An Evening with James McBride
Tuesday, February 4 at 7 PM CST
Register at: https://bit.ly/ILP_JamesMcBride

James McBride is an award-winning author, musician, and screenwriter. His landmark memoir, The Color of Water, was published in 1996 and his novel, The Good Lord Bird, won the National Book Award for Fiction and was adapted by Ethan Hawke and Jason Blum into a Showtime series bearing the same name. His 2023 novel, The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store, was named one of the New York Times’ 100 Notable Books of 2023. A recipient of the National Humanities Medal in 2016, McBride is a Distinguished Writer in Residence at New York University. 

In 2016, President Obama awarded McBride the National Humanities Medal “for humanizing the complexities of discussing race in America. Through writings about his own uniquely American story, and his works of fiction informed by our shared history, his moving stories of love display the character of the American family.” In 2024, he became the latest recipient of the Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction. 

Heather Marie-Montilla of PBS Books will join McBride in conversation.

This event is made possible by Illinois Libraries Present (ILP), a statewide collaboration among public libraries offering premier events. ILP is funded in part by a grant awarded by the Illinois State Library, a department of the Office of Secretary of State, using funds provided by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services, under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA). 

ILP is committed to inclusion and accessibility. To request accommodations, please email illinoislibrariespresent@gmail.com