LEWISTON, Maine - Iconoclastic journalist Christopher Hitchens, known for his trenchantly witty critiques of hypocrisy and entrenched political power, presents a lecture titled  "Is Islam the Enemy?" in Bates College's Pettengill Hall at 4:10 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 25. The public is invited to attend free of charge the talk, sponsored by the psychology department as part of a series of events connected to the observance of the one-year anniversary of Sept. 11.

Hitchens is a contributor to such British newspapers as The Guardian and produces a biting biweekly column, "Minority Report," for The Nation as its longtime Washington correspondent. A contributing editor to Vanity Fair, Hitchens regularly writes for such publications as The Atlantic, The London Review of Books, Granta, Grand Street, Harper's, The Los Angeles Times Book Review, New Left Review, The New York Review of Books, Newsweek International and The Times Literary Supplement.

Hitchens' 10 books include the forthcoming "Why Orwell Matters" (Basic Books, 2002), "Letters to A Young Contrarian" (Basic Books, 2001) and  "The Trial of Henry Kissinger" (Verso Books, 2001). Known as a leftist essayist, Hitchens barbecues Democrats as well as Republicans as evidenced in his expose of the Clintons in "No One Left to Lie To: The Values of the Worst Family" (Verso Books, 2000).

"Well traveled, hyper-educated . . . [and] always funny," wrote the Village Voice Literary Supplement, "Christopher Hitchens has no equal in American journalism."  The San Francisco Chronicle calls Hitchens "a brilliant polemicist and a tireless reporter." 

He periodically appears on CSPAN's "Washington Journal," and shows such as "Uncommon Knowledge," "Larry King Live," "Meet the Press with Tim Russert" and "Hardball" with Chris Matthews.