Bestselling Horror Author Tananarive Due Discusses ‘The Reformatory’ at the Central Library On Wednesday, Nov. 1
release date: October 12, 2023
Gracetown, Florida, June 1950. Twelve-year-old Robbie Stephens Jr. is sentenced to six months at the Gracetown School for Boys for kicking the son of the largest landowner in town in defense of his older sister, Gloria. So begins Robbie’s journey further into the terrors of the Jim Crow South and the very real horror of the school they call The Reformatory.
From 7 p.m. to 8:15 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 1, join The Seattle Public Library to hear bestselling horror author Tananarive Due discuss “The Reformatory,” her first full-length novel in 10 years, at Central Library’s Level 1 Microsoft Auditorium. Due will be in conversation with Seattle speculative fiction author Nisi Shawl. The event is free and open to the public, but registration is required.
In “The Reformatory,” Due pieces together the life of the relative her family never spoke of and brings his tragedy and those of so many others at the infamous Dozier School for Boys to the light. It’s a notable Seattle appearance for the celebrated author, who also has a story in “Out There Screaming,” Jordan Peele’s new anthology of horror (see NPR story on the anthology featuring interviews with Peele and Due).
Partners on the event include Langston Seattle, Elliott Bay Book Company and the Seattle Times. It is supported by The Gary and Connie Kunis Foundation and The Seattle Public Library Foundation.
ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
Tananarive Due (she/her), a leading voice in Black speculative fiction, is the author of 16 books, including “Blood Colony,” “The Living Blood,” “The Good House,” “Joplin’s Ghost” and “Devil’s Wake.” She has won an American Book Award, an NAACP Image Award, and a British Fantasy Award. She is an executive producer on Shudder's groundbreaking documentary “Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror,” and she and her husband/collaborator, Steven Barnes, wrote "A Small Town" for Season 2 of Jordan Peele’s "The Twilight Zone" on Paramount Plus. Due and her late mother, civil rights activist Patricia Stephens Due, co-authored “Freedom in the Family: A Mother-Daughter Memoir of the Fight for Civil Rights.” Due teaches Black Horror and Afrofuturism at UCLA and lives in Atlanta, Georgia. Visit her website at TananariveDue.com.
Nisi Shawl (they/them) is the multiple award-winning author, co-author, and editor of over a dozen books of speculative fiction and related nonfiction, including (with Cynthia Ward) the standard text on diverse representation in literature, "Writing the Other: A Practical Approach.” Shawl’s best-known fiction is the Nebula Award finalist novel "Everfair." Recent books include a new, horror-friendly story collection, "Our Fruiting Bodies,” and the Middle Grade historical fantasy novel "Speculation." Their editing credits include the 2023 anthology "New Suns 2," sequel to the acclaimed "New Suns 1," winner of the Locus, World Fantasy, FIYAH Magazine IGNYTE, and British Fantasy awards. Visit their website at nisishawl.com.
MORE INFORMATION
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