Writer James McBride, whose books explore race issues from slavery to the black soldiers who fought in World War II, is the keynote speaker at West Virginia Universitys annual Colloquium on Literature and Film this week.

Revisiting History,is the theme of the colloquium, which is Thursday-Saturday (Sept. 11-13) at the WVU Mountainlair. This is the colloquiums 32nd year at WVU .

Colloquium director Janice Spleth said this years theme is one that writers and filmmakers have long used for creative inspiration.

We want to talk about how the retelling of history through literature and film can be used to comment on our present social and political realities,said Spleth, the Armand E. and Mary W. Singer Professor of Humanities in the Department of Foreign Languages and also interim director of the Center for Womens Studies.

McBride, who is the author of the best-seller,The Color of Water,and Distinguished Writer in Residence at New York University, will lead a workshop and make keynote remarks Thursday:

-At 4 p.m. in the Mountainlair ballrooms, McBride will lead a workshop on the process of adapting his book,Miracle at St. Anna,to film. Spike Lee directed the film which chronicles the heroics of black soldiers fighting in Italy in World War II. The film opens later this fall.

-At 7 p.m. in the ballrooms, McBride will make keynote remarks while discussingSong Not Sung,a coming-of-age story set in pre-Civil War Maryland.

More than 100 scholars from across the country will present papers at the conference, Spleth said. Some 30 other panels will discuss how French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish writers explore historical themes from their countriesperspective.

Three foreign-language films will also be screened:

Sankofa,a film from Ghana that combines history and fantasy, 9:30 p.m. Thursday in Room 104, Wise Library;

The Orphanage,a horror film from Spain, at 7:30 p.m. Friday in the Mountainlair Rhododendron Room; and

Quilombo,the story of slaves setting up their own society in 17th century Brazil, 9:30 p.m. Friday in the Rhododendron Room.

This years conference is sponsored by the WVU Department of Foreign Languages in conjunction with the Office of the Provost; Eberly College of Arts and Sciences; College of Creative Arts; departments of English and History; Africana Studies Program; Center for Black Culture; and Center for Womens Studies.

Partial funding has also been made available through the West Virginia Humanities Council, a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. For more information, visit http://forlang.wvu.edu/news/colloquium .