Joshua Wolf Shenk, Author of Lincoln’s Melancholy, to Speak at Intiman Theatre following the November 15 Matinee of Abe Lincoln in Illinois

Presented as part of Intiman’s American Cycle series, the event will include a lecture and questions from the audience, and is free to the public

SEATTLE— Intiman Theatre is honored to present a free public lecture by Joshua Wolf Shenk, author of Lincoln’s Melancholy, one of the most acclaimed and influential contributions to recent Lincoln scholarship, as part of the American Cycle programming around its current production of Abe Lincoln in Illinois. Mr. Shenk’s talk, this season’s Writers & Artists lecture, will include questions from the audience and will follow the 2 pm matinee performance of the play on Sunday, November 15.

This event is free and open to the general public. Seating will be general admission, with priority given to patrons attending the matinee performance. Individuals attending only the discussion should arrive at Intiman, 201 Mercer Street at Seattle Center , at 4:30 pm. For more information, patrons should call 206.269.1900.

Lincoln’s Melancholy: How Depression Challenged a President and Fueled His Greatness, was named one of the best books of 2005 by the New York Times, the Washington Post and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and has won awards from the Abraham Lincoln Institute, the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill and the National Mental Health Association.

An essayist and former director of the Rose O’Neill Literary House at Washington College , Mr. Shenk has contributed to the Atlantic Monthly, Time, Harper’s, the New Yorker, the New York Times and the national bestseller Unholy Ghost: Writers on Depression, edited by Nell Casey. He is a member of the advisory council to the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission.

Writers & Artists is the annual humanities forum of Intiman’s American Cycle series of classic American stories. A city-wide initiative, the Cycle is a catalyst for local civic dialogue, with free-standing events that encourage conversation and debate about our shared history and contemporary issues that people face in their own lives.

The American Cycle is sponsored by Ameriprise Financial, The Boeing Company, Microsoft Corporation, Nesholm Family Foundation and PONCHO. Media Sponsorship is provided by KUOW.