Join us in April for three new author talk presentations! Begin the month with Smithsonian Curator Paula J. Johnson and a discussion about American Table: The Foods, People, and Innovations That Feed Us. Additionally, we will host our first-ever two author event with Colum McCann and Diane Foley as they talk about American Mother. Finally, Xochitl Gonzalez will join us to chat about her new book Anita de Monte Laughs Last.Â
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Events are live streamed and include a one-hour interview, followed by a Q&A consisting of questions prepared by the moderator and questions submitted by participants before and during the event.
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Paula J. Johnson
Tuesday, April 2 | 2-3 p.m.
Virtually step into the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History with Curator Paula Johnson as she discusses the book Smithsonian American Table: The Foods, People, and Innovations That Feed Us.
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American Table is a sweeping history of food and culture that summons everyone to the table for a fresh look at some of the people, ingredients, events, and movements that have shaped how and what we eat. Johnson, curator and project director of the American Food History Project, will discuss several stories featured in the volume, with an emphasis on those that intersect most directly with the Smithsonian’s research, collecting, and programming around food history.
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After this enlightening, enriching, and entertaining webinar, you can cook your way through the recipes that are featured in the volume that reflect American history and culture. Â
Colum McCann & Diane Foley
Tuesday, April 9 | 2-3 p.m.
Join us for a one-of-a-kind conversation with National Book Award-winner Colum McCann as he is joined by Diane Foley, the inspiration behind the heartrending book American Mother.
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American Mother is the story of a mother who, in the course of confronting her son’s killer, gets to the elemental heart of violence and forgiveness. Diane Foley is the mother of Jim, a freelance journalist captured and beheaded by ISIS in 2014, an image that became one of the most iconic of the 21st century. Seven years later, Diane gets the chance to spend three days with the murderer of her son in a Virginia courthouse, inspiring her to tell her life story. What unfolds is one of the most compelling narratives in recent literary history, channeled into searing reality by New York Times bestselling author Colum McCann, who brings us on a journey of strength, resilience, and radical empathy.
Xochitl Gonzalez
Wednesday, April 17 | 2-3 p.m.
We cannot wait for you to join us as we chat with award-winning and bestselling author Xochitl Gonzalez about her newest novel Anita de Monte Laughs Last.Â
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Anita de Monte Laughs Last is a propulsive, witty examination of power, love, and art, daring to ask who gets to be remembered and who is left behind in the rarefied world of the elite. In 1985. Anita de Monte, a rising star in the art world, is found dead in New York City; her tragic death is the talk of the town. By 1998 Anita’s name had been all but forgotten―certainly by the time Raquel, a third-year art history student was preparing her final thesis. On College Hill, surrounded by privileged students whose futures are already paved out for them, Raquel feels like an outsider. Students of color, like her, are the minority there, and the pressure to work twice as hard for the same opportunities is no secret. As she attempts to straddle both worlds, she stumbles upon Anita’s story, raising questions about the dynamics of her own relationship, which eerily mirrors that of the forgotten artist.Â