Greensboro Bound

Upon Her Shoulders: Native Women and the South
2022-05-21 11:30 - 12:30 (America/New_York) | Greensboro History Museum, 130 Summit Avenue, GREENSBORO, NC, 27401, United States
Mary Ann Jacobs

Cherry Beasley

*All events are FREE, but we do ask that you please register so that we can monitor attendance and venue capacity.*
With a focus on southeast Native women, Beasley and Jacobs share stories from an anthology they edited on justice, spirit, and community. With DRS. CHERRY BEASLEY and MARY ANN JACOBS. Hosted by ROBIN MIURA.
CHERRY BEASLEY, PhD, RN, FAAN is an experienced nurse stiving to impact the health of populations from rural settings, underserved area and indigenous communities. As an educator, her longest tenure at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke. Dr. Beasley, a native of Pembroke and an active member of the Lumbee Tribe, was the first nursing faculty member hired at UNCP and has been instrumental in the development and growth of nursing and health profession programs at UNCP, where she is the chief officer for the McKenzie-Elliott School of Nursing and the interim Dean of the College of Health Sciences. Dr. Beasley is a recipient of the coveted UNC Board of Governor’s Award for Teaching Excellence. Dr. Beasley finds synergy in her research and service interests by focusing on health care decision making and health care behaviors of rural and/or minority populations. Dr. Beasley works extensively with populations in participatory community outreach and research to address health disparities and to improve the quality of health care in rural communities. She is using participatory methodologies to address poor health outcomes experienced by populations with excessive death and disabilities. Most recently her work has focused on the drives of health including poverty, empowerment, food sovereignty, and environmental justice, and disparities of health data. Her strongly committed to others understanding the value, culture and healthcare needs of rural, minority or underserved populations, led her being selected as the inaugural appointment as Anna Belk Endowed Professor for Rural and Minority Health. Dr. Beasley is the proud mother of a son, Zeb and his wife Katie, and a daughter, Mary-Joyce and her husband Brian. She is very excited to be the grandmother of five.
DR. MARY ANN JACOBS is an associate professor and chair of American Indian Studies at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke. She teaches courses with a focus on American Indian Studies, American Indian identity, education, and cultural competency. She was previously the director of American Indian Studies at California State University, Long Beach (1990–1996) and an assistant professor of social work at San Diego State University (2005–2007). Dr. Jacobs is the co-editor of one book and the author of several peer-reviewed articles, book sections, and reports dealing with American Indian women, STEM education for American Indian (AI) students, historical trauma, foster care, racial identity, Chicago’s AI community, AI lesbians and gays, child welfare policies for Indigenous children, and decolonizing methods. Dr. Jacobs, her husband, and children are enrolled members of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina. Dr. Jacobs and her husband attend Mt. Airy Baptist Church in Pembroke.
ROBIN MIURA is Senior Editor and Associate Publisher at Blair and has worked in publishing for more than 20 years. She has worked with all types of books, but her passion is literary fiction and creative nonfiction. She is also a founding editor of the online magazine South Writ Large.

Exploring a Future, Changing the Past (Sci-fi/Fantasy)
2022-05-21 12:00 - 13:00 | Van Dyke Performance Space, Greensboro Cultural Center, 200 N Davie Street, Greensboro, NC, 27401, United States
*All events are FREE, but we do ask that you please register so that we can monitor attendance and venue capacity.*
Science Fiction and fantasy explore new worlds; some are light years away or hundreds of years in the future, some are new perspectives on our shared past. They can be intimate stories of a single person or sprawling narratives of an entire culture. Three writers talk about what drew them to the genre and what continues to thrill them. With MONICA BYRNE, T FROHOCK,and CADWELL TURNBULL.Hosted by JL HERNDON.
MONICA BYRNE is a novelist, playwright, and screenwriter who resides in North Carolina. Her first novel, The Girl in the Road, received the 2015 Otherwise Award, and her second novel, The Actual Star, was published in September 2021.
T FROHOCK has turned a love of history and dark fantasy into tales of deliciously creepy fiction. She is the author of Miserere: An Autumn Tale, and the Los Nefilim series from Harper Voyager. Her works, Where Oblivion Lives and Carved from Stone and Dream, were both short-listed for the Manly Wade Wellman award in 2020 and 2021 respectively. A native North Carolinian, T. has long been accused of telling stories, which is a southern colloquialism for lying.
CADWELL TURNBULL is the author of The Lesson and No Gods, No Monsters. His short fiction has appeared in The Verge, Lightspeed, Nightmare, Asimov’s Science Fiction and several anthologies, including The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2018 and The Year’s Best Science Fiction and Fantasy 2019. His novel The Lesson was the winner of the 2020 Neukom Institute Literary Award in the debut category. The novel was also shortlisted for the VCU Cabell Award and longlisted for the Massachusetts Book Award. His latest novel No Gods, No Monsters was longlisted for the Pen Open Book Award. Turnbull lives in Raleigh and teaches at North Carolina State University.

JL HERNDON (he/him) is an author of speculative fiction and poetry. All his characters are Black unless otherwise noted. A psychologist by training, he is fascinated by people, families, and their relationships. His work appears in Star*Line Magazine, Inkwell Black, Visual Verse, and Serotonin. Originally from Texas, he now resides in Greensboro, NC with his wife and dog. You can find him lurking on Twitter @jl_herndon.

Everywhere We Belong
2022-05-21 13:30 - 14:30 | Greensboro History Museum, 130 Summit Avenue, GREENSBORO, NC, 27401, United States
*All events are FREE, but we do ask that you please register so that we can monitor attendance and venue capacity.*
Three award-winning Black authors bring their unique voices to bear on what it means to be black and male in 21st Century America. Whether writing about unknown facets of the Civil War, a father’s estranged relationship with his son, or an average kid growing up in Chicago, each offers keen insight on the struggles of the present and how the past comes to bear on that present. With DANIEL BLACK, GABRIEL BUMP, and DAVID WRIGHT FALADÉ.Hosted by GALE GREENLEE.
DANIEL BLACK is professor of African American Studies at Clark Atlanta University. A native of Kansas City, Kansas, yet spent the majority of his childhood years in Blackwell, Arkansas. He is an associate professor at his alma mater, Clark Atlanta University, where he now aims to provide an example to young Americans of the importance of self-knowledge and communal commitment. He is the author of They Tell Me of a Home and The Sacred Place.
GABRIEL BUMP grew up in South Shore, Chicago. He received his MFA in fiction from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. His fiction and nonfiction have appeared in The New York Times, McSweeney’s, The Best American Short Stories, and elsewhere. His debut novel, Everywhere You Don’t Belong, was a New York Times Notable Book of 2020 and has won the Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence, the Great Lakes Colleges Association New Writers Award for Fiction, the Heartland Booksellers Award for Fiction, and the Black Caucus of the American Library Association’s First Novelist Award. Bump is an Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
DAVID WRIGHT FALADÉ is a professor of English at the University of Illinois and a 2021-2022 Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center Fellow at the New York Public Library. He is the co-author of the young adult novel Away Running and the nonfiction book Fire on the Beach: Recovering the Lost Story of Richard Etheridge and the Pea Island Lifesavers, which was a New Yorker notable selection and a St. Louis-Dispatch Best Book of 2001. The recipient of the Zora Neale Hurston/Richard Wright Award, he has written for the New Yorker, Village Voice, Southern Review, Newsday, and more.
GALE GREENLEE is a Greensboro native, freelance editor and independent scholar of African American literature. She was a visiting assistant professor at Berea College and the inaugural ACLS Emerging Voices Fellow at The Ohio State University. She holds a doctorate in African American literature from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and her work focuses on Black and Latinx girlhoods and social justice in kids and young adult literature. She recently served as a fellow with the African American Policy Forum’s Black Girls Matter project and has a forthcoming essay in a College Literature’s special issue, “Children, Too, Sing America.” As an aspiring children’s author, she’s currently writing about Black children and green spaces.

Afternoon Delight
2022-05-21 14:00 - 15:00 | Van Dyke Performance Space, Greensboro Cultural Center, 200 N Davie Street, Greensboro, NC, 27401, United States
*All events are FREE, but we do ask that you please register so that we can monitor attendance and venue capacity.*
Say goodbye to your mom’s harlequin bodice rippers, romance has gotten a makeover! From sleek new cover designs you actually want on your shelf (so long, busty corsets!) to rethinking what romance storytelling can mean, the new romance has become one of the fast-expanding genres, and with good reason. Romance authors are pushing the bounds of what’s possible, experimenting with form and structure in ways that were once reserved for “literary” novels and widening the view of whose love stories get to be told. Everyone deserves to be the hero of a smutty romcom, and that’s what this panel embodies: the new, inclusive face of romance and the authors pushing the genre onto bold new ground. Join us for a rip-roarin’ good time with CHERIS HODGES, TIMOTHY JANOVSKY, and THIEN-KIM LAM. Hosted by SHANNON JONES.
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Award winning author CHERIS HODGES was bitten by the writing bug at an early age and always knew she wanted to be a writer. She wrote her first romance novel, Revelations, after having a vivid dream about the characters. She hopped out of bed at 2 A.M. and started writing. A graduate of Johnson C. Smith University and a winner of the North Carolina Press Association’s community journalism award, Cheris lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, where she is a freelance journalist. She loves hearing from her readers. Follow Cheris on Twitter @cherishodges, friend her on Facebook at Cheris Hodges.
TIMOTHY JANOVSKY is a queer, multidisciplinary storyteller from New Jersey. He holds a Bachelor’s degree from Muhlenberg College and a self-appointed certificate in rom-com studies (accreditation pending). When he’s not daydreaming about young Hugh Grant, he’s telling jokes, playing characters, and writing books. Never Been Kissed is his first novel.
THIEN-KIM LAM writes stories about Vietnamese characters who smash stereotypes and find their happy endings. A recovering Type-Asian, she guzzles cà phê sữa đá, makes art, and bakes her feelings to stay sane. Thien-Kim is also the founder of Bawdy Bookworms, a subscription box that pairs sexy romances with erotic toys. She’s been featured on Jezebel, NPR, BBC America, and Glamour. Her debut novel Happy Endings is now available, and her forthcoming book will be released in 2022
SHANNON PURDY JONES is co-owner of Scuppernong Books in Greensboro, NC. She holds a BS in Evolutionary Biology from Appalachian State University. Her reading life is a disaster zone of general fiction, sci-fi, romance, queer studies and science nonfiction. As a bookseller she doesn’t believe in book shaming or book snobbery, and wants everyone who walks into her shop to feel at home no matter what they’re reading.

Mysteries of Identity
2022-05-22 13:00 - 14:00 | Stephen D. Hyers Theater, Greensboro Cultural Center, 200 N Davie Street, GREENSBORO, NC, 27401, United States
Advanced registration for this event is closed. However, you may "walk-up" and register onsite.

*All events are FREE, but we do ask that you please register so that we can monitor attendance and venue capacity.*
With JOHN COPENHAVER, VALERIE NIEMAN, and NICOLE ZELNIKER. These three novels skirt the edges of the mystery genre while taking on various considerations of identity. Gender expectations, LGBTQ concerns, and coming-of-age self-awareness all complicate the usual terrain of the mystery field. Hosted by JACOB PAUL.
JOHN COPENHAVER‘s historical crime novel, Dodging and Burning (Pegasus), won the 2019 Macavity Award for Best First Mystery Novel and garnered Anthony, Strand Critics, Barry, and Lambda Literary Award nominations. Copenhaver writes a crime fiction review column for Lambda Literary called “Blacklight,” cohosts on the House of Mystery Radio Show, and is the six-time recipient of Artist Fellowships from the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities. He grew up in the mountains of southwestern Virginia and currently lives in Richmond, VA, with his husband, artist Jeffery Paul. The Savage Kind (Pegasus) is his second novel.
VALERIE NEIMEN‘s new novel, In the Lonely Backwater, a YA/crossover suspense novel in the Southern gothic tradition, will be published by Regal House/Fitzroy Books in May 2022. To the Bones, her genre-bending folk horror/thriller about coal country, was a finalist for the 2020 Manly Wade Wellman Award, joining three earlier novels, a short fiction collection, and three poetry collections. She has published widely in journals, and has held state and NEA creative writing fellowships. A native of western New York, Nieman was a journalist and farmer in West Virginia. She holds degrees from West Virginia University and Queens University of Charlotte and recently retired as a creative writing professor at NC A&T State University.
NICOLE ZELNIKER (she/her) is a writer, activist, and managing editor at The Nasiona. She is the author of several books, including “Letters I’ll Never Send” and “Until We Fall.”
JACOB PAUL is the author of two previous novels, A Song of Ilan (Jaded Ibis, 2015) and Sarah/Sara (Ig, 2010), which Poets & Writers named one of 2010’s five best first fictions. His collaborations have led to the fine art books, Home for an Hour (Otherwise, 2014) and Feed Mayonnaise to Tuna (Otherwise, 2016). His work has also appeared or is forthcoming in Hunger Mountain, Western Humanities Review, Green Mountains Review, Massachusetts Review, Seneca Review, Mountain Gazette and USA Today’s Weekend Magazine as well as on therumpus.net, fictionwritersreview.com and numerocinqmagazine.com. He teaches creative writing at High Point University in North Carolina.

Percival Everett (FULL/SOLD OUT)
2025-05-15 19:00 - 21:00 | Elliott University Center Auditorium, 507 Stirling Street, Greensboro, NC, 27412, United States
Due to overwhelming response, registrations for this event are closed.
The Greensboro Bound Book Festival is thrilled to announce an exciting lead-up event featuring New York Times best-selling author Percival Everett on May 15 at 7 p.m. This highly anticipated evening, presented in partnership with UNCG University Libraries, will feature Everett discussing his acclaimed novel James and his distinguished literary career. This kickoff event sets the stage for the all-day Greensboro Bound Book Festival happening in downtown Greensboro on May 17.
Everett, a celebrated and award-winning author, has captivated audiences with his thought-provoking and genre-defying works. His latest novel, James, a reimagining of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from the perspective of Jim, has garnered widespread critical acclaim and cemented his reputation as one of the most compelling voices in contemporary literature. Everett’s 2020 novel Telephone was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and James won the National Book Award for Fiction in 2024.
The event will take place in the Elliott University Center Auditorium on the UNCG campus. This exciting evening offers attendees the opportunity to hear from Everett firsthand as he delves into the themes of James, his writing process and his other works. A book signing will follow the discussion.
Due to overwhelming response, registrations for this event are closed.
Complimentary parking for all event attendees will be available in the Walker Avenue Parking Deck (506 Stirling Street).

An Evening with Morgan Radford
2026-05-08 18:00 - 20:00 | Greensboro History Museum, 130 Summit Avenue, GREENSBORO, NC, 27401, United States
A BONUS BOOK FESTIVAL EVENT!
Friday, May 8 | 6:00 PM
Greensboro History Museum
Free and open to all
Greensboro native and NBC News anchor Morgan Radford returns home to celebrate her debut novel, Now Then. Presented by Greensboro Bound in partnership with the Greensboro Public Library, the Greensboro Public Library Foundation, and Scuppernong Books, this special evening highlights Radford’s transition from award-winning journalist to fiction author.
Now Then interweaves the lives of a mother and daughter. One comes of age at Harvard in the 1990s, while the other confronts revolution and resilience in 1950s Havana. As secrets unfold through a series of letters, Radford crafts a powerful narrative about hidden histories, second chances, and the choices and loves that shape our lives.
Radford’s compelling fiction debut draws from elements of her personal life, professional background, and the history of her family’s migration from Jamaica and Cuba. An award-winning journalist whose reporting has spanned foreign policy, U.S. political movements, and major national news, Radford calls this novel “one of the richest, most rewarding endeavors of my lifetime.”
Radford is an anchor for NBC News and co-host of NBC News Daily. A graduate of Harvard University and Columbia Journalism School, and a former Fulbright Scholar, she has received multiple awards for her reporting featured on TODAY, NBC Nightly News, MSNBC, and Telemundo. With Now Then, she brings emotional depth and journalistic rigor to a moving work of literary fiction that is already being celebrated for its power, tenderness, and resonance.

This event will be moderated by Portia Mount, Founder + CEO Advisor, Mount Creative. An accomplished keynote and 2x Tedx speaker, Portia frequently addresses topics around women and leadership, and the evolving demands on transformative leaders in the future of work. She is the co-author of the best-selling career advice book, “Kick Some Glass: Ten Ways Women Succeed at Work on Their Own Terms” (McGraw Hill Education, 2019), and hosts the “Ungovernable Women” podcast.
