Pearl Cleage, author of the best-selling novel What Looks Like Crazy on
an Ordinary Day, will be the featured guest at the APA Alliance's 21st
anniversary luncheon during APA's 2005 annual meeting in Atlanta.
The luncheon will take place on Tuesday, May 24, at the Capital City Club
at 7 Harris Street NW. The club, at the corner of Peachtree and Harris, is
within walking distance of the Georgia World Congress Center. The event will
begin with a reception at 11 a.m. followed by lunch at noon. Cleage will speak
after lunch.
Cleage's novel tells the story of Ava Johnson, a hairdresser in Atlanta who
learns that she has contracted HIV. She closes her salon and moves back to her
native Idlewood, Mich., where she reunites with her sister, Joyce, who is
working to help pregnant and other troubled teenagers in town. It is there
that she meets and falls in love with Eddie Jefferson, who, like Ava, bears a
secret.
Cleage's newest novel, Babylon Sisters, will be released late next
month. Both books will be available for purchase and signing at the
luncheon.
Pearl Cleage was born in 1948 in Springfield, Mass., and grew up in
Detroit. Her mother was an elementary school teacher, and her father was a
minister who founded his own church. He later became a Black Nationalist and
changed his name to Jaramogi Abebe Agyemen.
Cleage graduated from Spelman College in Atlanta in 1971 and is playwright
in residence there. She is an essayist, poet, and journalist in addition to
being a book author. Her playwriting career began in the 1980s with
productions of "Puppetplay," "Hospice," and"
Good News and Essentials." "Flying West" gained
national attention in 1992 and was followed by "Blues for Alabama
Sky" and "Bourbon at the Border."
The APA Alliance is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization supporting the goals
of APA. It is made up of men and women working together to increase mental
health literacy and eradicate stigma associated with mental illness through
communication, education, and support of legislation.
Those eligible for membership include APA members, spouses/partners and
other family members of APA members, and individuals sponsored by an APA
Alliance or APA member. Membership for members-in-training and their family
members is free. Membership applications may be obtained by visiting the APA
Alliance's Web site at<
www.apaalliance.org>
or e-mailing Angela Poblocki at
Ang3689@aol.com.
The APA Alliance has introduced new pricing for this year's luncheon. The
cost per ticket is $50, with a special price of $32 for members-in-training
and their family members. Additional support can be given by attending at the
silver ($75), gold ($100), or platinum ($150) level; a portion of the ticket
price is tax deductible. Those not able to attend the luncheon are encouraged
to give a tax-deductible gift to the APA Alliance. Participation at any of
these levels will be acknowledged at the luncheon.
The deadline to purchase tickets is May 2; seating is limited.
Tickets may be purchased by e-mail by sending credit card information to
Poblocki at
Ang3689@aol.com
or by sending a check to her at Executive Director, APA Alliance, P.O. Box
285, North Boston, N.Y. 14110. ▪