Kiese Laymon will talk with Courtney R. Baker about whether the actual histories of American colleges and universities should be ripe sites for Black American horror and comedic narratives. Laymon will create a live novella and a live essay during this talk, while questioning the ethics of making art “for” an audience longing for both titillation and innocence from the horrific histories of Black Americans in and around American institutions of higher learning.

Kiese Laymon, 2020–2021 William and Flora Hewlett Foundation Fellow, Radcliffe Institute, and Hubert H. McAlexander Professor of English and Creative Writing, University of Mississippi

Discussant:

Courtney R. Baker, HR '96, associate professor, Department of English, University of California, Riverside

Free and open to the public. To view this event online, individuals will need to register via Zoom.

For instructions on how to join, see the How to Attend a Radcliffe Event on Zoom webpage.

After registering, you will receive a confirmation e-mail containing a link and password for this meeting.

Live closed captioning will be available for this webinar.

The Julia S. Phelps Annual Lecture in the Arts and Humanities was established to honor the late Julia S. Phelps, longtime instructor in the Radcliffe Seminars, and is supported by the generous contributions of her family, friends, and colleagues.