cleveland public library
cleveland public library

Writers and Readers: Stories that Shape Us

Tuesday, September 24, 2019 at 6:00pm
Maltz Performing Arts Center

1855 Ansel Road, Cleveland, OH 44106

Event Description

Cleveland Public Library’s Writers & Readers series returns in 2019 to feature authors, performers, journalists, and educators in conversation surrounding the books that shaped their lives. To kick off the series during the Library’s 150th anniversary year, broadcast journalist Soledad O’Brien and rapper Killer Mike.

 

Since 2000, the Writers & Readers series has brought nationally and internationally renowned authors to the Cleveland Public Library. We’ve welcomed authors ranging from Oliver Sachs, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Margaret Atwood, Sister Souljah, Tony Kushner, Junot Diaz, LeVar Burton, Neil Gaiman and Jose Antonio Vargas. Thanks to support from generous donors, all Writers & Readers events are free and open to the community.

 

Free admission and parking with advance registration at case.edu/maltzcenter.

We encourage patrons who have reserved tickets and cannot use them to please contact the Maltz Performing Arts Center as soon as possible to release the seats so that others have the opportunity to enjoy the event.

SOLEDAD O’BRIEN
Award-Winning Journalist

O’Brien is an award-winning journalist and host of the weekly syndicated political show Matter of Fact. A champion of diversity, she gives voice to the underserved and disenfranchised through her Emmy-winning reporting and acclaimed documentary series, Black in America and Latino in America. Additionally, O’Brien is a contributing editor for PBS NewsHour; a correspondent for HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel; the founder of PowHERful, a foundation that mentors and funds college tuition for young women; and author of the acclaimed memoir The Next Big Story: My Journey through the Land of Possibilities.

MICHAEL “KILLER MIKE” RENDER
Grammy Award-Winning Rapper & Political Commentator​

Michael Render, known professionally as “Killer Mike,” is a Grammy award-winning rapper and actor whose album Run the Jewels 2 was named Best Rap Album of 2014 by Rolling Stone. As a featured speaker in MIT’s Hip Hop Speaker Series, Killer Mike lectured on topics including music, misogyny, community activism, cultural appropriation, social media, and police brutality. His documentary series, Trigger Warning with Killer Mike, premiered on Netflix in 2019. In 2016, he shared with Rolling Out three books he believes every black person under 30 should read: Momma Black Widow by Robert Beck (Ice Berg Slim); Black Reconstruction by W.E.B. Du Bois; and Frederick Douglass’ autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.