Author T. Geronimo Johnson to Speak at Book-It
By: A.A. Cristi Jun. 15, 2017
A graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop and a former Stegner Fellow at Stanford, Johnson has an M.A. from UC Berkeley in language, literacy, and culture and teaches writing at University of California-Berkeley.
The Washington Post calls Welcome to Braggsville the "most dazzling, most unsettling, most oh-my-God-listen-up novel you'll read this year..." and says Johnson "plays cultural criticism like it's acid jazz."
Welcome to Braggsville follows D'aron Davenport from Braggsville, Georgia and his three college friends, whose personal tragedy becomes the center of a national media storm. With a sincere heart, this coming-of-age novel for a new generation intimately explores how all Americans are linked to - and culpable in - the country's racial injustices.
In an interview with Aaseng and Arrindell, Seattle Magazine says "Welcome to Braggsville spares no one and shows us how even the most highly educated progressive folk-white, brown, black-can be ignorant when it comes to race."
The Seattle Times calls Book-It's production "a marvelous lightning rod for our current conversations about race, politics and ignorance."
Production photos available at http://book-it.org/press-room/photos/ (password: bookitpress). For information or to arrange interviews, please contact Communications Manager Val Brunetto at valb@book-it.org.
Welcome to Braggsville plays now-July 2, 2017 at The Center Theatre at the Armory (305 Harrison Street, Seattle, WA 98109). Performance tickets start at $25 with group rates available. $15 tickets will be available to students during the entire run. Purchase at book-it.org or by calling the box office at 206.216.0833. The box office is open Tues through Fri, 12:00pm - 5:00pm (Tues - Sat during production run), located in the outer lobby of The Center Theatre at the Armory, 305 Harrison St., Seattle.
Upcoming Beyond-the-Book Events
KUOW's Front Row Center with Marcie Sillman
Saturday, June 17 following the 2pm matinée at The Center Theatre at the Armory (305 Harrison St.)
FREE
Join KUOW's Marcie Sillman for a conversation after Welcome to Braggsville with Co-Adapter/Director Josh Aaseng and Co-Adapter Daemond Arrindell.
Meet the Author over Brunch
Saturday, June 24 at 11am; limited access event
$100. Call 206.428.6202 for details
An intimate gathering and discussion with Welcome to Braggsville author T. Geronimo Johnson.
A Conversation with T. Geronimo Johnson
Saturday, June 24 from 5:00-6:00pm at The Center Theatre at the Armory (305 Harrison St.)
$15, tickets available here
Join author T. Geronimo Johnson as well as Co-Adapters Josh Aaseng and Daemond Arrindell for a conversation that explores the themes of this razor-sharp novel.
About T. Geronimo Johnson
T. Geronimo Johnson was born in New Orleans. His fiction and poetry has appeared in Best New American Voices, Indiana Review, LA Review, and Illuminations, and others. A graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop and a former Stegner Fellow at Stanford, he has an M.A. from Berkeley in language, literacy and culture and teaches writing at University of California-Berkeley. He was a 2013 PEN/Faulkner finalist for his first novel, Hold It 'Til It Hurts.
About Josh Aaseng
Josh Aaseng is a director and writer based in Seattle. Directing credits include Slaughterhouse-Five, ReEntry, Jesus' Son, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay (associate director). He is a consulting director on Frank Boyd's The Holler Sessions, which has performed at On the Boards and ACT in Seattle, the Noorderzon Performing Arts Festival in the Netherlands, and PS 122 COIL Festival in New York. Josh received two Seattle Theatre Writers awards for excellence in playwrighting and direction for his production of Slaughterhouse-Five. Josh is the literary manager for Book-It Repertory Theatre where he has helped developed several new works, a member of the Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab, and a graduate of New York University's Tisch School of the Arts.
About Daemond Arrindell
Daemond Arrindell is a poet, performer and teaching artist. He has written for City Arts and Crosscut magazines, has self-published two chapbooks, "Hungry for the Word," and "Mission Statement," and is working on a full-length poetry manuscript, "When the Music Box Won't Open." Daemond is adjunct faculty at Seattle University; a 2013 Jack Straw Writer; and a 2014 VONA/Voices Writers' Workshop fellow. He has performed across the country and has been repeatedly commissioned by Seattle and Bellevue Arts Museums.
About Book-It Repertory Theatre
Book-It Repertory Theatre, a leader in the narrative theatre movement, was founded in 1990. Book-It is a non-profit organization with a dedication to great literature and quality theatre experiences employing simple, sensitive, and imaginative production techniques, and to inspiring its audiences to read. The company is funded, in part, by generous contributions from corporations and foundations, and hundreds of individuals who share its passion for literature.
Videos
