Andrew Solomon – Keynote Speaker

Andrew Solomon is a writer of remarkable talent and intellect. His books and essays explore the subjects of politics, culture and psychology with extraordinary humanity.

He received the National Book Award for The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression. The book was also a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and was a worldwide bestseller published in more than twenty languages. It is widely considered the definitive text on depression.

Acclaimed as a revolutionary feat of journalism, Far From the Tree: Parents, Children & the Search for Identity, is an examination of the means by which families accommodate children with physical, mental and social disabilities and how these unusual situations can be invested with love. Solomon spent ten years researching the book, interviewing more than 300 families and generating more than 40,000 pages of notes! NPR called the book “a work of genius” and Vanity Fair said, “Andrew Solomon’s empathy, heart, and vast intelligence are in abundance in Far from the Tree.” His latest book is a collection of essays examining his years of international travel titled Far and Away.

A regular contributor to NPR, The New York Times and many other publications, Solomon is an outspoken activist and philanthropist for many causes in LGBT rights, mental health, education and the arts. He is the founder of the Solomon Research Fellowships in LGBT Studies at Yale University and is a Professor of Clinical Psychology at Columbia University. He holds a Ph.D. degree in Psychology from Jesus College, Cambridge and currently is the President of PEN American Center.