NEWS

Photo note: To download a photo of Harris-Lopez, see end of the release.

Outstanding black women in literature to be topic of speech in Knightdale

CHAPEL HILL -- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill English professor Dr. Trudier Harris-Lopez will discuss "This Disease Called Strength: Black Female Characters in African-American Literature" on March 8 in Knightdale.

The East Regional Library at 946 Steeple Square Court will host the free public talk at 2 p.m. For information, call (919) 217-5318.

Harris-Lopez, who delivered the December 2001 commencement address at UNC, has won awards including a Tanner Faculty Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching. Her alma mater, Ohio State University, presented her with its first Award of Distinction for the College of Humanities in 1994.

Her books include "South of Tradition: Essays on African American Literature," "Exorcising Blackness: Historical and Literary Lynching and Burning Rituals," "Fiction and Folklore: The Novels of Toni Morrison," "The Power of the Porch: The Storyteller's Craft in Zora Neale Hurston, Gloria Naylor and Randall Kenan" and "Saints, Sinners, Saviors: Strong Black Women in African American Literature."

She co-edited and co-wrote the 1998 reference collection "Call and Response: The Riverside Anthology of the African American Literary Tradition" (Houghton Mifflin Co.), and she.

The talk was arranged by Carolina Speakers at UNC, a statewide outreach program. Since 1993, the program has brought more than 90 faculty members to business, civic and community groups. The

speakers share their expertise on more than 150 topics, including 46 on North Carolina and the South. For more information or to schedule a Carolina Speaker, contact Sandy Roberts at (919) 962-1993 or sandy_roberts@unc.edu, or visit the Carolina Speakers web site at www.unc.edu/depts/uncspeak.

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Photo url: http://www.unc.edu/news/pics/faculty/harris-lopez_trudier.jpg

Contact: Sandy Roberts at 919-962-1993 or sandy_roberts@unc.edu