Interview with Literary Consultant & Author, Patrick Oliver

Patrick Oliver is a program manager and literary consultant dedicated to promoting reading and writing as tools of empowerment. Through a variety of innovative projects Oliver engages children, youth and adults in activities such as writing workshops, author talks, book discussions, professional development sessions and community forums.
Creator, executive producer and host of Literary Nation Talk Radio a live weekly broadcast on KABF FM 88.3 with past guest such as Marian Wright Edelman, Common, Hill Harper, Sonia Sanchez, Susan Taylor and numerous others.

He is publisher and editor of the Essence Magazine best-selling anthology Turn the Page and You Don’t Stop: Sharing Successful Chapters in Our Lives with Youth. Contributing participant Roundtable Discussion “Featuring Leaders of Poetry Organizations for Kids from Around the United States” in the publication Open the Door: How to Excite Young People About Poetry (McSweeney’s April 2013). His forthcoming book Notes from a Literary Activist is scheduled for April 2014.

Mr. Oliver was Director of Sales and Marketing at Third World Press (Chicago, IL); Program Director for the Open Book Program a citywide after-school reading program (Chicago, IL) and spent over 10 years as a material analyst and senior contract administrator in the defense industry (Los Angeles, CA). He has organized and facilitated panels and workshops for the Association of Writers and Writing Programs, American Library Association, College Language Association, Ohio State University, Princeton University, Congressional Black Caucus Annual Legislative Conference, Harlem Book Fair and numerous other conferences and events.   Visit his website at www.speakloudly.com for more information.