Award-winning author Sue William Silverman's first memoir, "Because I Remember Terror, Father, I Remember You," struck such a chord with readers that it is now in its sixth printing.

Silverman's memoir details the sexual abuse of the author by her father, a high-ranking government official and successful banker. Exploring the inner contours of a family in crisis, Silverman shows how their situation persisted for so long and how the ordeal colored and controlled her life well into adulthood.

Silverman will read from "Because I Remember Terror," a second memoir "Love Sick: One Woman's Journey Through Sexual Addiction" and her poetry collection "Hieroglyphics and Neon" as part of Claflin University's celebration of Women's History Month.

The reading, which will be followed by a question-and-answer session and book signing, will be held at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 18, in the Orange and Maroon Room on the school's campus. Claflin University's Department of English and Foreign Languages is sponsoring the event, which is free and open to the public.

"When people ask me what I write about, I have to be honest and say that I write about dark topics. But I don't write to be sensational," Silverman said. "Even though my subject matter deals with child abuse and addiction, my interest is in how language transforms experience so that we can understand these kinds of issues and, hopefully, see a way through them. Looking away from a painful experience just makes it worse.

"When I read from my memoirs, and answer audience questions, my hope is that there's something in my presentation that will help others to find the same faith in language -- and in breaking silences -- that helped me to discover the true story of my life."

She is featured in the award-winning documentary "Pursuit of Pleasure," and her memoir "Love Sick" was made into a 2008 Lifetime television movie of the same name.

Her new book, "Fearless Confessions: A Writer's Guide to Memoir," about the craft of writing, marketing and publication advice, as well as the emotional concerns faced in telling family secrets, will be published in June 2009.

Silverman serves as associate editor of "Fourth Genre: Explorations in Nonfiction," and she teaches prose writing at the low-residency Master of Fine Arts in Writing program at the Vermont College of Fine Arts. As a professional speaker and writer, she has appeared on many nationally syndicated radio and TV programs, including "The View" and CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360," among others. Her fiction, essays and poems have appeared in dozens of national publications.

For more information, visit suwilliamsilverman.com.

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