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Isobel Coleman to Speak at Darien Library

On Sunday, October 24 at 5:30 p.m., Isobel Coleman, author of Paradise Beneath Her Feet: How Women are Transforming the Middle East, will be the featured speaker at the Annual Meeting of the Friends of Darien Library. Ms. Coleman is Senior Fellow for U.S. Policy on Foreign Relations in New York, where she focuses on the Middle East and South Asia. Her areas of expertise include democratization, civil society, economic development, regional gender issues, educational reform, and microfinance. Her writings have appeared in Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, The Washington Post, Financial Times, International Herald Tribune, USA Today, Christian Science Monitor, and online venues such as the Huffington Post. She is a frequent speaker at academic, business, and policy conferences. In 2010, she is also serving as a track leader for the Clinton Global Initiative.

Reviews for Paradise Beneath Her Feet:

"Mercifully, Coleman...offers this engrossing portrait of real Muslim women that reveals how Islamic feminists are successfully arguing that gender inequality is contrary to both Islamic spirit and law." -- Publishers Weekly

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"...portrays feminist struggles in five rather different countries: Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq. Coleman uses biographical vignettes to demonstrate how some Muslim women are advancing their rights without rejecting their religious traditions." -- Library Journal

Preceding the presentation, election of officers and new trustee nominations for the year 2010/2011 will take place. Learn about the year's developments at Darien Library from James F. Clark, President of the Board, and Louise Berry, Director of the Library.

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A reception and book signing will follow the author presentation. Books will be available for purchase.

Darien Library is located at 1441 Post Road, Darien, Conn. For more information, visit darienlibrary.org or call 203-655-1234.

Additional parking for evening and weekend Library programs on Thorndal Circle (behind Nielsen's).

(Images attached: Headshot of Isobel Coleman; cover of "Paradise Beneath Her Feet")

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