Sunset Signature Series: Our Slippery Mother Tongue: A Light History of English

Come early as he is known to have standing-room only performances! Literary lecturer Dr. Elliot Engel will inaugurate an eclectic new series of talks and performances for 2018 as the Friends of the Library Sunset Signature Series gets underway. The series is sponsored by the Heart of North Carolina Visitors Bureau, the City of Asheboro and the Friends of the Randolph County Public Library.Engel will appear at 7 p.m. Tuesday, January 23, with a lively talk, “Our Slippery Mother Tongue: A Light History of English.” His appearance is free and the public is invited. Using anecdotes, analysis and large doses of humor, Engel will bring to life the fascinating development of the English language from the Anglo-Saxons, to the invading French and beyond. Engel has delivered his highly entertaining but historically detailed talks worldwide over his 30-year career. He is author of 10 books; his lecture series about Charles Dickens appeared on PBS stations around the country; and four of his plays have been produced in the past 10 years. In 2009, he was inducted into the Royal Society of Arts in England for his academic work and his promotion of Dickens. Sales of his CDs and DVDs have raised funds for the Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital in London, which Dickens helped found in 1852. Engel lives in Raleigh and has taught at UNC-Chapel Hill, North Carolina State University and Duke University. He holds a Ph.D. from UCLA, where he won the Outstanding Teaching Award.