Description

Elizabeth Gilbert’s Onward Book Club comes to Symphony Space for its first in-person event, featuring Jesmyn Ward and her latest novel as it launches in paperback. Join these two literary powerhouses for an in-depth discussion of Ward’s haunting and highly acclaimed masterpiece about an enslaved girl in the years before the Civil War. With a reading by Heather Alicia Simms (The Kings of Napa).

The Onward Book Club was created to support and celebrate the work of Black female authors. Our mission is to share with readers and their book clubs important voices both established and emerging, and the vital stories they tell in various genres about where we come from, who we are, and where we are heading. Here’s how it works: Elizabeth Gilbert announces a bimonthly selection on Instagram, followers read the book and submit questions and comments, and Elizabeth and the featured author then meet on Instagram live for an hour-long interview. These conversations have been at turns inspiring, thought-provoking, surprising, weighty, and hilariously funny. Videos of author conversations can be found on Elizabeth’s Instagram, and on our website, at www.onwardbookclub.com.

You have the option to pre-purchase a signed, discounted copy of the Let Us Descend paperback with your ticket. There will also be copies available for purchase on the night of, at the retail price.

There will not be a book signing at this event.