An in depth speaker series highlighting notable voices from the Sacramento community and beyond

Join us for this free speaker series for thoughtful conversations on topics that matter to our community. No advance registration is required for these live, in-person events. 
 

Hilton Als: Enters the Chat - May 18 from 6-7:30 p.m. at the Library Galleria
Hilton Als, Pulitzer Prize-winning essayist and author and Joan Didion superfan will be in chatting with Sacramento based curator Faith J. McKinnie. Join us for a riveting conversation covering Als most recent work on Joan Didion and her lasting impact that will be full of admiration and exploration.

Hilton Als began contributing to The New Yorker in 1989, writing pieces for ‘The Talk of the Town.’ He became a staff writer in 1994, theatre critic in 2002, and lead theater critic in 2012. His reviews are not simply reviews; they are provocative contributions to the discourse on theatre, race, class, sexuality, and identity in America. In 2017, Als won the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism, and in 2018 the Langston Hughes Medal. He curated “Joan Didion: What She Means” for the Hammer Museum in October 2022. Als is an associate professor of writing at Columbia University’s School of the Arts and has taught at Yale University, Wesleyan, and Smith College. He lives in New York City.
 
Faith J. McKinnie is a curator based in Sacramento. Her curatorial practice is rooted in prioritizing artists who find their work outside the traditional art historical canon. With an undergraduate degree in art history from Arizona State University, she has held leadership positions at Bigger Than Us Arts, Sacramento Theatre Company, Sojourner Truth African Heritage Museum, and Crocker Art Museum where she actively engaged historically underrepresented communities through art during the COVID-19 pandemic. She is the founding director of Black Artist Foundry and serves on the board of the Sacramento Alliance for Regional Art and is the DEI chair at Capital Creative Alliance.

You can Enter the Chat with Hilton Als and Faith J. McKinnie by submitting your questions ahead of their visit here.  
Ann Bannon: Enters the Chat - June 22 from 6–7:30 p.m. at the Library Galleria
Ann Bannon, Sacramento-based award-winning author and pioneer in gay and lesbian fiction, Enters the Chat to talk all about LGBTQIA literature, how her work has endured for over 60 years and her thoughts on recent censorship challenges in schools and libraries. Join us as we talk all about Bannon's incredible work and the challenges facing current LGBTQIA+ literature.

Enter the Chat with Ann Bannon by asking your questions ahead of Bannon's visit here.