Event – Detail

Authors Joseph Earl Thomas and Phillip B. Williams will be discussing their recently published novels and more...  Thomas's God Bless You, Otis Spunkmeyer is a powerful examination of everyday Black life in Philadelphia -- of health and sex, race and punishment, and the gaps between our desires and our politics. William's Ours, set over the course of four decades and steeped in a rich tradition of American literature informed by Black surrealism, mythology, and spirituality, explores the possibilities and limitations of love and freedom.

Both authors will sign copies of their books after the program. Book sales are arranged through Head House Books.

Joseph Earl Thomas's previous book, the memoir Sink, was one of the New York Times's 100 Notable Books of 2023 and was shortlisted for The Athenæum Literary Award. His writing has been published in The Kenyon Review, The Paris Review, Virginia Quarterly Review, Dilettante Army, and The New York Times Book Review. His honors include the 2020 Chautauqua Janus Prize, and fellowships from Kimbilio, VONA, Tin House and Bread Loaf. A graduate of the University of Notre Dame’s MFA program in prose, he earned his PhD in English from The University of Pennsylvania. He is a member of the writing faculty at Sarah Lawrence College, and teaches courses in Black Studies, Poetics, Video Games, Queer Theory and more at The Brooklyn Institute for Social Research. His forthcoming story collection Leviathan Beach will be out in 2025.

Phillip B. Williams is from Chicago and the author of two collections of poetry: Thief in the Interior, which was the winner of the Kate Tufts Discovery Award and a Lambda Literary Award, and Mutiny, which was a finalist for the PEN/Voelcker Award for Poetry Collection and the winner of a 2022 American Book Award. Williams is also the recipient of a Whiting Award and fellowships from the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University and the National Endowment for the Arts. He currently teaches in the MFA in creative writing program at New York University and is founding faculty of the Randolph College Low-res MFA.