The Edmonton Public Library and Calgary Public Library are pleased to present An Evening with Lawrence Hill on Wednesday, February 2, 2022.

In a talk about his new novel Beatrice and Croc Harry, Lawrence Hill will discuss writing for both children and adults, the formation of racial identity, the artistic challenges he faced in using humour to explore sensitive subjects, and the joys of playing with language and inventing words for readers of all ages. He will draw parallels between Beatrice and Croc Harry and his well - known novel The Book of Negroes, and will mention his own experiences with censorship and with the title change of his earlier novel. This event will be moderated by Natasha Deen.

About Lawrence Hill

Lawrence Hill is the author of ten books of fiction and non-fiction. In 2005, he won his first literary honour: a National Magazine Award for the article “Is Africa’s Pain Black America’s Burden?” published in The Walrus. His first two novels were Some Great Thing and Any Known Blood, and his first non-fiction work to attract national attention was the memoir Black Berry, Sweet Juice: On Being Black and White in Canada. But it was his third novel, The Book of Negroes (HarperCollins Canada, 2007) that attracted widespread attention in Canada and other countries.

Hill is a professor of creative writing at the University of Guelph, in Ontario. He helped create the annual common reading program "Gryphons Read" featuring BIPOC and queer writers at the the University of Guelph, and recently, in concert with Walls to Bridges, taught a third-year undergraduate memoir writing course in the Grand Valley Institution for Women, a federal penitentiary in Kitchener, Ontario.

About Forward Thinking Speaker Series

The Forward Thinking Speaker Series reflects EPL’s rich history of taking risks, trying new things out and redefining the modern library. EPL is inviting thought-leaders from a variety of industries and around a variety of topics to share their insights, ideas, experiences and viewpoints, with the goal of helping us purposefully build better organizations, neighborhoods and communities.

About Natasha Deen

Guyanese-Canadian author Natasha Deen writes for kids, teens, and adults. Her books include the Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection Thicker than Water, Guardian which was a Sunburst Award nominee, and the Alberta Readers’ Choice nominated Gatekeeper. Her YA novel, In the Key of Nira Ghani, won the 2020 Amy Mathers Teen Book Award. When she’s not writing, she teaches Introduction to Children’s Writing with the University of Toronto SCS and spends an inordinate amount of time trying to convince her pets that she’s the boss of the house. Visit Natasha at www.natashadeen.com and on Twitter/Instagram @natasha_deen.

Event Partners

This program is supported by the Isadore and Florence Burstyn Memorial Fund, KSW Calgary Holocaust Education & Commemoration Endowment Fund, Viewpoint Foundation and donors to the Calgary Public Library Foundation.

Thank you to Edify Magazine for their support of this event.