BUFFALO, N.Y. – Bestselling novelist and social commentator Walter Mosley will present the keynote address at the University at Buffalo’s 37th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration Event at 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 28, in the Center for the Arts Mainstage Theatre on the North Campus.

In his work, Mosley has explored the black experience in America over the past seven decades, beginning with the migration of African Americans from the Deep South to his native Los Angeles in the post-World War II era.

The author of more than 35 novels, ranging from crime novels to literary fiction, nonfiction, political essays, young adult books and science fiction, in his work Mosley has created the kind of fully formed, complex black characters that he says have been absent from much of contemporary literature.

The program is being presented as part of UB’s 26th annual Distinguished Speakers Series. Mosley is expected to begin speaking at roughly 8:15 p.m. His topic will be “The Only Race Is the Human Race.”

During the program, audio and/or video photography, as well as still photography, will be limited to the first five minutes of his lecture.

Working media may reserve tickets for the program by contacting Christine Vidal in the UB Office of Communications at 645-4607 or vidal@buffalo.edu no later than noon on Thursday, Feb. 28. Reserved tickets may be picked up at the will-call window in the Center for the Arts prior to the program. Media may need to show press credentials in order to be admitted to the program.