Virtual Illinois Libraries Present: “A Conversation with James McBride,” February 4

Tuesday, February 4, 7 p.m.

Presented by the Rock Island and Silvis Public Libraries

With his most recent work The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store named one of the New York Times’ 100 Notable Books of 2023, National Book Award and Library of Congress Prize winner James McBride takes part in the latest virtual Illinois Libraries Present program hosted by the Rock Island and Silvis Public Libraries, the February 4 event A Conversation with James McBride finding its subject in fascinating conversation with interviewer Heather Marie-Montlilla of PBS Books.

McBride is an award-winning author, musician, and screenwriter whose landmark memoir The Color of Water, published in 1996, has sold millions of copies and spent more than two years on the New York Times bestseller list. Considered an American classic, it is read in schools and universities across the United States, and McBride's debut novel Miracle at St. Anna was turned into a 2008 film by Oscar-winning writer and director Spike Lee, with its script written by the book's author. Meanwhile his 2013 novel The Good Lord Bird, about American abolitionist John Brown, won the National Book Award for Fiction and was adapted into Showtime's 2020 limited series starring Ethan Hawke.

Over the course of his career, McBride has been a staff writer for The Boston Globe, People Magazine, and The Washington Post, and his work has appeared in Essence, Rolling Stone, and the New York Times. His 2007 National Geographic story “Hip Hop Planet” is considered an important examination of African American music and culture. As a noted musician and composer, McBride has toured as a saxophonist sideman with jazz legend Jimmy Scott, among other musicians, and has written songs for Anita Baker, Grover Washington Jr., Pura Fé, Gary Burton, and even for the PBS television character Barney.

McBride received the Stephen Sondheim Award and the Richard Rodgers Foundation Horizon Award for his musical Bobos, co-written with playwright Ed Shockley, while his 2003 Riffin’ & Pontificatin’ musical tour was filmed for a nationally televised Comcast documentary. He has been featured on national radio and television in North America, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, and often presents his public readings accompanied by a live band.

A native New Yorker and a graduate of New York City public schools, McBride studied composition at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Ohio and received his master’s degree at the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University. In 2015, he was awarded the National Humanities Medal by President Barack Obama “for humanizing the complexities of discussing race in America.” He holds several honorary doctorates and is currently a Distinguished Writer in Residence at New York University.

This virtual event is made possible by Illinois Libraries Present, a statewide collaboration among public libraries offering premier events. ILP is funded in part by a grant awarded by the Illinois State Library, a department of the Office of Secretary of State, using funds provided by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services, under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA).

A Conversation with James McBride will take place on February 4, participation in the 7 p.m. presentation is free, and more information is available by calling (309)732-7323 and visiting RockIslandLibrary.org, and calling (309)755-3393 and visiting SilvisLibrary.org.