Abrea Armstrong | Ferry Tales
About this Event
ABOUT THE EVENT
Tickets include a copy of Ferry Tales, guaranteed entry to the event, and a seat in the reserved section. Abrea will be in conversation with Khalisa Rae and will sign books after the program.
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ABOUT THE BOOK
"Ferry Tales sings a new, powerful song of ancestral memory, humor, love, travel, and identity. An ode to the Diaspora”—MK Asante, author of NephewDank, drink, and d*ck are all Anana thinks she needs until she is yanked by an unexpected (and undeniable) invitation to her forgotten homeland that will send her across oceans, generations, cultures, and herself, or risk losing herself somewhere in the middle.
Ferry Tales is a debut novel by Abrea Armstrong that follows a black millennial woman on a transatlantic journey of self-discovery, blending travel, romance, humor, and cultural reclamation as she reconnects with her African heritage and confronts the legacies of diaspora, identity, and corporate America.
Born of a legacy forgotten over centuries, Anana Freedman has all the trappings of a Black Millennial dream—cash in her purse, smoke in her lungs, liquor on her lips, and lovers in rotation. But the one thing she lacks is herself. When an unexpected wedding invitation to West Africa arrives, it cracks open the illusion, thrusting her into the troubled waters of her birth. There, between sips of whiskey, puffs of smoke, sweat of romance, and tears of mud, she must reassemble her deepest truth—one that lies somewhere between the story she’s been told and the one etched in her soul—or drown trying.
ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
Abrea Armstrong was born and raised in North Carolina and is a proud descendant of enslaved Africans. She earned her BA in Spanish Language & Literature from St. John’s University in Queens, New York. While living in NYC, she contributed to publications such as XXL Magazine, Revolt TV, and HuffPost Live, and was awarded a private poetry grant. Her poetry is now part of the Special Collection at the Z. Smith Reynolds Library at Wake Forest University. Throughout her career, Abrea has been recognized for her excellence in mass communications, receiving honors including the Triad Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 Most Influential African-Americans, 20 in their 20s, and Leader in Diversity in 2020. She was also named Most Valuable Emerging Leader by the National Urban League and received the 2022 MLK Young Dreamer Award from the City of Winston-Salem. Ferry Tales is her debut novel, inspired by her own life experiences. Since her first journey to the Motherland, she has deepened her connection to her roots and officially became a Ghanaian citizen in November 2024. Abrea currently resides in her hometown of Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
KHALISA RAE is an award-winning poet, author, and cultural organizer whose work uplifts and amplifies Black and queer voices in the South. She is the author of the acclaimed poetry collection Ghost in a Black Girl’s Throat and the sold-out play Seven Deadly Sins of Being a Woman. An accomplished performer, journalist, and playwright, her writing has appeared in Pinch, PANK, Autumn House, Jezebel, Blavity, NBC-BLK, and numerous other outlets. Her artistry and activism have been recognized with honors, including the Appalachian Arts and Entertainment Award, the Gwendolyn Brooks Poetry Prize Finalist, and multiple Pushcart Prize nominations. In addition to her creative work, Rae most recently served as Theater and Literature Director at the North Carolina Arts Council and is the co-founder of the Griot & Grey Owl Black Southern Writers Conference in Durham, NC, a nationally recognized platform centering Black Southern artistry. She has three forthcoming books: Unlearning Eden (a YA novel in verse), Black & Queer in the South, and Knee Length (a poetry collection).
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Event Location & Nearby Stays:
USD 0.00 to USD 22.44
