UCLA's Center for the Art of Performance Presents Piper Kerman in Conversation with Rachel Kushner

UCLA's Center for the Art of Performance (CAP UCLA) presents Piper Kerman in Conversation with Rachel Kushner on Thursday, January 30, 2020, at 8 p.m. at Royce Hall. Tickets starting at $28 are available now at cap.ucla.edu, 310-825-2101 and the Royce Hall box office.

Kerman and Kushner will discuss the challenges incarcerated women face and the serious need for prison reform in America. Kushner thinks of herself as a "girl citizen," asking questions of the world at large. Kerman in six words - in and out of hot water. Both authors are each activists in their own right, bringing a sense of pathos and humanity to the depiction of incarceration.

"Our Words and Ideas series this season focuses on writers in conversation. The act of writing is a solitary practice, as is the act of reading. But when extraordinary writers are given a forum to have a discussion, the results are often illuminating and inspirational," said Meryl Friedman, Director of Education & Special Initiatives. "Piper Kerman and Rachel Kushner are stylistically very different from each other, but both explore the possibilities of redemption, especially when personal choices turn out to have dire consequences. We're so thrilled to welcome Piper and Rachel to CAP UCLA and to engage with them in a passionate discussion."

After spending 15 months in prison for past crimes, Kerman was struck by the stark inequality she encountered. She wrote about her experience in a memoir, Orange Is The New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison, which became a hit television series on Netflix. According to Kerman, those pursued and punished by law enforcement in the U.S. are too often determined by race and class due to the disproportionate amount of police officers in impoverished areas in comparison to middle and upper-class neighborhoods.

In Kushner's book, The Mars Room, she also explores life in a prison. Similar to Kerman, Kushner shows that the media's portrayal of prisoners is not a catch-all and that a neighbor, a friend or someone you know is capable of committing a crime. Kushner uses herself as a basis for one of her characters because the perception of her, like Kerman, is that she doesn't 'look' like a prisoner.
Funds for CAP UCLA Presents Piper Kerman in Conversation with Rachel Kushner is provided in part by the George C. Perkins Fund.