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Writer and activist Staceyann Chin will be the keynote speaker for ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½¹ÙÍø's celebration of National Coming Out Day. Chin's latest book, Crossfire: A Litany for Survival, was published by Haymarket Books this fall.

On Oct. 10 at 6:45 P.M. in Rue Auditorium (Sweigart 115). Books will be for sale in Sweigart Hall's atrium lobby beginning at 6:00 P.M., and a book signing will follow the event, which is free and open to the public.

Chin is a Jamaican-born writer and activist best known as a co-writer and original performer in Russell Simmons’ Tony Award-winning Def Poetry Jam on Broadway, for which she received a 2003 Drama Desk award. She is currently the Poet-in-Residence at The Culture Project. She has spoken and performed at universities across the country including New York University, Princeton University, Harvard University, Cornell University and Yale University. She has also had her work featured around the world, including in Sweden, London, Denmark, Germany, New Zealand, and Jamaica.

ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½¹ÙÍø's Center for Diversity and Inclusion is sponsoring the event in collaboration with SPECTRUM Pride Alliance and the Gender and Sexuality Studies program.

Chin’s first one-woman show, Hands Afire, ran for 10 weeks in 2000 at the Bleecker Theater, where she also performed her second show, Unspeakable Things, in 2001. In 2005, her show Border/Clash opened to rave reviews from The New York Times and ran for three months.

In 2009, Scribner published her memoir, The Other Side of Paradise. Her poetry and other writing has been featured in many publications and anthologies. Chin is the author of MotherStruck!, which opened at the Lynn Redgrave Theater at Culture Project. The Off-Broadway show was directed by Cynthia Nixon. Chin was the recipient of the 2009 New York State Senate Special Human Rights Award, among many other awards and recognitions.

National Coming Out Day is an annual celebration observed on Oct. 11 for coming out as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ), or as an ally.