Newswise — In his forthcoming book, "Poor Things," Lennard Davis, a distinguished professor of liberal arts and sciences at the University of Illinois Chicago, writes that distorted narratives of poverty written by and for the middle and upper classes create harmful and dangerous stereotypes that build barriers to social justice and change. Davis, who labels this literary genre “poornography,” is available to discuss how political candidates, the media and others talk about poverty and the American working class.