Katha Pollitt, Award-Winning Writer, Poet, And Columnist For The Nation, To Speak At William Paterson University On April 9 On Abortion Rights

—Program is presented by University’s Gandhian Forum for Peace and Justice

Katha Pollitt

Katha Pollitt, the award-winning feminist writer, poet, and columnist for The Nation, will present a lecture about abortion rights on Thursday, April 9, 2015 at William Paterson University in Wayne as part of the Gandhian Forum for Peace and Justice. The lecture will be held from 2 to 3:15 p.m. in University Commons Ballroom A. The public is invited to attend and admission is free.

In her talk, “Reclaiming Abortion Rights,” Pollitt will examine abortion rights 40 years after the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling and will look at what abortion means for the lives of real women, men, and families. She recently explored the topic in her 2014 book, Pro: Reclaiming Abortion Rights, which was named a New York Times Notable Book of 2014.

Pollitt is best known for her bi-monthly column "Subject to Debate" in The Nation, which debuted in 1995. The column, which is frequently reprinted in newspapers across the country, won a National Magazine Award for Columns and Commentary. She is also a Puffin Foundation Writing Fellow at The Nation Institute. Many of Pollitt's contributions to The Nation are compiled in three books: Reasonable Creatures: Essays on Women and Feminism; Subject to Debate: Sense and Dissents on Women, Politics, and Culture; and Virginity or Death! And Other Social and Political Issues of Our Time. She is also the author of a collection of personal essays, Learning to Drive and Other Life Stories.  Copies of Pollitt’s books will be available for sale at the talk.

Pollitt has also written essays and book reviews for The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The New Republic, Harper's, Ms., Glamour, Mother Jones, the New York Times, and the London Review of Books. Her work has been republished in many anthologies and is taught in many university classes. As a poet, Pollitt has received a National Endowment for the Arts grant and a Guggenheim Fellowship; she is the author of two collections of poetry.

William Paterson University’s Gandhian Forum for Peace and Justice seeks to engage high school, college, and university students and teachers and community members in innovative and practical ideas, actions, and programs that promote peace and justice through cooperative engagement, dialogue, and respect for opposing views and opinions. Previous lecturers have included Doug Henwood, editor and publisher of Left Business Observer; Jo Comerford, executive director of the National Priorities Project; Chris Hedges, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist; Rabbi Michael Lerner, editor of Tikkun; Aftab Seth, India’s former ambassador to Japan, Vietnam and Greece; Norman Finkelstein, author of What Gandhi Says About Nonviolence, Resistance and Courage; and Jason Williamson, staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union.

This program is co-sponsored by the William Paterson University Department of Philosophy, Department of Political Science, Department of Public Health, Department of Sociology, Department of Women’s and Gender Studies, Asian Studies Program, Race and Gender Project, Women’s Center, Cheng Library, Cotsakos College of Business, College of Education, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, and Office of the Provost.

For additional information, contact Steve Shalom, professor of political science, at 973-720-3433 or shaloms@wpunj.edu.