Between the Lines: The Revelation of Dionne Daphne with Mara Brock Akil
About this Event
IN-PERSON
Looking to add to your summer reading list? Join us for a conversation about The Revelation of Dionne Daphne, the debut novel by Mara Brock Akil, the acclaimed, award-winning showrunner, writer, producer, and creator of iconic shows such as Girlfriends, Being Mary Jane, The Game and Forever.
“The Revelation of Dionne Daphne is a feat—a novel that is not only a pulse-thrumming page-turner, but a moving meditation on the long reach of family traumas, the ballast of deep friendships, and complicated forgiveness. The book is every bit of a love letter to Black women, to anyone burdened by the weight of a troubled past.”—Mitchell S. Jackson, Pulitzer Prize winner and author of The Residue Years
FIRST COME, FIRST SEATED Events are free, but due to space constraints registration is requested. We generally overbook to ensure a full house, so we recommend that you arrive early.
PARTICIPANTS
Mara Brock Akil is an award-winning writer, producer, director, and showrunner, known for her groundbreaking body of work including Girlfriends, Being Mary Jane, Love Is, and Forever. Mara is the 2026 recipient of the prestigious Norman Lear Achievement Award in Television from the Producers Guild of America and the Brandon Tartikoff Legacy Award from the NATPE, among other accolades. In 2021, Mara expanded her commitment to nonprofit work by launching her own Los Angeles based writing residency, The Writers Colony, which supports underrepresented writers to strengthen their craft.
Emil Wilbekin (Moderator) is a multimedia maverick - writer, producer, and editor, Deacon at First Corinthian Baptist Church in Harlem, and an Assistant Professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. Emil has served as Chief Content Officer at Afropunk, Editor-at-Large at Essence, Managing Editor of Essence.com, Editor-in-Chief of Giant and Giantmag.com, Style Guru at Complex, VP of Brand Development at Marc Eckō Enterprises, Editorial Director/Vice President of Vibe Ventures and Editor-in-Chief of Vibe Magazine. Under Emil’s leadership, Vibe won the National Magazine Award for General Excellence in 2002. He holds a B.S. in Mass Media Arts from Hampton University, and an M.S. in Journalism from Columbia University.
ACCESSIBLILITY
Accessibility requests can be made by e-mail [email protected].
ABOUT
What happens when one knock at your door sends your entire world into chaos? When a stranger becomes a lifeline? When the reality you’ve meticulously curated seems to be a mirage?
From the outside looking in, one might say that Dionne Daphne had it all: being the beauty editor at a prestigious New York magazine, a boyfriend who could have been plucked out of its model pages, the social life of the upper echelon, and a girlhood steeped in debutant balls.
But that is from the outside. When the now ex-boyfriend arrives at her Brooklyn doorstep Dionne imagines reconciliation, going back to the good life brimming with the possibility of marriage; the life her mother always wanted for her. Instead, he delivers life-threatening news that creates a crack in her picture-perfect world. A crack that grows legs and runs her right into her past, unearthing a secret that she has hidden since childhood.
In an effort to run toward the truth and away from a lie, Dionne sets out on a spur-of-the-moment road trip with an unlikely stranger to confront the long-buried darkness of her past and the family who made it so. As Dionne comes to a final reckoning, she begins to unravel new layers of herself and fresh possibilities for her life, her family, and even her love.
The Revelation of Dionne Daphne is at once a deeply moving and provocatively gripping novel that shows when you dig deep enough into the shadows of your life, light can be revealed. It’s a novel of broken lovers, a fractured family, and distant friendships all making their way back to one another.
#SchomburgLive
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NOTICES
GUESTS Please note that holding seats in the Langston Hughes Auditorium is strictly prohibited and there is no food or drinks allowed in the Schomburg Center.
E-TRANSPORTATION NYPL policy prohibits electric transportation devices (e.g., motorbikes, e-bikes, e-scooters, e-skateboards) from being brought into or stored at library sites for any length of time, as this is the best way to keep our spaces & people safe.
AUDIO/VIDEO RECORDING Programs are photographed and recorded by the Schomburg Center. Attending this event indicates your consent to being filmed/photographed and your consent to the use of your recorded image for any all purposes of the New York Public Library.
PRESS Please send all press inquiries (photo, video, interviews, audio-recording, etc) at least 24-hours before the day of the program to Leah Drayton at [email protected].
Please note that professional video recordings are prohibited without expressed consent.
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