The speaker for the Library's free 2010 Martin Luther King, Jr. Day event will be the poet, educator, and author Sapphire. Her bestselling novel Push tells the story of an overweight African-American teenager struggling to find her place in the world despite her history of incest, abuse, and illiteracy. Precious, the film adaptation of Sapphire's novel Push, has garnered awards from the Sundance Film Festival, praise from film critics, and nominations for the Golden Globe.

Sapphire's talk “Push, Literacy, Women, and African American Literature” will take place on Monday, January 18th at 2:00 pm in the Michigan Union Rogel Ballroom. A book signing will immediately follow the Q&A session. This public event is co-sponsored by: University Library, Office of Academic Multicultural Initiatives, University Housing, Bentley Historical Library, Law Library, and School of Information.

For additional information about the Library's MLK Day event, please visit http://www.lib.umich.edu/mlk/. For a complete calendar of campus events, please visit http://www.mlksymposium.umich.edu/