Fifth annual Gay in Appalachia event to feature Dorothy Allison

The LGBT faculty-staff caucus at Virginia Tech will host best-selling author Dorothy Allison as the speaker for the 5th annual Gay in Appalachia event on Friday, Sept. 18 at 7 p.m. in the Squires Studio Theatre.

This event is free and open to the public and will be followed by a reception in the Williamsburg Room.

An award-winning editor for Quest, Conditions, and Outlook – early feminist and lesbian/gay journals, Allison received mainstream recognition for her novel Bastard Out of Carolina, a finalist for the 1992 National Book Award. That national best seller was also an award-winning movie with the book translated into more than a dozen languages. Allison's Cavedweller became a New York Times notable book of the year in 1998 and was adapted to both stage and cinema.

Allison, a renowned speaker, is currently serving as The McGee Professor and writer-in-residence at Davidson College. She will guest lecture in two classes and meet with various students and community members during her campus visit. Although she now calls California home, the Greenville, S.C., native will undoubtedly refer to her Appalachian roots as she presents a guest lecture on resiliency to the greater Blacksburg community.

Gay in Appalachia has received campus-wide support and is sponsored by the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, the Office of Equity and Inclusion, the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs, Office for Multicultural Programs and Services, Office of Graduate Recruiting and Diversity Initiatives, the Department of English, the Women's Center, and the Women's and Gender Studies Program. It was also selected for a Women and Minority Artists and Scholars Lecture Series grant.

Free parking is available in the Squires Lot, located at the corner of College Avenue and Otey Street, or the Shultz Hall Lot, located off Alumni Drive near the North Main Street campus entrance. Find more parking information online or call (540) 231-3200.