Prolific dramatist Suzan-Lori Parks will offer a talk at Manhattan’s John Jay College of Criminal Justice this afternoon, March 23, at 3:15 PM. Sponsored by the Women’s Studies Committee at John Jay, the event will also feature Parks reading from her work, as well as a post-talk reception and book signing. Women’s Studies department chair Amy Green told Playbill On-Line the idea for the talk was initiated by Professor Holly Hill, who was on the first Village Voice Obie committee to give Parks an Obie Award (for Imperceptible Mutabilities). “[Parks] writes about social systems and injustice,” said Green. “Plus she’s so hip and urban and fresh. The students have been reading her work all semester and went to see In The Blood at the Public in November.”

The event, held in conjunction with Women’s History Month, is free and open to the public. John Jay is located at 899 10th Avenue at 58th Street. Other Parks plays include Venus and The America Play.

-- By David Lefkowitz