Jeanne Carstensen's A GREEK TRAGEDY In Store Event and Book Signing

Join us at Mrs. Dalloway's Bookstore on Monday, March 31st when journalist Jeanne Carstensen comes to the store to present her new book A Greek Tragedy: One Day, a Deadly Shipwreck, and the Human Cost of the Refugee Crisis. Jeanne will be joined in conversation by Frances Dinkelspiel and will sign copies of her book after the presentation.

On October 28, 2015, a boat meant for only a few dozen passengers capsized off the coast of the Greek island of Lesvos. Hundreds of refugees, forced in desperation onto the overloaded boat manned by armed smugglers, were tossed into a roiling sea. The resulting loss of life, the largest in a single day during the crisis in the Aegean, shocked the world.

Now, after nearly a decade of research, interviews, and investigation, reporter Jeanne Carstensen has captured every detail of the dramatic twenty-four hours. This includes the recollections of the refugees’ lives before they left their homes and a full account of the courageous rescue efforts of the Greek islanders and volunteers rushing to help, even as their government and the EU failed to act. In this remarkable narrative feat, Carstensen brilliantly showcases the extraordinary heroism of ordinary people in extreme circumstances.

In a world where forced migration is on the rise, A Greek Tragedy challenges us to confront our collective humanity. It’s an unforgettable testament of our times and a compassionate depiction of the lengths to which a person will go to save another human being.

JEANNE CARSTENSEN is an award-winning journalist whose work has appeared in The New York Times, The Nation, Foreign Policy, and Salon and broadcast nationally on The World. She covered the Syrian refugee crisis in Greece and Turkey and has been awarded grants and fellowships from The Pulitzer Center, Logan Nonfiction Program, and Mesa Refuge, where she was the Peter Barnes Long-Form Journalism fellow. She lives in San Francisco.

FRANCES DINKELSPIEL is an award-winning journalist and the cofounder of the nonprofit news organization, Cityside. She is the author of Tangled Vines: Greed, M**der, Obsession, and as Arsonist in the Vineyards of California, a New York Times bestseller, and Towers of Gold: How One Jewish Immigrant Names Isaias Hellman Created California, a San Francisco Chronicle bestseller.

THIS EVENT is free but registration is requested. Registration ends at 5:30 pm on March 31st, 2025.

BECAUSE SEATING is limited, please register only if you plan to attend.

DUE TO SPACE limitations, we may not be able to accommodate every person at an event, so early registration is encouraged.

WALK-INS will be accommodated only if space allows.

WE ASK that attendees arrive between 6:45 and 7:00 PM for the event.

PLEASE leave your non-support companion animals at home.

OUR shared restrooms are not accessible after 6:30 PM, please plan accordingly.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Mrs Dalloway's, 2904 College Avenue, Berkeley, United States