Pico Iyer, Oprah Winfrey and Dr. Abraham Verghese backstage at the Arlington Theatre for UCSB Arts & Lectures. Courtesy photos by David Bazemore.
The Santa Barbara local made a special appearance to introduce the Oprah’s Book Club author who penned “one of the greatest novels I’ve read”
SANTA BARBARA — A capacity Arlington Theatre audience thrilled to a surprise appearance by Oprah Winfrey at last night’s UCSB Arts & Lectures Speaking with Pico event. Winfrey came out to celebrate the success of her friend Dr. Abraham Verghese, whose novel The Covenant of Water was an Oprah’s Book Club pick in 2023 and has been on the New York Times fiction bestseller list continuously since its release. Praising Verghese, a physician who teaches at Stanford University, Oprah said that the book had changed her life and is one of the best novels she has ever read. Celesta M. Billeci, Miller McCune Executive Director of UCSB Arts & Lectures, was on hand to congratulate Verghese and to thank both Oprah and Pico Iyer, the evening’s moderator, for bringing him to Santa Barbara.
ABOUT UCSB ARTS & LECTURES
Founded in 1959, UCSB Arts & Lectures (A&L) is the largest and most influential arts and lectures organization between Los Angeles and San Francisco. A&L annually presents more than a hundred public events, from critically acclaimed concerts and dance performances by world-renowned artists to talks by groundbreaking authors and film series at UCSB and Santa Barbara-area venues. With a mission to “educate, entertain and inspire,” A&L also oversees an outreach program that brings visiting artists and speakers into local classrooms and other venues for master classes, open rehearsals, discussions and more, serving K-12 students, college students and the general public.
Abraham Verghese spoke on stage with Pico Iyer for over an hour as part of UCSB Arts & Lectures’ Speaking with Pico series.
Winfrey’s effusive introduction credited Verghese with writing one of the “greatest novels I’ve ever read.”