Livingstone College News Service

New York Times bestselling author Kimberla Lawson Roby will deliver the keynote address at Livingstone College’s annual Katharine W. Osborne Women in History Brunch on Friday. The event begins at 11:30 a.m. and is being held at the institution’s Hospitality Management & Culinary Arts facility, 530 Jake Alexander Blvd. S.

Cost is $30 per person.

The brunch is held in memory of Osborne, a longtime friend and supporter of Livingstone College and the United Negro College Fund. She started the Women in History celebration because she wanted to expose students to the many and varied accomplishments of women.

During the brunch, a special tribute will be given in memory of Osborne and of Elizabeth P. Fields, a member of the Livingstone College Class of 1967 and the first alumni sponsor after Osborne’s death.

The public is invited to attend the brunch, and women are encouraged to wear their spring hats. All proceeds benefit UNCF.

Roby, an accomplished writer and speaker, was the 2013 winner of the Female Author of the Year Award presented by the African-American Literary Award Show in New York. She also won the Female Author of the Year Award in 2011, 2010, 2009, 2007 and 2006. In 2014, she was nominated for an Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work – Fiction, by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, an award she won the previous year in 2013.

Additionally, Roby has won the 2014 African-Americans on the Move Book Club (AAMBC) Award for Female Author of the Year, and numerous other awards.

Roby’s novels deal with very real issues, including corruption within the church, drug and gambling addiction, infidelity, social status, single motherhood, infertility, sibling rivalry and jealousy, domestic violence, sexual abuse, mental illness, caregiving of a parent, racial and gender discrimination in the workplace, sexual harassment and obesity.

Roby resides in Illinois with her husband, Will. Her 22^nd book, “The Ultimate Betrayal,” will be released on June 9.