As part of the annual Hemingway Distinguished Lecture event, a small group of teenagers is invited to meet with Roxane Gay to talk about reading and writing around critical contemporary issues.

Roxane Gay is a prolific writer and thinker about many of today’s most urgent topics, including race, LGBTQ+ issues, and trauma. She writes memoir, short stories, novels, graphic novels, and opinion pieces with deep thoughtfulness and also great humor. She covers pop culture and is the author of World of Wakanda for Marvel. On her podcast, The Roxane Gay Agenda, she interviews other writers who discuss everything from immigration to feminism to mullets (yes, mullets). In her books, such as Hunger, she shares her personal story of sexual violence, and in the best-selling Bad Feminist she writes about everything from her Haitian parents to politics and the TV show Girls. In all her work and collaborations, Roxane’s voice shines a fearless ray onto the issues we most need to discuss, and on those we can celebrate.

The teen discussion group will meet with Roxane Gay before her public lecture on Thursday, July 7. It is a special opportunity to talk about writing, reading, and big topics with one of the most exciting writers and social commentators of our time. 

To join us: Send a statement of interest (2-3 sentences) to Martha Williams at mwilliams@comlib.org by Friday, June 17. Please include your school (or status), grade or age, and pronouns.

The teens selected to join will be asked to read one of Roxane’s short essays or opinion pieces from The New York Times, or to listen to one of her recent podcast episodes (a selection of links will be provided). The group will meet at the library during the week of June 27 to share what they’ve read and compose questions for Roxane. Pizza will be provided at this informal pre-event. Then we’ll meet on the afternoon of July 7th at the historic Hemingway House in Ketchum for a rousing conversation with one of today’s boldest voices. All attendees will also receive two tickets to Roxane’s public lecture at 7:00 p.m. that evening on the Library’s Donaldson Robb Family Lawn.

Note on the time: The exact timing for this afternoon conversation may change slightly.