**PLEASE NOTE THIS IS A VIRTUAL PROGRAM THAT WILL TAKE PLACE VIA ZOOM. Registrants will receive a link to access the Zoom Webinar via email.** 

In 1998, Matthew Shepard was kidnapped, robbed, beaten, and murdered in Laramie, Wyoming. Lesléa Newman was the keynote speaker for Gay Awareness Week at the University of Wyoming that year, and arrived on campus the day that Matthew Shepard died from this horrendous hate crime. She spoke to a devastated campus and community, and vowed to work to erase hate from that day forward. Her book, October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard, explores the impact of Matt’s murder in poetry. This powerful presentation will explore the impact of Matthew Shepard's murder on the world and challenges audience members to look deep inside themselves and find a way to make a difference to create a safe world for everyone.

Lesléa Newman, the author of 85 books for readers of all ages, has received many literary awards, including creative writing fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Massachusetts Artists Foundation, two National Jewish Book Awards, two American Library Association Stonewall Honors, and the Massachusetts Book Award. She is also a popular guest lecturer, and has spoken on college campuses across the country including Harvard University and Yale University. Newman has taught fiction writing at Clark University and currently she is a faculty mentor at Spalding University’s Naslund-Mann Graduate School of Writing.

Register directly on Zoom HERE. Sponsored by a grant from Beth Israel Lahey Health Winchester ("Building LGBTQIA+ Community Visibility & Resilience").

RECORDING NOTE: This program will be recorded. All registrants will receive the recording via email within 48 hours of the program.

ACCESSIBILITY NOTE: The Tewksbury Public Library does not discriminate on the basis of disability and is committed to providing a reasonable modification to participate in our events, services or documentation. Contact Director Diane Giarrusso at 978-640-4490 or dgiarrusso@tewksbury-ma.gov at least two weeks before an event to arrange for modification, or at any time you need accessible documents.