Birmingham Reads: Kickoff Event

520 16th Street North,Birmingham AL 35203

02 September, 2022

Description

PEN's Birmingham Reads program is delighted to invite you to it's interactive kickoff event to celebrate Birmingham-native Imani Perry’s South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation. This event is only first of a series of events within Birmingham Reads Project, a citywide literary event dedicated to engaging and uniting Birmingham community members in reading one book of fiction or nonfiction in one given year and then discussing it in book groups and at events throughout the city. This year's selection, South to America, is a sprawling and ambitious book that brings together the perspective of a distinguished historian and the personal narrative of a native-born southerner, to better understand the beauty, tragedy, and soul of this country. Aligning with content and theme of the book, the kickoff event will feature poetry readings by Ashley M. Jones, Alina Stefanescu and Keimaya Downey. African drumming and dance will be presented by Sahi On Ko Djony and the Ursula Smith Dance Company will lead a dancing workshop for all attendees. This event is a celebration of the rich and diverse culture created by Black and Southern people, which built American life as we know it.