In novels including Go Tell It on the Mountain and Another Country, and essay collections such as The Fire Next Time, writer James Baldwin grappled directly with the most painful truths of the African American experience. By turns gentle and ferocious, personal and political, Baldwin’s work addresses not only race but religion, economic disparity, family, and the then-taboo subject of gay life. And with Moonlight director Barry Jenkins’ new adaptation of If Beale Street Could Talk in theaters, it’s clear that Baldwin reflects the beauty and barbarism in American life more than ever.
Hosted by Lisa Lucas, from the National Book Foundation, Selected Shorts honors one of the most influential and groundbreaking writers of our time. This evening will feature a wide range of material from Baldwin’s works delivered by a coterie of Shorts actors including Nathan Hinton (Madam Secretary), Joe Morton (Scandal), Carra Patterson (Straight Outta Compton), Anthony Rapp (Star Trek: Discovery), and Charlayne Woodard (Pose).
In partnership with the National Book Foundation’s new initiative, Author in Focus.