The 16th annual ‘Great Writers, Great Readings’ series featured its third guest speaker of the fall semester on Wednesday, Nov. 13: Colson Whitehead, who spoke about his journey to becoming a bestselling author.
‘Great Writers, Great Readings’ events allow a renowned author to interact with creative writing students for a lecture and brief workshop. A public reading and book signing are given by the author, some even taking the opportunity to share new, unpublished works. Previous writers who attended this semester include Pulitzer prize-winner Natasha Trethewey and award-winning memoirist Kenny Fries. It is also a part of Hofstra’s “The Legacy 1619-2019” program, which works to “commemorate the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first enslaved Africans to North America and the ongoing experience of African Americans,” according to the campus online newsletter.
Whitehead’s interaction with the audience, whether it was through laughter or even singing a song, was a large component of his comedic, wit-filled speech. Following this, his attention turned to the crowd to answer questions.
Assistant professor in the Hofstra University history department Katrina Sims hosted this segment of the event. “Colson Whitehead is doing a masterful job of really encouraging the audience to engage with some really difficult topics around race,” Sims said.
Whitehead’s main focus of the event were his two books, “The Nickel Boys” and “The Underground Railroad.” The latter has been widely acclaimed, and was honored as No. 1 New York Times bestselling book, an “Oprah’s Book Club” selection and a winner of the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award. It is also currently in the process of being adapted into an Amazon TV series, with direction from Barry Jenkins, Oscar-winning director of the film “Moonlight.”
This is the first of Whitehead’s books to be adapted. “You know, there’s too many black people in them,” he said jokingly.
While he admits to not having directly worked on the project, he has attended a few consultations. Unfortunately for Whitehead, his sole suggestion to have actor Walton Goggins play the role of all the white characters came to no avail. Nonetheless, he said that the series will be out by next fall.
The overall response of the night appeared to be a positive one for many.
“[The event] was incredible. I can’t wait to read his novels,” said sophomore computer science and mathematics double major Daniel Dimijian.
“I realized I really do enjoy his writing. So, I bought the books before the event started so I can have them signed. It’s just cool to know that I’ve actually meant the author behind the books which is something a lot of people don’t get to say,” said senior English creative writing literature major and journalism minor Jamie Leon.
“I started ‘Sag Harbor,’ but I haven’t finished it yet. I just love these two books. I just wanted to know what was behind his thought process,” said Whitehead fan Noelle Sweeney. Sweeney, of Garden City, New York continued, “I don’t live very far from here, so I was really excited to think like ‘Oh, I can actually go to work that day and come and see this event.’”
“I found him very uplifting. I just thought the whole thing was great,” said Elieen Curran, a retired teacher of Merrick, New York.
This event was co-sponsored by the Department of English and MFA in Creative Writing Program, in collaboration with the Hofstra Cultural Center. “I think it’s very important to have students be in touch with some of the people that they study in class,” said Executive Director of the Hofstra Cultural Center Athelene Collins.
“I identified with a lot of his experiences as a writer and a person of color,” Leon added. “I just found him very inspiring and a really good role model to look up to as someone who wants to become a writer herself.”
