This program is presented by the National Book Foundation and the New Haven Free Public Library and is free and open to the public. The event will feature brief readings, a moderated conversation, and question-and-answer session followed by a book signing and reception to celebrate the NHFPL’s National Medal for Museum and Library Service.

RSVP Here!

Greg Grandin is the author of The Empire of Necessity, which won both the Bancroft Prize and Albert J. Beveridge Award in American history; Fordlandia, which was a finalist for the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize, and the National Book Critics Circle Award; and a number of other widely acclaimed books.

Carmen Giménez Smith is the author of Be Recorder and five previous poetry collections, including Cruel Futures and Milk and Filth, a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. 

John Jairo Lugo is the Co-founder and Community Organizing Director of Unidad Latina en Acción (ULA) in New Haven. His work for prisoners’ and immigrants’ rights is informed by his own experience being detained by the Colombian government and US immigration authorities until eventually granted asylum in the US.