NICOLE DENNIS-BENN @ THE SOUTH DALLAS CULTURAL CENTER
Who: Nicole Dennis-Benn
What: African Diaspora: New Dialogues with Nicole Dennis-Benn
Where: The South Dallas Cultural Center, 3400 S Fitzhugh Ave, Dallas, TX 75210
When: February 2, 2017, 7:30 pm
Hosted and Facilitated by Author Sanderia Faye, Winner, 2016 Wright / Hurston Award for Debut Fiction
2017 will also feature:
March 2: Kiese Laymon, April 6: Tyehimba Jess
WordSpace and the South Dallas Cultural Center are pleased to kick off the 2017 season of African Diaspora: New Dialogues with the Jamaican author Nicole Dennis-Benn. Ms. Dennis-Benn published her debut novel, Here Comes the Sun, in July 2016. Marlon James, Ms. Dennis-Benn’s fellow countryman and Man Book Prize winning novelist, has said of Here Comes the Sun “… [it] stuns at every turn, especially when you think you have it figured out. It’s about women pushed to the edge, Jamaica in all its beauty and fury, and, more than anything else, a story that was just waiting to be told.”
Ms. Dennis-Benn will read from her novel and discuss her own journey from Jamaica to New York City.
Please join us for what promises to be an exceptional evening.
Sanderia Faye is an award winning writer, born and raised in Gould, Arkansas. She is the author of Mourner’s Bench (University of Arkansas Press, September 2015).
About Nicole Dennis-Benn
Nicole Dennis-Benn is the author of the highly acclaimed debut novel,HERE COMES THE SUN (Norton/Liveright, July 2016), which has received a starred Kirkus Review and is deemed one of the best books to read this summer and beyond by New York Times, NPR, BBC, BuzzFeed, Book Riot, Bookish, Miami Herald, Elle, O Magazine, Marie Claire, Entertainment Weekly, Flavorwire, After Ellen, BookPage, Cosmopolitan, Brooklyn Magazine, among others. New York Times Book reviewer, Jennifer Senior describes HERE COMES THE SUN as a “lithe, artfully-plotted debut”; Pulitzer Prize finalist, Laila Lalami, as well as Booklist have deemed it a “fantastic debut”; and Man Booker Prize winner, Marlon James says “[Here Comes the Sun] is a story waiting to be told”. Dennis-Benn has also been recently nominated for the 2016 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize. Her work has appeared in ELLE Magazine, Electric Literature, Lenny Letter, Catapult, Red Rock Review, Kweli Literary Journal, Mosaic, Ebony, and the Feminist Wire. Nicole Dennis-Benn has an MFA in Creative Writing from Sarah Lawrence College and has been awarded fellowships from MacDowell Colony, Hedgebrook, Lambda, Barbara Deming Memorial Fund, Hurston/Wright, and Sewanee Writers’ Conference. Dennis-Benn was born and raised in Kingston, Jamaica. She lives with her wife in Brooklyn, New York.
About African Diaspora: New Dialogues:
Three years ago, WordSpace met with Vicki Meek, the Manager of the South Dallas Cultural Center. SDCC had recently helped us promote Nikki Giovanni’s appearance at The Kessler and we realized a deeper partnership and think tank might just be the thing to do. Dee Mitchell and Vicki came up with the title: African Diaspora: New Dialogues. From there, we partnered in thought with folks like Sanderia Faye and are honored to have brought some of the best of new writing by the brightest stars of African Diaspora artists. Highlights have included Chris Abani, Mitchell Jackson, and Vievee Francis. These are important writers we want you to know about!
As Vicki Meek retired from 20 years of service from her position as Manager of South Dallas Cultural Center, we are now delighted to enjoy the same level of excitement in working with new SDCC manager, Harold Steward, to collaborate and bring this profound series.
Since its inception, thanks to local writer/educators, these writers have appeared Dallas schools offering meaningful visits and readings.
Sponsored by WordSpace and South Dallas Cultural Center
Special Thanks, Harold Steward and Vicki Meek
