“PRECIOUS" - Based on the Novel "PUSH" by Sapphire - Free Movie Screening, Conversation with Author April 28, 2010

Pace University Media Alert

Wednesday, April 28, 2010 - NYC Campus

From "PUSH" (New York Times bestseller) to "PRECIOUS" (Oscar/Golden Globe/SAG nominated & award winning film, including “Best Picture”): An Evening with Sapphire

"PRECIOUS" Movie Screening at 6 pm; Conversation with “PUSH” author, Sapphire, at 8 pm; Book Signing
Free & open to the general public; First-come, first-serve basis.

Who: Sapphire is the author of Push, the story of an overweight, African-American teenage mother named Claireece “Precious” Jones, who endures physical, sexual and emotional abuse at the hands of her parents. But when Precious, pregnant with a second child by her father, meets a determined and radical teacher, we follow her on a journey of education and enlightenment as she learns not only how to write about her life, but how to make it truly her own for the first time.

"PUSH" won the Book-of-the-Month Club Stephen Crane award for First Fiction, the Black Caucus of the American Library Association's First Novelist Award, and, in Great Britain, the Mind Book of the Year Award. Push was nominated for an NAACP Image Award in the category of Outstanding Literary Work of Fiction. The book became a New York Times bestseller and was named by the Village Voice and Time Out New York as one of the Top 10 books of 1996.

"PUSH" was later turned into the Lee Daniels’ film, "PRECIOUS," with a cast that features the debutant Gabourey Sidibe as the title character, and Mariah Carey, Mo'Nique, Paula Patton and Lenny Kravitz.

Sapphire also authored "AMERICAN DREAMS," a collection of poetry that was cited by Publisher's Weekly as "one of the strongest debut collections of the 1990s." Her poems and other works have been published in The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, The New York Times Book Review and Spin. About her most recent book of poetry Poet's and Writer's Magazine wrote, "With her soul on the line in each verse, her latest collection, "BLACK WINGS & BLIND ANGELS," retains Sapphire's incendiary power to win hearts and singe minds."

What: "PRECIOUS" Screening, shown in its entirety (trailer preview: www.weareallprecious.com) at 6 pm, Conversation with Sapphire at 8 pm and Book Signing. Admission is on a first-come, first-serve basis.

When: Wednesday, April 28, 2010, 6 pm – 10 pm

Where: Pace University/East of City Hall, One Pace Plaza, Student Union – B Level, New York, NY 10038.
Directions: http://www.pace.edu/pace/about-us/all-about-pace/directions-to-all-campuses/new-york-city-campus

Pace Office of Multicultural Affairs/Event Sponsor: Denise Belen Santiago, 212-346-1546 or dsantiago@pace.edu ; Melanie Robles, 212-346-1261 or mrobles@pace.edu

Official Website: http://www.pace.edu