SUNY Canton Announces Spring Virtual Living Writers Series Lineup
SUNY Canton is continuing its Virtual Living Writers Series this spring with a diverse lineup of writers who offer unique perspectives on death, corporate America and gender power dynamics.
The first guest will be African-American author and NAACP Image Award recipient Sheri Booker, who will read excerpts from her dark comic memoir “Nine Years Under: Coming of Age in an Inner-City Funeral Home” at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 24. At just 15, Booker began a summer job at Wylie Funeral Home in Baltimore and was immersed in a world that made her privy to intimate moments of grief and despair as families grappled with loss, as well as humorous moments of comic relief.
Authors Sheri Booker, Mateo Askaripour, and Chase Berggrun will be reading excerpts of their work at the Spring 2021 edition of the Living Writers Series.
She has been featured in the New York Times, Essence Magazine, The Washington Post, Baltimore Magazine and NPR. Booker has lived and worked in South Africa, where she taught journalism. Most recently, she was selected to be a cultural ambassador for the U.S. Embassy and traveled to India to perform poetry and teach writing and performance courses. She currently teaches Digital Media and Interactive Writing at Morgan State University.
Booker’s appearance is co-sponsored by SUNY Canton’s Funeral Services Administration program and is one of the events scheduled for Black History Month.
The second guest will be up-and-coming author Mateo Askaripour, who released is debut novel, “Black Buck,” last month. The publisher describes the book as “a crackling, satirical debut novel about a young man given a shot at stardom as the lone Black salesman at a mysterious, cult-like and wildly successful startup where nothing is as it seems.” He will appear at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 31.
The final Spring guest will be poet Chase Berggrun, author of “RED,” a collection that is based on Bram Stoker’s “Dracula.” In the book, Berggrun, a trans woman, creates an original narrative of violence, sexual abuse, power dynamics, vengeance and feminist rage. She will appear at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 5.
All events are free and open to the public. To find Zoom link information for all events, visit the Living Writers Series webpage.
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