The third annual reading initiative Atlanta Reads brings “What Looks Like Crazy On An Ordinary Day” author Pearl Cleage. Pearl will make appearances in Atlanta including the Woodruff Park Reading Room. Mayor Franklin’s city-wide reading initiative culminates with Atlanta Reads Week August 30 – September 5, when the featured author, Pearl Cleage, will appear at events across the Atlanta area.

The author will appear in Woodruff Park at noon on September 2, 2008 in the Reading Room, located on the north end of the park.

Other appearances include:

• Saturday, August 30 – The AJC Decatur Book Festival
• Tuesday, September 2 – Woodruff Park & Atlanta Public Library events
• Wednesday, September 3 – Alliance Theatre Event Novel vs. Plays
• Thursday, September 4 – Atlanta Public School Event – The Cultural Experience Project
• Friday, September 5 – Reading & Book signing at Emory University

Atlanta Reads is an annual civic project developed to bring together the various communities of Atlanta through a series of encounters that will nurture an ethic of engagement with ideas while strengthening the ties that exist between our communities. Through the reading of a common book (fiction or nonfiction) Atlantans are provided with a perspective of their place in history, and national & world affairs. ATL Reads strives to encourage the development of a thinking, reflective citizenry better prepared to address the opportunities and challenges of our city.

“We are delighted to announce one of our own Pearl Cleage as the featured author for this year’s Atlanta Reads program,” says Camille Russell Love, Director of the Office of Cultural Affairs. “Her critically acclaimed novel “What Looks Like Crazy On An Ordinary Day” addresses relevant social issues that people of all ages are dealing with daily.

As the third year of this initiative begins, we’re delighted to feature the selected author, playwright, essayist, and columnist Pearl Cleage,” said Steering Committee member Dr. Rudolph P. Byrd. “We invite everyone to join us to share in a provocative dialogue taking place all over the Atlanta that supports the importance of literacy and raises awareness among diverse communities in Atlanta,” concluded Dr. Byrd.

Pearl Cleage is an Atlanta based writer whose work has won commercial acceptance and critical praise in several genres. An award winning playwright whose Flyin' West was the most produced new play in the country in 1994, Pearl is also a bestselling author whose first novel, What Looks Like Crazy On An Ordinary Day, was an Oprah Book Club pick and spent nine weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. Her subsequent novels have been consistent best sellers and perennial book club favorites. I Wish I Had A Red Dress, her second novel, won multiple book club awards in 2001. Some Things I Never Thought I'd Do, was a "Good Morning America!" book club pick in 2003, and Babylon Sisters made the ESSENCE Magazine best seller list in 2005. Her most recent novel, Baby Brother's Blues, was the first pick of the new ESSENCE Book Club and an NAACP Image Award winner for fiction in 2007. In the March 2007 issue of ESSENCE, Pearl had two books on the best seller list, Baby Brother's Blues and We Speak Your Names, a poetic celebration commissioned by Oprah Winfrey and co-authored with her husband, writer Zaron W. Burnett, Jr. The poem was also an NAACP Image Award nominee in 2007. Pearl was a popular columnist with The Atlanta Tribune for ten years and has contributed as a free lance writer to ESSENCE, Ms., Rap Pages, VIBE and Ebony.

Her recent play, A Song for Coretta, played to sold out audiences during its Atlanta premiere in February of 2007 and will be produced at Atlanta's Seven Stages Theatre in February of 2008 in preparation for a national tour.

As another component of the program’s outreach, 2,700 Atlanta Public School high school seniors will receive free copies of the selected book and participate in the Cultural Experience Project event on September 5, 2008.

Atlanta Reads is produced by the City of Atlanta Office of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System, Emory University, Spelman University, Alliance Theatre, Central Atlanta Progress, Atlanta Public School System, AJC Decatur Book Festival, and sponsored in part by Coca Cola.

The City of Atlanta Office of Cultural Affairs (OCA), a division of the Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs, was established in 1974 to encourage and support Atlanta's cultural resources. The Office seeks to support programs that educate and expose the public to a rich and diverse range of cultural expression and aspires to make arts available to everyone. For more information, contact Camille Russell Love, Director, at 404-817-7957 or visit our website at www.ocaatlanta.com.