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Ian Klaus, author of the acclaimed book Elvis is Titanic, will speak at The University of Western Australia on Monday, May 19, at 6pm.

In a special literary event hosted by UWA's Institute of Advanced Studies, Klaus will speak about the passions and influences that informed his work.

Lauded by former US President Bill Clinton as "exceptionally well written" at its US launch, Elvis is Titanic , is the fresh, funny and insightful story of the semester Klaus, a twenty-six-year-old Rhodes Scholar, spent teaching US history and English to war affected Kurds.

Following the September 11 attacks, trading duty for intimacy, Klaus travelled to Salahaddin University in Arbil - the largest city in Iraqi Kurdistan - to teach the ‘American Way'.

"While wars continued in the center and south of Iraq, the Kurdish north came under a different type of western influence.  This book is the study of how lives are affected not by guns, but by ideas, by such intangible concepts as democracy and such seemingly irrepressible forces such as Hollywood," Klaus said.

Ian Klaus was born in California and educated at Andover, Oxford and Harvard.  He is currently pursuing a doctorate in history at Harvard University.

He is in Australia to discuss his book at this year's Sydney Writers' Festival.

This free lecture is open to the public and can be heard at UWA's Alexander Lecture Theatre, within the Faculty of Arts building, from 6-7pm on Monday 19 May.  Enter UWA from Hackett entrance 1.

Elvis is Titanic is published in Australia by UWA Press and will be available for sale and signing following the event.

Media references

Jade Knight (UWA Press) for author interviews  61 8  6488 3182
Audrey Barton (Institute of Advanced Studies)  61 8  6488 1340  /  0439 928 392
Janine MacDonald (UWA Public Affairs)  61 8  6488 5563  /  0432 637 716