For immediate release

 

The Global Address speaker series welcomes Ned Vizzini

 

He is the acclaimed writer of the 2006 novel It's Kind of a Funny Story (Hyperion), which was made into the indie-hit of the same name starring Zach Galifianakis (The Hangover), Keir Gilchrist, and Emma Roberts.

Wood Buffalo residents are in for a double treat.  At 7 p.m. there will be a free screening of the movie in Keyano Theatre followed by the talk at 9 p.m., in the Recital Theatre. Tickets for the talk are $23.

 

Vizzini’s talk How Not to Go Crazy in College focuses on topics drawn from his books.  He speaks candidly with students of all ages about coping with the pressures of school, and how to survive one of the most challenging transitional periods in a person's life - from adolescence to adulthood.

Vizzini's career started at New York Press, an alternative weekly newspaper that published his true-life stories from Stuyvesant High School (the inspiration for “Executive Pre-Professional High School” in It's Kind of a Funny Story). These stories were collected in his first book, Teen Angst? Naaah (Random House).

In late November 2004, Vizzini called the Suicide Hotline. Despite being the acclaimed writer of two books for young adults, Vizzini was reeling from self-imposed pressure to write a third novel – and over the previous summer, had begun to experience symptoms of clinical depression that would become very familiar to him. Cycling thoughts and difficulties eating became the norm, and by the time Vizzini called the Hotline, he hardly recognized himself.

When the operator answered, he told Vizzini that he wasn't with the Suicide Hotline, he was with a Good Samaritan group – because the Suicide Hotline was overflowing that evening. Vizzini laughed – and began the journey that would lead to the publication of this third and most-loved novel, It's Kind of a Funny Story.

On the advice of the Good Samaritan operator, Vizzini walked to Methodist Hospital, in Brooklyn, NY. He was admitted with “suicidal ideation” and spent five days in the adult psychiatric unit. There, he saw his own problems put into harsh perspective against those in the hospital who had no families, no homes, and none of the advantages he did. As soon as he left the hospital, he began writing about it, giving his situation to a fictional 15-year-old named Craig Gilner, and a month later It's Kind of a Funny Story was born.

Vizzini currently writes reviews for the New York Times and has recently completed a new young adult novel. He resides in Brooklyn and Los Angeles.