Colson Whitehead
This year, the Nashville Public Library Foundation is proud to honor Colson Whitehead. Whitehead is the two-time Pulitzer Prize winning, National Book Award winning, and New York Times bestselling author of The Nickel Boys, The Underground Railroad (now a televised miniseries on Amazon,) and upcoming Harlem Shuffle.
The free Public Lecture is Saturday, November 13, 2021 from 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM CST at the Martin Luther King Jr. Magnet High School, 613 17th Avenue North, Nashville, TN 37203. You are invited to join this free celebration, but you are asked to kindly reserve your ticket due to their reduced capacity. If you are able to make a gift to support our remarkable Nashville Public Library, your generosity would be greatly appreciated. The author is requiring that all persons attending this event must be masked and show proof of vaccination or a recent negative test from a health entity for COVID-19.
The Public Lecture will be streamed on Facebook Live to ensure the entire community can access this amazing event.
This year’s Nashville Public Library Literary Award honoree Colson Whitehead is the two-time Pulitzer Prize winning, National Book Award winning, and New York Times bestselling author of The Nickel Boys, The Underground Railroad (now a televised miniseries on Amazon,), The Noble Hustle, Zone One, Sag Harbor, The Intiutionist, John Henry Days, Apex Hides the Hurt, and The Colossus of New York, a collection of essays. Whitehead’s reviews, essays, and fiction have appeared in a number of publications and he’s taught at multiple post-secondary institutions including Columbia University and Princeton University.
A strong library system is the heart of a strong city. Founded in 1997, the Nashville Public Library Foundation has raised more than $45M to develop a dynamic Library system that serves everyone in our community, investing in programs that help the library empower our community, ignite children’s imaginations, and foster lifelong learning throughout Nashville.
Established in 2004, the Nashville Public Library Literary Award recognizes distinguished authors for their illustrious contributions to the world of books, literacy, and reading. Each year, they bring an outstanding individual to Nashville for a weekend-long celebration to honor their achievements while simultaneously raising funds to support NPL and its essential education and literacy programs.
The 2021 Literary Award Gala Weekend kicks off with a Patrons Party on Friday, November 12th at 6:30 p.m. in the Main Library; tickets are $850. The Public Lecture is Saturday, November 13th at 10:00 a.m. in the Martin Luther King Jr. High School; tickets are free, but advance reservations are requested. And that evening, the Literary Award Gala, Saturday, November 13th is at 6:30 p.m. in the Main Library; tickets are $650. The Public Lecture is proudly sponsored by Dollar General, Carol & Bobby Frist, with special thanks to the Fisk University W. E. B. Du Bois Honors Program and Southern Word for their support of the Public Lecture. For more information, and/or to reserve your tickets, go to the NPL website: library.nashville.org.
