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Acclaimed author of “Orange is the New Black” to visit Miami

Piper Kerman, pictured above

Author, activist and former prisoner Piper Kerman is speaking at Miami University next week as the first installment of this year's Lecture Series events.

More than a decade ago, Kerman served a year-long sentence in the Danbury Correctional Facility, a women's prison in Connecticut, for a brief brush with drug trafficking in her youth. The experience prompted her to write a memoir, "Orange is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison," which was recently adapted into an original Netflix series by the same name. Both the book and the online series, on its second season now, have gained national attention and wide acclaim.

Kerman's lecture at Miami, entitled "Orange + Black = Gray: Injustice in the Criminal Justice System," will discuss some of the same issues addressed in her memoir. The lecture will be held at 7 p.m. Monday, Sept. 29 in Hall Auditorium. Tickets go on sale tomorrow at Shriver Center box office; there is no charge, but seats are limited.