(Washington D.C.)—American Writers II: The 20th Century, the cable network's fourth historical series, airs every Sunday live from 3:00 PM ET–5:00 PM ET on C-SPAN through July 7th. The 15-week special series will produce 30 hours of live programming that examines the lives and times of 18 writers who chronicled or influenced the course of our nation's history. The format will mix historians, biographers and contemporary cultural commentators with a call-in audience live, on location at historic sites connected with the week's featured authors.

In addition to the live each Sunday from 3 to 5 pm ET, C-SPAN reairs the 2-hour program Fridays at 8 pm ET. The Friday evening telecast will be accompanied by additional programs about the writer's life and times.

Guests on the series include: authors George Plimpton, Stanley Crouch, bell hooks and William Styron; actors Danny Glover and Mariel Hemingway; and journalists Walter Cronkite, Christopher Hitchens, George Will, David Halberstam, Neil Sheehan and William F. Buckley.

Each week, C-SPAN, the cable public affairs cable network, will be live from a historical site that has significance to that week's writer such as Key West for Ernest Hemingway; Dana, IN for Ernie Pyle; and Smith College in Northampton, MA for Betty Friedan. Over the course of the fifteen weeks, C-SPAN's production crews will travel from New York to California to explore the lives and works of its selected writers, ending in the nation's capital for the final program on July 7th.

The original series debuted on March 19, 2001, and ran through September 10th. During that time, American Writers focused on the early days of the country, beginning with the Mayflower Compact through the end of the nineteenth century and the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt—producing more than 140 hours of original programming covering 27 writers. The series went on hiatus after the events of September 11th.

American Writers II presents many voices of the twentieth century writer—from the literary to the political, from war correspondents to social critics. Selected writers represent the Progressive Era (1901-1929), Depression and War (1929-45), the Early Cold War (1945-1961) and end with Social Transformation to Vietnam (1961-75). American Writers II will consider how America forged its role in the world during this past century and how authors offer insight into the nation it is today. A full list of the 18 selected writers is attached.

One of the important aspects of the series will be the community projects initiated in the series' live locations. Hometown lectures, school projects, marathon readings of the authors' works, and musical performances have all been part of the American Writers journey across the country. Producers and the C-SPAN Community Relations staff work with local schools, community organizations and C-SPAN's cable affiliates to foster local expressions about the lives and work of their native sons and daughters.

Nationally, the series also offers a comprehensive website (www.americanwriters.org) with biographies of the writers, samples of their writing, an ongoing chat room, and links to additional information. C-SPAN has also teamed up with Borders Books to make all of the writers' books easily accessible to viewers. Teachers can also find lesson plans and other curriculum materials to help bring the C-SPAN series into their classrooms.

View the schedule for the fifteen programs.

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