Celebrated writer and member of the Bob Dylan Center’s inaugural group of guest curators Tom Piazza is road-tripping from his home base of New Orleans to visit the Center for an evening of reading and conversation to mark the publication of his new novel The Auburn Conference. Set in 1883 and bringing together literary titans Mark Twain, Frederick Douglass, Herman Melville, Walt Whitman and Harriet Beecher Stowe for an insightful and witty discussion about no less than the future of America, Piazza’s ingeniously crafted historical fiction has much to say about the country’s current moment. As cultural critic Greil Marcus writes, “Who wouldn’t want to go to this conference?”

Piazza will read from The Auburn Conference and reflect on his previous work—including the novels A Free State and City of Refuge, the post-Katrina manifesto Why New Orleans Matters, writing for the HBO series Treme and curating the Bob Dylan Center’s “Influences Listening Booths”—in a lively discussion with Center Director Steven Jenkins.

“Piazza’s writing pulsates with nervous electrical tension” and “reveals the emotions that we can’t define.”  —Bob Dylan

Details

The Darby Family Screening Room, Bob Dylan Center

116 East Reconciliation Way, Tulsa, OK 74103

Thursday, May 18, 2023

7 p.m.

Tickets