Pulitzer Prize Winning Author to Speak on The Working Poor

Photo Submitted

David K. Shipler, author of The Working Poor.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – David K. Shipler – journalist, Pulitzer Prize winner and best- selling author of The Working Poor: Invisible in America – will discuss his book during a free public lecture at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 25, in the Verizon Ballroom of the Arkansas Union at the University of Arkansas. A question and answer session and book signing will follow the lecture.

The lecture is the final public event in this year’s “One Book, One Community” project. This is the fourth year of the university and community project.

The Working Poor was chosen by the university One Book, One Community committee as the book to be read and discussed by the U of A and Northwest Arkansas communities. Students taking freshman composition courses have been assigned to read the book, and a number of faculty members have made it a part of their curriculum, particularly in sociology courses. The Working Poor is also being read by students at Fayetteville High School and many of the local book clubs in Northwest Arkansas. More than a dozen events have been organized this month, on campus and in the community, to explore issues of poverty raised by the book.

“The committee wanted a book that would be relevant in this election year,” said Kevin Fitzpatrick, co-chair of the One Book, One Community committee. “We knew the economy would be a major issue, and were looking for a book that could help put a human face on the economic debate. The response has been excellent on campus and around the community, and I know many people are looking forward to hearing David Shipler speak.”

David Shipler worked as a New York Times correspondent before writing several bestselling books, including Arab and Jew: Wounded Spirits in a Promised Land, which won the 1987 Pulitzer Prize for general nonfiction. He has recently written two books on the subject of civil liberties and currently is the author of The Shipler Report blog.