Throughout her years as an author, Gay has worked to raise the profile of writers of color. In 2012, she published an extensive list of writers of color on The Rumpus. In “Bad Feminist,” she similarly draws attention to the representation of black lives both on screen and on page. Gay also is recognized as the first black woman to ever write for Marvel in the “Black Panther” comic series titled “World of Wakanda,” in which she began to incorporate black gay women into the comic sphere.
In 2017, Gay will release her highly anticipated memoir, “Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body,” which chronicles her experience with weight and body image, as well as a collection of short stories titled “Difficult Women.”
Gay is a contributing opinion writer for The New York Times, was coeditor of the online literary magazine PANK and founder of Tiny Hardcore Press. An associate professor of English at Purdue University, she emphasizes the importance of media literacy and cultural criticism.
Gay will speak at 7 p.m. in the College’s Wentz Concert Hall at the Fine Arts Center, 171 E. Chicago Ave. Tickets are free to the North Central community and $5/person to the public; call 630-637-7469 or visit northcentralcollege.edu/showtix.
In 1960, King spoke to an audience of North Central students when he visited campus. Since then, the College honors and remembers his visit each year with a keynote presentation, musical tributes, a prayer breakfast and selected activities.
At the event, Anderson’s Bookshops will have copies of Gay’s book, “Difficult Women” released Jan. 3, available for purchase and signing by the author at the end of her talk.
This MLK event is partially sponsored by Nicor Gas, the College’s offices of Multicultural Affairs and Ministry and Service, Cultural Events, Student Governing Association and Residence Life. For more information contact the Office of Multicultural Affairs at 630-637-5156.
By Stephanie Passialis ’17