An author and her famous vagina will make an appearance at UCSB Friday night to speak against violence against women.

Eve Ensler, the writer and producer of the Obie-award winning play “The Vagina Monologues,” will give a speech May 2 at 7 p.m. in Campbell Hall. Tickets are $15 for the general public and $10 for students.

“It will be a good opportunity for students to get informed about all the different forms of violence against women,” said Sharon Hoshida, program director of the UCSB Women’s Center.

Ensler’s talk, “Imagining V-World,” will discuss violence against women in different parts of the world. V-World is Ensler’s continuation of the V-Day movement that she started in 1998 to end violence against women. UCSB has seen V-Day in action through the efforts of the Women’s Ensemble Theater Troupe (W.E.T.T.), which has produced performances of “The Vagina Monologues” for three years and hosted events such as the First Annual Vagina Festival this year.

Ensler’s speech is sponsored by UCSB Arts & Lectures, the Women’s Center and the College of Creative Studies. Arts & Lectures has been working to bring Ensler to campus since W.E.T.T’s performances of “The Vagina Monologues” last year.

Ensler said she readily accepted the invitation to speak at UCSB, which has sold out every W.E.T.T. performance of “The Vagina Monologues,” and that she is especially proud to see W.E.T.T.’s organization of V-Day.

“I really admire the efforts of the women at UCSB,” Ensler said. “One out of every three women in the world will be raped or beaten in our lifetime. Violence affects us all.”

V-Day is a movement reclaiming Valentine’s Day as a time to educate people about violence against women. On or around Valentine’s Day, V-Day activists work to rally funds through localized performances of “The Vagina Monologues.” The proceeds are donated to various grassroots organizations helping domestic violence victims.

Ensler decided to write “The Vagina Monolgues” after seeing the effect domestic violence has on women. She based the monologues on interviews with several women from different age, cultural and ethnic backgrounds, asking them about their vaginas.

“I was curious about how women view their vaginas,” Ensler said. ” Vaginas lead very interesting lives.”