enjoy Tuscan-inspired appetizers and cocktails. The ticket price includes a copy of Mayes' new book.

The Philip and Elkin Alston Lecture Series is made possible by the generous support of the Charles Loridans Foundation.