In celebration of Black History Month, the CUNY SPS BSU and CIED will host an intimate, in-depth interview with two time Lambda Award Winner and New York Time's best-selling author of PATSY, Nicole Dennis-Benn. PATSY has been named Best Book of the Year by Kirkus Reviews, TIME, NPR, PEOPLE Magazine, Washington Post, Apple Books, Oprah Magazine, The Guardian, Goodhousekeeping, BuzzFeed, ELLE, among others.

The interview will discuss her journey as a writer who has received so much notoriety as well as her ability to write about controversial issues such as sexuality in a homophobic society such as Jamaica. We will highlight what inspired her, her obstacles and her tenacity to push through her obstacles. We are also investigating how students can purchase discounted copies of her book.

Dennis-Benn was born and raised in Kingston, Jamaica. She is a graduate of St. Andrew High School for Girls and Cornell University; and holds a Master of Public Health from the University of Michigan and an MFA in Creative Writing from Sarah Lawrence College. Dennis-Benn is the founder of the Stuyvesant Writing Workshop and lives with her wife in Brooklyn, New York.