Author Series: Bryan Washington

In this engaging talk, Bryan Washington will explore the meaning of the places in our lives to the stories we tell. A Q&A and book signing will follow the discussion.

Bryan Washington's stories are centered around his hometown, Houston, Texas. As he explains, "Every story we tell is rooted in a moment, and every moment is rooted in the geography we experience it." As a destination for discovery, your Fort Worth Public Library is a location for learners of any age. We designed this program for adults.

Even though the themes Bryan Washington’s body of work range from food, film, and the arts to sexuality, gentrification, and blackness in America, the setting remains constant in his fiction and personal essays: his hometown, Houston, Texas. He set the entirely of his debut book, Lot, in the Texan city, with each of its short stories named after Houston’s streets. Though each short story stands on its own, reading Lot from start to finish is an exploration of the rapidly transforming city on the cusp of gentrification.

Following a recurring narrator, readers roam the sprawling city’s diverse neighborhoods and meet the people that populate the narrator’s life. With its soulful insight into what makes a community, a family, and a life, Lot was named one of Barack Obama’s favorite books of 2019 and a The New York Times Notable Book of 2019, was the winner of Dylan Thomas prize and the 2020 Lambda Literary Award in Gay Fiction, and was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle’s John Leonard Award, the PEN Bingham Award, and the Aspen Words Literary Prize.

Following his acclaimed debut, Washington continues to explore Houston with his novel, Memorial. This highly anticipated novel, longlisted for the 2021 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Good Morning America November book club pick, follows a young biracial couple, Benson and Mike, as they navigate love, both romantic and familial. Memorial is a funny and insightful love story that examines vulnerability, becoming who you’re supposed to be, and the limits of love. Using the same humorous and perceptive voice that he employs in his prose, Washington speaks to academic and literary audiences about his writing and experiences. He also gives lectures on rooting a story in scenery and the power of literature in exploring themes of identity, family, and community.

In addition to his acclaimed works, Bryan Washington has written for many publications, such as The New Yorker, American Short Fiction, and The Cut. Washington was named a National Book Award 5 Under 35 honoree and is the 2019 winner of the Earnest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence and the Annual O. Henry Prize and the 2020 winner of the Lambda Literary Award for Gay Fiction. He currently lives in Houston, Texas and lectures at Rice University.

This program is made possible by the donors of the Fort Worth Public Library Foundation.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Fort Worth Public Library - Central, 500 West 3rd Street, Fort Worth, United States