The Oklahoma Conversation in the Humanities is an OHC signature event held annually in Tulsa. The conversation format erases the barriers of a formal lecture by engaging the public directly with writers, scholars, and other dignitaries in the humanities.

Sara Paretsky, award-winning author of the V.I. Warshawski detective series, was the featured speaker for the inaugural Conversation in October 2008. Watch the website for advance notice of the 2009 speaker.

About Sara Paretsky

As the creator of the award-winning V.I. Warshawski detective series, Paretsky invigorated the crime/mystery genre in 1982 by introducing a tough-minded, intelligent female private investigator—a marked departure from the genre’s traditional depiction of women as helpless “victims or vamps.” In 1986, she founded Sisters in Crime, an organization that supports the professional advancement of women who write mysteries.

Paretsky grew up in the Kaw River Valley of Kansas, where her new novel, Bleeding Kansas, is set. She received a Ph.D. in American History and an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago. Paretsky has received numerous awards, including the Diamond Dagger for Lifetime Achievement from the British Crime Writers Association, and the Gold Dagger for best novel for her book Blacklist.