NYT Bestselling Author Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz in Conversation with Ernest Cline, Hanif Abdurraqib, & Scott Woods (Special Pre-Release Event!)
Sunday, September 6 at 6:30 pm at CCAD’s Canzani Center
You will have the opportunity to ask the speakers questions after the event, purchase books, and get your books signed.
Be the first to get your hands on The Ballad of the Fugitive William Parker! The book will officially be released on September 8, but Thurber House has received special permission to sell the book at this pre-release event.
(Scroll down for event information and ticket options.)
About the Book
THE BALLAD OF THE FUGITIVE WILLIAM PARKER
The year, 1851. The place, a Quaker farming community turned Underground Railroad stronghold, where a Maryland enslaver had journeyed in pursuit of four men who’d fled his plantation years before. In a few hours, he’d be dead…and twenty-seven men from the village of Christiana would be rounded up and put on trial. Not for his murder, but for treason—for waging war against the United States, at a time when it was a crime against the government to obstruct an enslaver looking to reclaim his “property.”
This is story of what happened in Christiana that September morning—and in the ensuing “trial of the century,” which saw the president himself advise the prosecution on strategy and a sitting congressman serve as lead attorney for the defense. But The Ballad of the Fugitive William Parker is also a much larger tale, one spanning decades, following a whole startlingly diverse community of abolitionists in their fight to convince their fellow Americans of the subversive idea that now found itself on trial: that the nation ought to live up the ideals it was founded on, and respect all men as equals.
It’s a story that whisks readers from the quiet farmlands of Lancaster County—where a self-emancipated man named William Parker, whom legend had it bullets could not kill, rallied his neighbors to ride out each night to battle the slavecatchers who stalked their countryside—to Philadelphia’s genteel Society Hill, where socialite Harriet Forten Purvis had the ear of the mayor (and a cellar filled with fugitives). It’s stylish, propulsive, intimately human tale of bravery, ingenuity, and hope—and of ordinary people with little in common who came together to stand against injustice…and won.
Be the first to get your hands on The Ballad of the Fugitive William Parker! The book will officially be released on September 8, but Thurber House has received special permission to sell the book at this pre-release event.
About the Author
Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz
Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz is the New York Times bestselling author of Dr. Mütter’s Marvels, as well as eight collections of poetry. She lives in Philadelphia with her husband, the novelist Ernest Cline (best known for Ready Player One), and their children.
Cristin’s previous nonfiction book, Dr Mutter’s Marvels: A True Tale of Intrigue and Innovation at the Dawn of Modern Medicine, spent three months on the New York Times best seller list, and screenplays based on the book have won awards at the Philadelphia Film Festival, Hamptons International Film Festival, the Sloan Foundation, and the Black List. Her first nonfiction book, Words In Your Face: A Guided Tour Through Twenty Years of the New York City was named a “Poetry Book of the Year” by The Washington Post.
Cristin’s eight collections of poetry span her entire writing life, beginning with Dear Future Boyfriend and Hot Teen Sl*t (her memoir-in-verse about her first job out of college: working as an editor for an “adult” website). Her next three collections —Working Class Represent; Oh, Terrible Youth; and Everything Is Everything — cover her upbringing in Philadelphia as well as 15 years as a poet and organizer in NYC. The Year of No Mistakes, her memoir-in-verse about the break-up of a long term relationship, was named the Texas Poetry Book of the Year by the Writers League of Texas. Her next two collections, How to Love the Empty Air and Against Vanishing, completed her Texas triology.
Cristin graduated from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, where she studied screenwriting and playwriting. She ran the NYC-Urbana Poetry Slam — first out of CBGB and later out of the Bowery Poetry Club — while working as a permission’s assistant at the Artists Rights Society. Her poetry and nonfiction work have appeared in Atlantic Monthly, [more], and other publications.
About the Moderators
Ernest Cline
Ernest Cline is a #1 New York Times bestselling novelist, slam poet, screenwriter, father, and full-time geek. He is the author of the novels Ready Player One, Armada, and Ready Player Two. Ernest co-write the screenplay for the blockbuster film adaptation of Ready Player One, directed by Steven Spielberg, which grossed over $600 million at the box office. His books have been published in over fifty countries and have spent more than 100 weeks on The New York Times bestseller list.
From 1997 to 2001, Ernest performed his original work at Austin Poetry Slam venues. He was the Austin Poetry Slam Champ in 1998 and 2001. Ernest also competed on the Austin Poetry Slam Teams at the 1998 Austin National Poetry Slam and the 2001 Seattle National Poetry Slam. Ernest met his wife Cristin at the 1998 National Poetry Slam. He was born and raised in Ashland, Ohio.
Hanif Abdurraqib
Hanif Abdurraqib is a poet, essayist, and cultural critic from Columbus, Ohio, and the recipient of a MacArthur Foundation “Genius” grant. His poetry and essays have been published in Muzzle, Vinyl, PEN American, The FADER, Pitchfork, The New Yorker, and The New York Times.
Hanif has two award-winning poetry collections, The Crown Ain't Worth Much and A Fortune for Your Disaster. His first collection of essays, They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us, was named a book of the year by Buzzfeed, Esquire, NPR, Oprah Magazine, The Los Angeles Review, Pitchfork, and The Chicago Tribune.
Hanif released Go Ahead In The Rain: Notes To A Tribe Called Quest in 2019, which became a New York Times bestseller, was a finalist for the Kirkus Prize, and was longlisted for the National Book Award. In 2021, Hanif released the book A Little Devil In America, which won the 2022 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction and the Gordon Burn Prize, and was a finalist for the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award. In 2024, Hanif released There’s Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension, which was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, was longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction, and was named a best book of the year by The New York Times Book Review, Time, The Washington Post, NPR, The Boston Globe, The New York Public Library, Chicago Public Library, Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, and Book Riot.
Scott Woods
Scott Woods is a writer and event organizer in Columbus, Ohio. He is the author of Black Night Is Falling, We Over Here Now, Urban Contemporary History Month, and Prince and Little Weird Black Boy Gods. Scott has published and edited work in a variety of publications and has been featured multiple times in national press, including several appearances on National Public Radio.
Scott is the Founder/Executive Director of Streetlight Guild, which focuses on Columbus art and underrepresented voices. He is also the former President of Poetry Slam Inc. and co-founder of Writers’ Block Poetry Night, an open mic series in Columbus. In 2006, he became the first poet to ever complete a 24-hour solo poetry reading. In October 2020, Scott won an Ohio Valley Regional Emmy Award for contributions to A House That Cannot Fall.
Scott is a 2018 Columbus Foundation Spirit of Columbus Award recipient, as well as the winner of the 2017 GCAC Columbus Makes Art Excellence Award for his event series, “Holler: 31 Days of Columbus Black Art.” Scott is also the 2022 winner of the Press Club of Cleveland’s Ohio Excellence in Journalism award for Best in Ohio Essay Writing, and was awarded “Best Columnist in Ohio” in 2023 by the Ohio Society of Professional Journalists.
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‣ Main Event at CCAD’s Canzani Center | 6:30-8:00 pm
Canzani Center (60 Cleveland Ave., Columbus, OH 43215)
Sit back, relax, and enjoy the program! You can ask the speakers questions at the end of the event.
‣ Book Signing | 8:00 pm
Purchase books and get them signed by the authors. You will have the opportunity to meet all four authors and take a photo.
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‣ Event Only | $35
This ticket includes:
Admission to the event and book signing
‣ Event + Book | $49
This ticket includes:
Admission to the event and book signing
A copy of The Ballad of the Fugitive William Parker (books will be available for pick up at the event)
Walk-in tickets will also be available at the event while space lasts. We strongly encourage you to register in advance.
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‣ Location
The event will take place at the Columbus College of Art & Design’s Canzani Center (60 Cleveland Ave, Columbus, OH 43215).
‣ Parking
Free parking is available in the lots adjacent to the building. Click here for a map (the Canzani Center is building 1).
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All event areas have step-free access. Please contact us if you need to reserve wheelchair seating in the auditorium.
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For any questions that are not answered here, please email Jess Cox at jcox@thurberhouse.org or call 614-412-5955.
‣ Who is presenting this event? This is a Thurber House event that is being held at the Columbus College of Art & Design’s Canzani Center.
‣ How will I receive my tickets? You will receive an email order confirmation containing your ticket(s). You can print or show your ticket(s) on your phone. If you are unable to do so, we will manually check you in.
‣ Can I order tickets by phone? Yes, although online orders are encouraged. To order by phone, call 614-412-5955.
‣ Can I purchase books and get them signed at the event? Yes, books by all four authors will be available for purchase and signing at the event. The Ballad of the Fugitive William Parker will officially be released on September 8, but Thurber House has received special permission to sell the book at this pre-release event.
‣ How do I get the book that comes with my ticket bundle? Ticket-bundled books will be available for pick up when you arrive at the event. Additional books will be for sale at the event.
‣ Will there be a bathroom? Yes, bathrooms will be available.
‣ What is your refund policy? All ticket sales are final and non-refundable.
‣ What is the Columbus ticket fee? The total ticket price includes the Columbus Arts and Culture Fee as required by the City of Columbus. The Arts and Culture Fee provides public funds to support artists and arts/cultural organizations like Thurber House that educate and engage audiences of all ages. Click here for more information.
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Disclaimer: Views, thoughts, and opinions expressed by event and program speakers in all mediums are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Thurber House, its affiliates, or its staff/board.