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[Update] Playwright Tony Kushner Talk Tonight Cancelled

[Update: The Sanford School announced that Tony Kushner has cancelled his talk scheduled for Nov. 17.]

Playwright Tony Kushner will speak at 5:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 17, in Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy. The event is free and open to the public.Kushner, the author of “Angels in America,” will deliver the 2014 Crown Lecture in Ethics, “A Conversation About Art and Politics,” in discussion with professor Philip Bennett, director of Duke's DeWitt Wallace Center for Media and Democracy. Tickets are not required but seating will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.Kushner's plays give voice to the powerless and marginalized: a drag queen dying of AIDS, an uneducated Southern maid, contemporary Afghans. He has written two screenplays for Steven Spielberg, “Munich” and “Lincoln.” The latter was nominated for an Academy Award. His most recent play, “The Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures,” is a family drama that grapples with themes of suicide, the decline of unions and social justice.Raised in Louisiana, Kushner calls himself “a man of the left” and is an outspoken advocate for gay rights and progressive politics. “I believe that politics is also the art of the miraculous,” he said in an interview in The Santa Barbara Independent. In 2013, he received the National Medal of the Arts. Kushner has also won a Pulitzer Prize, two Tony Awards, an Emmy and numerous other awards for his work.  “Tony Kushner has woven politics into his art and brought the clarifying language of poetry to politics,” Bennett said. "As a provocateur, social critic and moral conscience he’s been an evangelist not just for progressive causes, but for the cause of American democracy. A powerful call for active citizenship runs through his work. "Bennett is the Eugene C. Patterson Professor of the Practice of Journalism and Public Policy at Duke. Previously, Bennett was the managing editor of "FRONTLINE," the PBS public affairs documentary program, and the managing editor of The Washington Post. The Crown Lecture in Ethics, named for benefactor Lester Crown, brings speakers to Duke to explore ethical issues across all disciplines. Previous Crown lecturers include Rwandan Paul Rusesabagina, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and conservationist Jared Diamond, Nobel Peace Prize-winner Jody Williams and award-winning science writer Rebecca Skloot.Event parking is available in the Science Drive Visitors Lot.