Famed author Colson Whitehead to speak at BAM

September 22, 2016 Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Colson Whitehead. Photo by Madeline Whitehead, courtesy of BAM

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Acclaimed author Colson Whitehead will launch his new book “The Underground Railroad” at BAM Rose Cinema on Sept. 26 as part of Unbound: A Book Launch Series with BAM and Greenlight Bookstore. “The Underground Railroad” — selected for Oprah’s Book Club 2016 and selected by the POTUS as a must read — is a timely book that is relevant to current events in America. The conversation, which will begin at 7 p.m., will be moderated by National Book Foundation’s new executive director, Lisa Lucas.

The book chronicles a young slave’s adventures as she makes a desperate bid for freedom in the antebellum South. While interweaving the saga of America from the brutal importation of Africans to the unfulfilled promises of the present day, “The Underground Railroad” is at once a kinetic tale of one woman’s ferocious will to escape the horrors of bondage and a powerful meditation on the history we all share.

Tickets are $25 (ticket only); $45 (includes book).

Colson Whitehead is the New York Times bestselling author of “The Noble Hustle,” “Zone One,” “Sag Harbor,” “The Intuitionist,” “John Henry Days,” “Apex Hides the Hurt” and the collection of essays, “The Colossus of New York.” A Pulitzer Prize finalist and a recipient of MacArthur and Guggenheim fellowships, he lives in New York City.

Prior to joining the National Book Foundation, Lisa Lucas served as the publisher of Guernica, a nonprofit online magazine focusing on writing that explores the intersection of art and politics with an international and diverse focus. Before that, Lucas served as director of education at the Tribeca Film Institute, on the development team at Steppenwolf Theatre Company, and as a consultant for the Sundance Institute, San Francisco Film Society, the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, and ReelWorks Teen Filmmaking. Lucas also serves on the literary council of the Brooklyn Book Festival.