FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Media contact: Renee Prewitt

(313) 927-1446

rprewitt@marygrove.edu

Marygrove College Hosts Pearl Cleage in

The Bauder Contemporary American Authors Lecture

March 4, 2004—Playwright and novelist Pearl Cleage will present her work at The Bauder Contemporary American Authors Lecture on Friday, April 16, 8:00 p.m., in Alumnae Hall, 8425 W. McNichols Road, Detroit, Michigan. The reading and lecture will be followed by a reception and booksigning.

Cleage is the 16^th nationally-known author in the annual event, which began in 1989 with Gloria Naylor and has featured many distinguished writers such as John Edgar Wideman, Octavia E. Butler, Jamaica Kincaid, Rita Dove, Ernest J. Gaines, Toi Derricotte, Edwidge Danticat and last year, Cornelius Eady.

Pearl Cleage is an Atlanta-based writer whose plays include Bourbon at the Border, Blues for an Alabama Sky and Flyin’ West, all three commissioned and premiered by the Alliance Theatre. Blues has been produced across the country at such theaters as Arena Stage, Hartford Stage, Huntington Theatre, The Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Madison Repertory, and A Contemporary Theatre.

Her books include Mad At Miles: A Black Woman’s Guide to Truth; Deals With the Devil and Other Reasons To Riot; One For The Brothers; a collection of poetry entitled We Don’t Need No Music; and the novels, What Looks Like Crazy On An Ordinary Day, I Wish I Had a Red Dress, and Some Things I Never Thought I’d Do. Cleage currently is playwright-in-residence at Spelman College, the editor of Catalyst, and the artistic director of Just Us Theater Company.

Cleage is an alumna of Spelman College and lives in Atlanta.

She is the daughter of Rev. Albert B. Cleage, Jr. (Jaramogi Abebe Agyeman), the prominent Detroit minister who founded both the Pan African Orthodox Christian Church (PAOCC) and the Shrine of the Black Madonna.

Marygrove College is a liberal arts college located on 53 park-like acres in one of Detroit’s oldest residential neighborhoods. The College is recognized throughout the region for its teaching, social work, art, music, and dance programs. More than 16,000 of its alumni work, live and contribute to the metropolitan Detroit area. # # #