English Department to Host Wilkes Alum and Guest Artist Leah Vernon on March 20

by Kelly Clisham
photo of leah vernon in a lime green turtleneck and fuschia head wrap

The Wilkes University English Department, as part of its Allan Hamilton Dickson Spring Writers Series, will host a reading by guest artist Leah Vernon at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, March 20, in the Kirby Hall Salon. 

Vernon, also known as Leah V, is an international plus-size Hijabi model, award-winning author, inclusive content creator, body-positive activist and inclusion consultant. Her content has garnered over four million views combined and her face has been plastered on billboards in Times Square.

She’s a Rothschild Fellow and Movers and Makers Awardee, and was shortlisted for the Alpine Fellowship. Vernon has been featured in hundreds of media outlets including The New York Times and Buzzfeed.

Vernon earned her master of fine arts degree in creative writing from Wilkes University. She tells her story in the memoir Unashamed: Musings of a Fat, Black Muslim and explores futuristic fiction in her dystopian novels The Union and The Dissent.

The evening with Leah Vernon will include a reading and book signing. The event is free and open to the public.

Wilkes will conclude this year’s Allan Hamilton Dickson Spring Writers Series with a reading by Daniel Torday at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, April 10. For more information, visit wilkes.edu/dickson.

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