Author and Sculptor Lawrence Bechtel will present Welcome to the House of Poetry and Other Stories. Some humorous, some not, some drawn from life, others invented from whole cloth, these selected stories span the years 2004-2020. His presentation will include a reading followed by Q&A and a book signing.

Lawrence has published the first two novels of his historical fiction trilogy, THE TINSMITH’S APPRENTICE, A Partial Sun in 2019 and That Dazzling Sun in 2020. He is working on the third, A Slow Eclipse, which he expects to publish in 2022.

Lawrence Bechtel was raised in Illinois and received his M.A. from Virginia Tech in English in the spring of 1985. He was hired as an Instructor that fall, teaching Freshman Composition and American Literature, and later, Technical Writing. He was hired as the university’s first Recycling Coordinator in 1992, and is the sculptor of various works, including “Addison Caldwell,” the bronze sculpture located on the steps going up to Lane Hall.