Lorene Cary
Biography of Lorene Cary
Lorene Cary was graduated from St. Paul’s School in 1974
and received B.A. and M.A. degrees from the University of Pennsylvania in
1978. She won a Thouron Fellowship for British-U.S. student exchange and
studied at Sussex University. She has received Doctorates in Humane Letters
from Colby College in Maine, Keene State College in New Hampshire, Chestnut
Hill College in Philadelphia, Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pa., and
Arcadia University in Glenside, Pa.
In 1998 Lorene Cary founded Art Sanctuary, a unique non-profit lecture and
performance series that brings black thinkers and artists to speak and
perform at the Church of the Advocate, a National Historic Landmark Building
in North Philadelphia; a diverse audience of 10,000 participates each year.
Currently a senior lecturer in creative writing at the University of
Pennsylvania, where she was a 1998 recipient of the Provost’s Award for
Distinguished Teaching, Cary has lectured throughout the U.S. She began
writing as an apprentice at Time in 1980, then worked as an Associate Editor
at TV Guide, served as Contributing Editor for Newsweek in 1993 and
freelanced for such publications as Essence, O Magazine, and Mirabella .
In 2003, Cary received the Philadelphia Award, a Philadelphia Historical
Society Founder’s Medal for History in Culture; in 1999. She’s received
writing fellowships from Pew Fellowship in the Arts Fellowship and the
Leeway Foundation and residencies at Yaddo and Civitella Ranieri Foundation
in Italy. She serves on the usage Panel for The American Heritage Dictionary
and the Union Benevolent Association board. Cary is a member of PEN and the
Author’s Guild. She lives in Philadelphia with her husband, Robert C. Smith,
and daughters Laura and Zoe.
Philadelphia Mayor Nutter on Oct 10th, 2011 named Lorene Cary to the five-member governing body of the Philadelphia School District - a group dogged by controversy in recent months for backroom deals and a $629 million budget gap.
Learn more at Lorene Cary’s official website.
