Colson Whitehead–Black America Matters

Colson Whitehead – Northcote Town Hall – 24/5/17

Colson Whitehead is the author of  six novels covering a variety of topics, and has recently attained fame and glory with his most recent novel, The Underground Railroad, which was championed by Oprah Winfrey and won the 2016 National Book Award and 2017 Pulitzer Prize.

A near full house was present at Northcote Town Hall on Wednesday night to see Colson Whitehead in conversation with Wheeler Centre Director Michael Williams.

Michael Williams at Northcote Town Hall – 24/5/17

Colson Whitehead looks a cool guy and came across as unaffected and amiable, not making any big deal of being an American of black descent, though the conversation primarily  centred on that issue.

This focus was understandable in light of the subject matter of The Underground Railroad, it being about black slavery in America’s shameful past.

It was an interesting conversation as Colson Whitehead explained how he came to write the novel. He said that he had been thinking of it for many years before he finally wrote it, and that it took several years for it to be finished to his satisfaction.

He was astonished by the reception the novel received, particularly when he was obliged to appear on Oprah’s Book Club show.

Colson Whitehead reads an excerpt from The Underground Railroad

I noticed that the event was filmed, but the podcast is now available to listen to here .

Tonight, I’m off to see Ryan Adams at Margaret Court Arena – can’t wait!

Winter is Coming…

But before it really hits Melbourne, I have several interesting events to attend by the end of May, that involve literature and music.

I could include art in that, but I’m holding off on the Vincent Van Gogh exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria for a month or so, and plan to visit when the crowds have died down.

The Wheeler Centre is having a mini literature festival this May and two of the International writers who will be visiting Melbourne at the time are of interest to me, so I’ve booked tickets to see them at local venue, Northcote Town Hall.

The writers in question are American authors Colson Whitehead, author of the 2017 Pulitzer Prize winning novel The Underground Railroad, and George Saunders, renowned for his short stories, whose latest work is also his first novel, Lincoln in the Bardo. I have read The Underground Railroad on my Kindle and found it an absorbing impressive novel and quite harrowing, the subject matter dealing as it does with black  slavery in the USA.

As for George Saunders, I have copies of his first two collections of short stories, Civilwarland In Bad Decline and Pastoralia, both of which I enjoyed enormously, the quirkyness of his writing style and subject matter appealing to my taste for peculiar literature. I am currently reading Lincoln in the Bardo on my Kindle and it certainly is a strange novel, which I am not sure I’m enjoying all that much.

So seeing both these authors soon, George Saunders on 21 May and Colson Whitehead on 24 May, will be interesting to say the least.

I have noted that Irish author Anne Enright is also part of the mini literary carnival, but have eschewed attending her event as I hated her Booker winning novel The Gathering and consequently felt no desire to read any of her other books.

It will be a busy week as far as events are concerned for the long awaited and highly anticipated concert of my all time favourite singer songwriter, Ryan Adams is on 26 May at Margaret Court Arena.

That will be the icing on the cultural cake as far as I’m concerned.