When New Yorker writer David Grann speaks Friday at Covenant College, students who recruited the best-selling author to campus hope the event will spark a lively debate about journalism.
“His stories have tackled topics that range from secret water tunnel systems in New York to Polish murder mysteries to scientists on the hunt for a giant squid – all of them hinging on the common theme of obsession,” said James Harrison, a Covenant senior who invited Mr. Grann. “The fact that we were able to land him is pretty remarkable.”
Mr. Grann is the third New Yorker staff member to speak at Covenant College, located in Lookout Mountain, Ga., in the past two years. Officials expect nearly 200 people to attend.
In December 2008, Hendrik Hertzberg, a New Yorker senior editor, visited the Covenant campus, and last April Sasha Frere-Jones, a music critic for the magazine, spoke to students.
Mr. Harrison, who is studying community development at Covenant, has been the link between the New Yorker and Covenant. After meeting Mr. Hertzberg during a summer internship in New York City, he began asking writers to come to campus, he said.
Mr. Hertzberg’s visit created a stir at the Presbyterian college when the writer, who planed to talk about covering the presidential elections, began to question students about their Christian faith.
IF YOU GOWhat: New Yorker writer David Grann speaks about journalismWhere: Covenant College, Sanderson Hall auditoriumWhen: 8 p.m. FridayHow much: Free and open to the publicSource: Covenant College
“He came down and challenged us and asked some really hard questions,” Mr. Harrison said. “That was a hit.”
The Covenant Student Senate is paying for Mr. Grann to visit this week, and members hope his event will be just as engaging.
Mr. Grann’s most recent book, “The Lost City of Z,” retraces an explorer’s mission to discover a lost city in the Amazon. The book now is on the New York Times bestseller list.
One of Mr. Grann’s stories in the New Yorker, “Trial by Fire,” which took an in-depth look at a man executed for murdering his children by setting their house on fire, was named by some noted journalists as the most powerful essay in 2009.
“He is a regarded speaker who has written some incredible books,” said Aaron Skivan, a business and finance major and treasurer of the Covenant study body. “I think it is beneficial to any student, no matter what their major is, to hear someone who is an expert in their field.”