LAKELAND, Fla. (March 27, 2006) — Florida Southern College’s English department unveils the 2006 issue of “Cantilevers: A Journal of the Arts” on April 11 at 7:00 p.m. in the Eleanor Searle Drawing Room. Connie May Fowler, acclaimed author, will be the evening's featured speaker. The public is welcome to attend.

Connie May Fowler, a Florida native, is a novelist, memoirist, and screenwriter. Her most recent novel, “The Problem with Murmur Lee,” was published by Doubleday in Jan. 2005 and the paperback was released by Broadway Books in March. The novel was chosen as Redbook’s premier book club selection.

Fowler is the author of four additional critically acclaimed novels including “Remembering Blue,” which won the Chautauqua South Literary Award, and “Before Women had Wings,” recipient of the 1996 Southern Book Critics Circle Award and the Francis Buck Award from the League of American Pen Women. Fowler’s Emmy Award-winning film adaptation of “Before Women had Wings” starred Oprah Winfrey and Ellen Barkin. Three of her novels have been Dublin International Literary Award nominees. Fowler’s work has been translated into 15 languages and published worldwide. Her essays have been published in The New York Times, The London Times, The International Herald Tribune, Oxford American, and elsewhere.

Fowler serves as the Irving Bacheller Professor of Creative Writing at Rollins College in Winter Park, Fla. and is director of the college’s writing series, “Winter with the Writers, A Festival of the Literary Arts.”

 “Cantilevers: A Journal of the Arts” features poetry, fiction and art by FSC’s students, staff, and alumni. The Wesley Ryals Awards for best fiction and poetry submissions and FSC Student Writing Awards for best student entries in each category will be announced and presented at the event. A book signing with Fowler will take place after the awards presentations. For more information, please contact Vicky Luffman at (863) 680-4220.

About Florida Southern College
Founded in 1885, Florida Southern College is a private, comprehensive, United Methodist college with a liberal arts core. The college maintains its commitment to academic excellence through 38 undergraduate majors and distinctive graduate programs in business administration, education, and nursing. Florida Southern has a 14:1 student/faculty ratio, provides strong student/faculty mentorship programs, boasts 25 NCAA Division II national championships, and is ranked by U. S. News and World Report as one of the top ten Southern Comprehensive Colleges-Bachelors and by the Princeton Review as a “Best Southeastern College.” Located on scenic Lake Hollingsworth, Florida Southern is the home of the world’s largest single-site collection of Frank Lloyd Wright architecture