Contact: Janet Mendelsohn 617-283-2373 email: jmendelsohn@wellesley.edu
February 1, 1996
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - BLACK HISTORY MONTH EVENT
Playwright, novelist, poet and performer Ntozake Shange will deliver the annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Lecture at Wellesley College on Sunday, Feb. 25 at 3:00 p.m. in Jewett Auditorium. Ms. Shange's address, sponsored by Ethos, an African American student organization, and Harambee House, the African-American social and cultural center at Wellesley College, is part of the annual celebration of "Quintessence" during African American History Month. The lecture is free and open to the public.
As the author of "For Colored Girls, Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf," Ntozake Shange has attracted international attention. Nominated for Tony, Grammy, Obie and Emmy awards, "For Colored Girls..." first achieved success as a best-selling novel, then as a play produced on television for PBS, and ultimately on Broadway. Her next work," Three Pieces"-three plays-Spell #7, A Photograph: Lovers in Motion, and Boogie Woogie Landscapes-integrates poetry, dance and music to evoke images of black life in contemporary America.
Ms. Shange received two Obie Awards, including one for her adaptation of Brecht's "Mother Courage." She is also the author of several novels including, Sassafrass, Cypress and Indigo; Betsey Brown; which has been adapted for the stage; and her most recent novel, Liliane. Collections of her poetry include Nappy Edges, A Daughter's Geography, Ridin' The Moon in Texas and, most recently published, The Love Space Demands: A Continuing Saga.
As the Mellon Distinguished Professor of Literature at Rice University, an Artist-in-Residence at Villanova University, and Writer-in-Residence at the Maryland Institute, College of Art, Ntozake Shange teaches courses in the literature of people of color, feminist aesthetics, and writing and performance art. She received her B.A. from Barnard College and her M.A. from the University of Southern California.
For information on the lecture at Wellesley College, call 617-283-2373.
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