James Baldwin: Being There; Bearing Witness

Almost thirty-five years after his death, the work of novelist, essayist, and playwright James Baldwin has enjoyed a resurgence lately, resonating as loudly in the present as it did during the Civil Rights movement of the fifties and sixties. In recent years, his unfinished manuscript, Remember This House, was adapted into the documentary film, I Am Not Your Negro, and nominated for Best Documentary Feature in 2016, and his novel If Beale Street Could Talk, was adapted into the Academy Award-winning film of the same name in 2018. Come join Professor Marc Dudley, an expert on James Baldwin’s work, for a discussion of “Sonny’s Blues,” considered to be Baldwin’s richest short story, along with one of Baldwin’s essays, Autobiographical Notes. Once you’ve registered and paid for the workshop, you’ll be emailed this reading material in advance. A Zoom link will be sent to you the day before the workshop.