Free Forums 2013-14

On Friday evening, February 8th, bestselling author and award-winning journalist Solomon Jones will give a talk at Arcadia University entitled “True Lies: Confessions of a Daily News Novelist.”The talk will explain how Jones takes advantage of what he learns as a reporter to inform his fiction, and how writers in any genre can combine observations of real life to enhance their craft. Solomon’s presentation is sponsored by the Arcadia Master of Fine Arts program and the Philadelphia Writers Conference Free Forum program.

The event will be held in the Rose Room at Grey Towers Castle on the Arcadia University campus, 450 S. Easton Rd, Glenside, PA. Refreshments will be served at 7 PM and the presentation will begin at 7:30 pm.

Solomon Jones is an Essence bestselling author and award-winning journalist who has been featured nationally on NPR’s Morning Edition, CNN Headline News, in Essence magazine, and in a Verizon advertising campaign called Realize, which spotlighted entrepreneurs who overcame adversity to succeed.

Jones created Words on the Street, which partners educational, corporate, non-profit, and media entities to impact literacy through the power of writing. An instructor at the Philadelphia School District’s Parent University, Jones has served as spokesman for the district’s Read for Your Life program, served on the board of the Philadelphia Committee to End Homelessness, visited each of Philadelphia’s municipal prisons to promote reading, and served on the Community Advisory Board of The Doe Fund, an organization that helps homeless men reclaim their lives. Jones has also taught creative writing at Temple University, and currently serves as Community Outreach Director for Congressman Chaka Fattah.

He began his professional writing career in 1993, penning articles for the Philadelphia Tribune while living at the Ridge Avenue Shelter. He graduated cum laude with a journalism B.A. from Temple University in 1997, and went on to be published in Essence, Newsday, the Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Magazine, and the Philadelphia Weekly. His first novel, Pipe Dream, was published in 2001 by Random House. His subsequent novels include The Bridge, Ride or Die, Cream, Payback, The Last Confession, and The Gravedigger’s Ball. His eighth novel, The Dead Man’s Wife, was published in October 2012 by St. Martin’s Press.

For more information please contact Prof. Joshua Isard via email (isardj@arcadia.edu), or by phone (267-620-4886).