LIVE from NYPL: Freedom Narratives: David Wright Faladé, Ilyon Woo with Lynn Nottage

Event Details

Explosive stories of real and dramatic struggles for freedom by enslaved and formerly enslaved people in 19th-century America.


David Wright Faladé’s novel Black Cloud Rising recreates the experiences of the African Brigade, a unit composed largely of formerly enslaved men who during the Civil War hunted down Confederates for the Union Army. Ilyon Woo’s Master Slave Husband Wife is the story of William and Ellen Craft, a couple who escaped slavery through daring, determination, and disguise, with Ellen passing as a wealthy, disabled white man and William posing as “his” slave. Both books are intimate narratives about fighting for freedom and America’s complex, ever-changing notion of what it means to be “free.”

David Wright Faladé and Ilyon Woo speak with Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright Lynn Nottage, who is also writing about the Crafts, for the upcoming feature film Everlasting Yea!

To join the event in-person | Please register for an In-Person Ticket. Doors will open 45 minutes before the program begins. For free events, we generally overbook to ensure a full house. Priority will be given to those who have registered in advance, but registration does not guarantee admission. All registered seats are released shortly before start time, and seats may become available at that time. A standby line will form 30 minutes before the program.

To join the livestream | A livestream of this event will be available on this NYPL event page. To receive an email reminder shortly in advance of the event, please be sure to register! If you encounter any issues, please join us on NYPL's YouTube channel.


ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

David Wright Faladé is the author of three books: the narrative history Fire on the Beach: Recovering the Lost Story of Richard Etheridge and the Pea Island Lifesavers, and the novels Away Running and most recently, Black Cloud Rising , which was named one of The New York Times’ Best Historical Fiction titles of 2022.

A former Fulbright Fellow to Brazil, David Wright Faladé is the 2021-22 Mary Ellen von der Heyden Fellow of The NY Public Library’s Cullman Center for Writers. His work has been recognized by the Zora Neale Hurston/Richard Wright Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Texas Institute of Letters. He teaches in the MFA program at the University of Illinois.

Lynn Nottage is a playwright and a screenwriter, and the first woman in history to win two Pulitzer Prizes for Drama. Her plays have been produced widely in the United States and throughout the world. Recent work includes the book for MJ the Musical (Broadway), the libretto for the Intimate Apparel Opera (LCT), and Clyde’s (Broadway, 2ST, Goodman Theater), and co-curating the performance installation The Watering Hole (Signature Theater). Past work includes SweatRuined; the book for The Secret Life of Bees; Mlima's Tale; By the Way, Meet Vera Stark; Intimate Apparel; Fabulation, or the Re-Education of Undine; Crumbs from the Table of Joy; Las Meninas; Mud, River, Stone; Por’knockers; and POOF!. She has also developed This is Reading, a performance installation in Reading, Pennsylvania. Ms. Nottage is a member of the Theater Hall of Fame, and the recipient of a MacArthur "Genius Grant" Fellowship (among other awards). She is also an Associate Professor at Columbia University School of the Arts, and is a member of the Dramatists Guild.

Ilyon Woo is the author of The Great Divorce: A Nineteenth-Century Mother’s Extraordinary Fight Against Her Husband, the Shakers, and Her Times and the recipient of a Whiting Creative Nonfiction Writing Grant. Her articles have appeared in publications such as The Boston Globe and The Wall Street Journal, and she has received support for her research from the National Endowment for the Humanities, among other organizations. She holds a BA in the Humanities from Yale College and a PhD in English from Columbia University.


READ THE BOOK: Black Cloud Rising

READ THE BOOK: Master Slave Husband Wife

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ACCESSIBILITY NOTES

In-Person

  • Assistive listening devices and/or hearing loops are available at the venue.
  • You can request a free ASL (American Sign Language) interpretation or CART (Communication Access Real-Time Translation) captioning service by emailing your request at least two weeks in advance of the event: email accessibility@nypl.org or use this Gmail template.
  • This venue is fully accessible to wheelchairs.

Livestream

  • Captions and a transcript will be provided.
  • Media used over the course of the conversation will be accompanied by alt text and/or audio description.
  • You can request a free ASL (American Sign Language) interpretation by emailing your request at least two weeks in advance of the event: email accessibility@nypl.org or use this Gmail template.

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LIVE from NYPL is made possible by the continuing generosity of Celeste Bartos, Mahnaz Ispahani Bartos and Adam Bartos, the Margaret and Herman Sokol Public Education Endowment Fund, and the support of Library patrons and friends.