Author E. Lynn Harris to Be Featured Speaker During Pitt Black Action Society's Black History Month Celebration Feb. 15

PITTSBURGH-To celebrate Black History Month, the University of Pittsburgh Black Action Society (BAS) will host several events, including a talk featuring author E. Lynn Harris at 8:30 p.m. Feb. 15 in the William Pitt Union (WPU) Ballroom, 3959 Fifth Ave., Oakland. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Harris is the author of And This Too Shall Pass (Doubleday, 1996), If This World Were Mine (Doubleday, 1997), Abide With Me (Doubleday, 1999), Not A Day Goes By (Doubleday, 2000), Any Way the Wind Blows (Doubleday, 2001), and A Love of My Own (Doubleday, 2002), all of which appeared on the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Publishers Weekly, USA Today, Entertainment Weekly, and Los Angeles Times bestseller lists. Not A Day Goes By debuted at No. 2 on the New York Times bestseller list and was No. 1 on Publishers Weekly for two consecutive weeks. Any Way the Wind Blows also debuted at No. 2 on the New York Times list.

Harris' other books are Invisible Life (Anchor Books, 1994) and Just As I Am (Doubleday, 1994).

Harris' writing also has appeared in American Visions, Essence, the Washington Post Sunday Magazine, Savoy, The Advocate, and the award-winning anthology Brotherman: The Odyssey of Black Men in America, Go the Way Your Blood Beats (One World/Ballantine, 1995). His novella, Money Can't Buy Me Love, was published in Got To Be Real: Four Original Love Stories (New American Library, 2000). His short fiction appeared in Gumbo: A Celebration of African American Writers (Harlem Moon, 2002), a collection he coedited with writer Marita Golden.

Harris has won numerous accolades and prizes for his work. In 1996, Just As I Am was awarded the Blackboard Novel of the Year prize, and in 2002 and 2003, Any Way the Wind Blows and A Love of My Own also won the Blackbeard prize, making Harris the first author to receive back-to-back honors and to receive the prize three times. In 1997, If This World Were Mine was nominated for the NAACP Image Award and won the James Baldwin Award for Literary Excellence. Abide With Me, Any Way the Wind Blows, and A Love of My Own also were nominated for NAACP Image Awards.

A graduate of the University of Arkansas (UA), Harris was honored by UA with a Citation of Distinguished Alumni for outstanding professional achievement in 1999. In October 2000, he was inducted into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame. He also has been named to Ebony's "Most Intriguing Blacks" list, Out Magazine's "Out 100" list, New York Magazine's "Gay Power 101" list, and Savoy's "100 Leaders and Heroes in Black America" list. Other honors have included the Sprague-Todes Literary Award and the Harvey Milk Honorary Diploma. Harris is a member of the Board of Directors of the Hurston/Wright Foundation and the Evidence Dance Company.

Other BAS Black History Month events include:

Feb. 1

Sankofa, an educational program, 8:30 p.m., WPU, Room 609;

Feb. 22

Black Consciousness Bowl, 8 p.m., WPU Assembly Room; and

Feb. 23

Movie Night, 8:30 p.m., Benedum Hall's Benedum Auditorium, O'Hara Street.

Additional BAS Spring Events are:

March 16

Mr. and Ms. Black University of Pittsburgh Pageant, doors open 7:30 p.m., Benedum Hall's Benedum Auditorium, O'Hara Street; and

March 17

Mr. and Ms. Black University of Pittsburgh Ball, doors open 8:30 p.m., Holiday Inn at University Center, Lytton Avenue.

For more information, call 412-648-7880.

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