Arlington Reads: Damian Duffy & John Jennings

Join us for a conversation between Library Director Diane Kresh and authors and illustrators Damian Duffy and John Jennings to talk about their graphic novel adaptations of Octavia Butler's "Kindred" and "Parable of the Sower."

Octavia Butler (June 22, 1947 – February 24, 2006) was an American science fiction author and a multiple recipient of the Hugo and Nebula awards. In 1995, Butler became the first science-fiction writer to receive a MacArthur Fellowship. She used her experience as a Black woman in America to redefine the science fiction genre and create the earliest literary examples of Afrofuturism. Butler’s Afrofuturist lens was both a form of artistic expression and social activism. She created alternate worlds where Black people are the heroes and heroines—where their experiences are front and center. In doing so, she invited us to imagine a better future and then work towards creating it.

Damian Duffy and John Jennings' adaptation of Octavia Butler's bestselling classic, "Kindred," quickly became a bestseller in its own right. The graphic novel won both the Bram Stoker and Eisner Awards. John Jennings is a professor, author, graphic novelist, curator, Harvard Fellow, New York Times Bestseller, 2018 Eisner Winner, and all-around champion of Black culture. Damian Duffy is a cartoonist, scholar, writer, curator, lecturer, teacher, and a Glyph Comics, Eisner Comics, Bram Stoker, and Hugo Award-winning, #1 New York Times bestselling graphic novelist.

The conversation will be followed by an audience Q&A and book signing. Copies of the books will be available for sale, courtesy of One More Page Books.

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Published by an Arlington Public Library employee.

Host or Publisher Arlington Public Library