Jennifer Dupree presents Slow Motion
Schedule
Thu, 09 Jul, 2026 at 06:30 pm
UTC-04:00Location
45 S Main St, Concord, NH, United States, New Hampshire 03301 | Concord, NH
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https://gibsonsbookstore.com/event/slow-motionAward-winning author Jennifer Dupree visits Gibson's to present Slow Motion: A Memoir of Friendship, Disability, and Advocacy. She will be joined in conversation with her friend and fellow author, Melanie Brooks (A Hard Silence).
A heartfelt homage to a life-changing friendship
At twenty-one, Jen Dupree is working as an Activity Director in a nursing home when she meets Marcel—a man twenty-five years her senior who has cerebral palsy. Despite the physical limitations of his disability, Jen sees in Marcel a magnificent spark: endless curiosity, infectious humor, and an unshakeable propensity for joy. When a doctor tells Marcel to "get up and move around" despite his chart clearly noting he's never walked, Jen asks if the doctor brought his magic wand. It's the beginning of a friendship that will span three decades.
We live in a society that values speed and efficiency, so what does it mean when your life is necessarily slow and you must rely on others for tasks as simple as wiping your nose? Through nearly thirty years of Portland Pirates hockey games, concerts, hospital advocacy battles, and countless adventures, Jen discovers the answer alongside Marcel.
Slow Motion is both a heartfelt tribute to an extraordinary friendship and an awakening to disability rights and advocacy. By turns hilarious and heartbreaking, these stories reveal how Marcel has navigated prejudice, medical dismissal, and an ableist culture with grace and determination—and how Jen learned to see the world through entirely new eyes.
This is a story about showing up, speaking out, and the transformative power of chosen family. With deadpan humor and unflinching honesty, Dupree offers readers a portrait of friendship that transcends difference and celebrates our shared humanity.
About the Author
Jen Dupree is the award-winning author of two novels, The Miraculous Flight of Owen Leach (2022) and What Do You Want from Me? (2025). Slow Motion: A Memoir of Friendship, Disability, and Advocacy is her first full-length work of nonfiction. She is an assistant editor for The Masters Review, a library director, and a former bookstore owner. She has an MFA in Creative Writing from USM’s Stonecoast program. Her work has appeared in Slippery Elm, December, Solstice, The Masters Review, On the Rusk and other notable places. She is the winner of the Writer’s Digest Fiction Contest, a Pushcart nominee, and a two-time winner of a Maine Literary Award. She lives in Maine with her husband and Portuguese Water Dog (Pink) Floyd.
Find her at www.JenniferDupree.com
Melanie Brooks is the author of the memoir A Hard Silence: One daughter remaps family, grief, and faith when HIV/AIDS changes it all (Vine Leaves Press, 2023) and Writing Hard Stories: Celebrated Memoirists Who Shaped Art from Trauma (Beacon Press, 2017). She teaches creative nonfiction and narrative medicine in the MFA programs at Bay Path University and Western Connecticut State University and professional writing at Northeastern University. She holds an MFA from the University of Southern Maine’s Stonecoast writing program and a Certificate in Narrative Medicine from Columbia University. She has had numerous interviews and essays on topics ranging from loss and grief to parenting and aging published in the The Boston Globe, HuffPost, Yankee, Psychology Today, The Washington Post, Ms. Magazine, Creative Nonfiction, and other notable publications. She lives in New Hampshire with her husband, two children (when they are home from adult lives away), and two Labs.
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Where is it happening?
45 S Main St, Concord, NH, United States, New Hampshire 03301Event Location & Nearby Stays:
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