Denison: Orange is the New Black author to speak

The Denison University Department of English welcomes Piper Kerman, author of "Orange is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison," which has been adapted into an Emmy and Peabody Award-winning original series for Netflix. Kerman will speak at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 2, in Swasey Chapel (200 Chapel Drive). The lecture is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Anneliese Davis at 740-587-6207 or visit Denison.edu. "Through "Orange is the New Black," Piper Kerman has played a significant role by introducing people to one person's experience with the federal prison system," said Jack Shuler, Denison University associate professor of English. "At a time with increased scrutiny on justice issues, her voice has sounded on behalf of those with little visibility." Kerman serves on the board of the Women's Prison Association and has been called as a witness by the U.S. Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights to testify on solitary confinement and women prisoners. She has spoken at the White House on re-entry and employment to help honor Champions of Change in the field. In 2014 Kerman was awarded the Justice Trailblazer Award from John Jay College's Center on Media, Crime & Justice and the Constitutional Commentary Award from The Constitution Project. Currently, Kerman works with Spitfire Strategies as a communications consultant with nonprofits, philanthropies, and other organizations working in the public interest. She is a frequent invited speaker to students of law, criminology, gender and women's studies, sociology, and creative writing, and also to groups that include the American Correctional Association's Disproportionate Minority Confinement Task Force, federal probation officers, public defenders, justice reform advocates and volunteers, book clubs, and formerly and currently incarcerated people.