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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.