Name: I. Augustus Durham Author Talk and Book Signing
Start: 2025-01-11T14:00:00-06:00
End: 2025-01-11T16:00:00-06:00
Location: 1030 Elysian Fields Ave

I. Augustus Durham Author Talk and Book Signing

Augustus examines melancholy and genius in black culture, letters, music, and media from the nineteenth century to the contemporary moment.
About this Event

In Stay Black and Die, I. Augustus Durham examines melancholy and genius in black culture, letters, and media from the nineteenth century to the contemporary moment. Durham explores the black mother as both a lost object and a found subject often obscured when constituting a cultural legacy of genius across history. He analyzes the works of Frederick Douglass, Ralph Ellison, Marvin Gaye, Octavia E. Butler, and Kendrick Lamar to show how black cultural practices and aesthetics abstract and reveal the lost mother through performance. In so doing, Durham demonstrates that melancholy becomes the catalyst for genius and genius in turn is a signifier of the maternal, making the black feminine/maternal foundational to the production of black masculinist genius.

Don't miss this powerful talk and chance to meet Augustus, hear him speak about his work, and get your books signed. Please be sure to RSVP today and secure your seat at Baldwin & Co.