Beyond Representation: Fiction that Illuminates the Complexity of Identity

General admission registration opens Sept. 2.

Join us at Bop Stop, Cleveland’s beloved jazz club, for a vibrant conversation honoring Danzy Senna, winner of the 2025 Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for Fiction, for her sharp, genre-bending collection Colored Television.

Senna will be joined by Deesha Philyaw, author of The Secret Lives of Church Ladies and Anisfield-Wolf juror, for a conversation that explores how fiction—especially when laced with humor and narrative drive—can move us, challenge us, and reveal deeper truths about who we are. Together, they’ll reflect on the power of storytelling and the role of art in shaping how communities see themselves and are seen by others.

This is a conversation about storytelling that resists easy categorization, pushes back against commodification, and insists on complexity, truth, and agency.

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Registration is free but required. There will be a standby line at the venue; if there is available space, people will be seated on a first come, first served basis.

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Host or Publisher Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards