Best-selling author Ann Patchett will visit Frederick Community College next week as part of a Frederick Reads event.

 “Having such a well-known name in the literary world visit our campus is an honor,” said Jeanni Winston-Muir, Director of the Center for Student Engagement. “In addition to her fantastic writing, Ann Patchett is a great role model for our students because of her selflessness and commitment to providing access to books for everyone.”

Patchett will discuss her writings, participate in a question and answer session, and hold a book signing at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, March 24 in the Jack B. Kussmaul Theater.

Patchett’s visit is part of the 10th anniversary celebration for Frederick Reads. Her talk will complement the 2015 Frederick Reads theme, “A Season of Wonder: Escape the Ordinary.” 

Named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine in 2012, Patchett has published six novels, including “The Patron Saint of Liars,” “Taft,” “The Magician’s Assistant,” “Run,” “State of Wonder,” and “Bel Canto,” which was awarded the Orange Prize and the PEN/Faulkner Award. She has also written three nonfiction books, edited the “Best American Short Stories, 2006,” and is a frequent contributor to The New York Times, Atlantic Monthly, and The Wall Street Journal, among other national publications.

Patchett is a generous writer who is committed to providing public access to the work of emerging and established writers. In 2011, she opened Parnassus Books, an independent bookstore in Nashville, Tennessee, after the city’s last two major bookstores closed.

The event is free and open to the public. All of Patchett’s books will be on sale during the event and many of them are currently on sale in the FCC Bookstore.