Tom Williams to read from novella “The Mimic’s Own Voice”

Tom Williams, professor and chairman of English at Morehead State University, will read from his novella “The Mimic’s Own Voice” at 7 p.m. Monday, Dec. 10 in the Bazarsky Lecture Hall. The reading will be followed by a question-and-answer session and book signing.

“The Mimic’s Own Voice” explores the world of professional mimic Douglas Myles. His fans and rivals know whom he can mimic – every speaker in the world, it seems – but they still want to know the man behind the voices. When an autobiographical manuscript is discovered after his death, do lay comedy fans and comedic studies scholars have access and insight to the real Douglas Myles? Or has this tale of voices and silences, laughter and sadness, solitude and crowds, race and identity only just begun?

In addition to “The Mimic’s Own Voice,” which has been praised for its style, dark humor and originality, Williams has more than 50 publications in periodicals such as Boulevard, Connecticut Review, Indiana Review, the Collagist and Booth. A former James Michener Fellow, he has received individual artist fellowships from the Wisconsin Arts Board and the Arkansas Arts Council.

Williams holds a doctorate in literature and creative writing from the University of Houston. He has taught at the University of Wisconsin Green Bay and Arkansas State University and was chairman of humanities at the University of Houston Victoria. Williams is the associate editor of American Book Review.