Eve Ensler, the award-winning author of "The Vagina Monologues," will speak at 4:30 p.m. on Monday (Sept. 19) in Slayter Auditorium. The Laura C. Harris Fund, Provost Office, the Women's Study Program and Vail are sponsoring her visit. The event is free and open to the public. While she is on campus, Ensler also will participate in two open sessions with students and faculty.

Ensler most recently performed her new play, "The Good Body," on Broadway in New York City. The play addresses why women of all cultures and backgrounds -- whether undergoing Botox injections or living beneath burkhas -- feel compelled to change the way they look in order to fit in, to be accepted, to be good.

"The Vagina Monologues" has been translated into more than 35 languages and has run in theaters all over the world, including sold-out runs at both Off-Broadway's Westside Theater and on London's West End. The play is based on Ensler's interviews with more than 200 women. The piece celebrates women's sexuality and strength.

Ensler's experience performing "The Vagina Monologues" inspired her to create V-Day, a global movement to stop violence against women and girls. Ensler also has written "Necessary Target," a play set in a Bosnian refugee camp, "Conviction," "Lemonade," and "Extraordinary Measures" among other works.

She has received a Guggenheim Fellowship Award in Playwriting, the Berrilla-Kerr Award for Playwriting, the Elliot Norton Award for Outstanding Solo Performance and the Jury Award for Theater at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival. Ensler also won the 2002 Amnesty International Media Spotlight Award for Leadership and The Matrix Award. In 2003, she received an Honorary Doctor of Letters degree from heralma mater, Middlebury College.

Calendar Listing:

CALENDAR LISTING: Denison University, Granville -- A convocation featuring Eve Ensler, author of "The Vagina Monologues," at 4:30 p.m., Monday (Sept. 19), Slayter Auditorium (200 North Road). Free and open to the public. To confirm information call 740-587-6297.

About Denison:

Denison University, founded in 1831, is an independent, residential liberal arts institution located in Granville, Ohio. A highly selective college enrolling 2,100 full-time undergraduate students from all 50 states and dozens of foreign countries, Denison is a place where innovative faculty and motivated students collaborate in rigorous scholarship, civic engagement and the cultivation of independent thinking.

For press inquiries:

Name

Barbara Stambaugh

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Director, Media Relations

Primary Email

stambaughb@denison.edu

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(740) 587-8575