Nikole Hannah-Jones of 1619 Project to speak at UNCW Writers' Week
The Pulitzer Prize-winning primary author of The New York Times' "1619 Project" will be the keynote speaker Tuesday at the University of North Carolina Wilmington's Writers Week.
At 7:30 p.m. Nov. 2 in Kenan Auditorium on the UNCW campus, Nikole Hannah-Jones will join in a conversation with Wilmington-based author John Jeremiah Sullivan ("Blood Horses." "Pulphead"). Sullivan is also the co-founder of the Third Person Project, a nonprofit research group focused on social justice initiatives.
Admission is free, but attendees must register in advance for tickets. Those interested may also view the program virtually. For complete details, visit UNCW.edu/writersweek/.
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Also on the Writers' Week schedule is Mexican-American author Sandra Cisneros, author of The New York Times best-selling novel "The House on Mango Street." Cisneros will join in a panel discussion at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 4, on how writers use their life experiences. Admission is also free, and those interested may attend virtually.
Hannah-Jones, who earned a master's degree in journalism from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1994, wrote for the Raleigh News & Observer, the Portland Oregonian and the news site ProPublica before joining The New York Times in 2015.
In 2019, she launched the 1619 Project, a multi-part series examining the continuing impact of slavery on the United States. In 1619, the first enslaved Africans were delivered to Jamestown, Virginia.
Although criticized on some points by some historians, Hannah-Jones was awarded the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Commentary for the package.
In April 2021, Hannah-Jones was named to the Knight Chair in Race and Investigative Journalism at UNC's Hussman School of Journalism and Media. University trustees, however, initially declined to approve tenure for Hannah-Jones. The trustees reversed themselves after protests from Chapel Hill students and professors. Hannah-Jones, however, chose to accept a tenured professorship at Howard University.
The two talks are part of a week of readings, panel discussions, craft workshops and other events around campus sponsored by the UNCW creative writing department.
Among the notable events will be "The Story of the Story" with UNCW faculty members Wendy Brenner, Clyde Edgerton, Anna Lena Phillips Bell, Michael White and Nina de Gramont. De Gramont's latest novel, "The Christie Affair," inspired by mystery writer Agatha Christie's 1926 disappearance, is due out in February from St. Martin's Press, and has already received a starred review in Kirkus Reviews.
Masks will be required at all indoor programs.
For a complete Writers' Week schedule or more information, visit UNCW.edu/writersweek or call the creative writing department at 910-962-7063.
UNCW poet wins prize
Wilmington writer Sophia Stid has received the 2022 Sally Buckner Emerging Writers Fellowship, presented by the N.C. Writers' Network..
Stid is a postgraduate fellow in UNCW's creative writing department, where she teaches and is associate editor for the literary magazine Ecotone.
The fellowship brings a $500 stipend plus full scholarship to fall and spring conferences held by the Writers' Network. The award honors the memory of Sally Buckner, a poet and longtime faculty member at Peace College in Raleigh.
A North Carolina native, Stid graduated from Georgetown University and earned an MFA degree from Vanderbilt University, where she received the Sedberry Prize for poetry. Her work has appeared in Pleiades, Best New Poems 2020 and Poetry Daily.
'Wilmington's Lie'
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Zucchino will discuss his book "Wilmington's Lie: The Murderous Coup of 1898 and the Rise of White Supremacy" at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 9, at Wilmington's First Baptist Church, 411 Market St. A book signing will follow at the Bellamy Mansion Museum.
More:Commemorating 1898 massacre: Wilmington, New Hanover County announces slate of events
The program is sponsored by the Bellamy Mansion. Admission is free, although a $10 donation at the door is suggested. Attendees must register in advance. To pre-register, please email cgonzalez@bellamymansion.org. Masks will be required.
Ben Steelman can be contacted at 910-616-1788 or peacebsteeloman@gmail.com.