Nationally recognized author Stephanie Land to speak at this year’s Grover Lecture Series

Stephanie Land, author of the bestselling “Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother’s Will to Survive,” will speak at Ohio University at 3 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 22, as part of the College of Health Sciences and Professions’ Grover Lecture Series.

The event is free and open to the public, with students, faculty, staff and the community encouraged to attend. Audience members can attend the event virtually or in person at both Walter Hall and Athens High School. Land’s lecture will be followed by an audience Q&A and panel discussion comprised of community experts and individuals with lived experience discussing topics addressed in the memoir.

“I am thrilled to have Stephanie Land deliver the Grover Lecture this year. I’m also happy to have engaged  so many of our community partners in sharing her experiences with our surrounding community,” said John McCarthy, dean of the College of Health Sciences and Professions. “Ms. Land’s experiences navigating work, higher education, social systems, and poverty and its stigma in the United States speak to everyone involved in this event. As someone who listened to Ms. Land read her audiobook, I have heard the power and sincerity of her voice and hope that as many people as possible will be able to attend.”

Land will explore the realities of poverty in the United States by sharing a first-hand account of her struggles navigating support systems as a single mother and living in a seemingly endless cycle of poverty. At 28, Land dreamed of attending college and becoming a writer; instead, she found herself fleeing a violent partnership that resulted in homelessness for both her and her seven-month-old child. She spent years pulling herself out of poverty working as a maid earning just $9 an hour.

These experiences inspired her memoir, which was listed among the 100 Notable Books of 2019 by the New York Times and served as inspiration for the Netflix series “Maid.”

In partnership with the Grover Lecture Series, Athens County Public Libraries will host a community read-along and will carry an increased number of copies of the book available to borrow.

"Every so often a book comes along that strikes a chord with the community and helps us all understand what our neighbors are going through. ‘Maid’ is clearly one of those books,” said Nick Tepe, director of the Athens County Public Libraries. “The library is happy to respond by sponsoring the community read-along and supporting the Grover Lecture by Stephanie Land."

The Grover Lecture Series is hosted annually by Ohio University College of Health Sciences and Professions to address important health and social issues happening in our communities. The Grover Lecture Series is part of an endowed event series established by the Grover family to address health-related topics.

­The event is presented by the College of Health Sciences and Professions and Athens County Public Libraries. It is sponsored by the Survivor Advocacy Outreach Program, Hocking-Athens-Perry Community Action, My Sister’s Place, Athens HOPE, Stevens Literacy Center and the Athens County Foundation.

For more information visit the Grover Lecture Series website.