About this Event
Join us at Bookstore1Sarasota for a special evening with Kwame Alexander, bestselling author, poet, and Emmy Award-winning producer, in conversation with bookstore owner Georgia Court.
At the heart of the evening is the exciting next chapter for The Crossover, Alexander's Newbery Medal-winning novel, which is being adapted into a stage musical. Commissioned and developed by Chautauqua Theater Company, the highly anticipated production is being workshopped in Chautauqua and New York City, with Tony Award-winner Thomas Kail serving as creative consultant.
But the conversation won't stop there. From poetry and novels to television, theater, and beyond, Alexander's work spans genres, mediums, and audiences. Together, he and Court will explore storytelling, imagination, artistic reinvention, the power of collaboration, and what it means to lead a generative creative life.
Enjoy light refreshments before the conversation begins. Following the discussion and audience Q&A, Alexander will sign books for attendees. A selection of his books will be available for purchase at the bookstore.
KWAME ALEXANDER is a #1 New York Times bestselling author of 48 books, including The Undefeated, which won the Caldecott Medal, Why Fathers Cry at Night, The Mighty Macy, Black Star, a Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book, J vs. K, an illustrated novel he penned with Jerry Craft, and The Crossover, his Newbery Medal-winning novel turned Emmy® Award-winning Disney+ TV series.
He is also the co-creator and executive producer of the twice Emmy-nominated Acoustic Rooster and His Barnyard Band and Acoustic Rooster: Jazzy Jams, a PBS KIDS special and series of shorts produced by GBH Kids based on his beloved children's book of the same name. He regularly shares his passion for literacy, books and the craft of writing around the world, including Ghana, West Africa, where he opened the Barbara E. Alexander Memorial Library and Health Clinic.
A recipient of the 2025 NAACP Image Award, Kwame is the Distinguished Fellow at the African American Heritage House at Chautauqua (pronounced Shuh-Tah-Kwuh), a 2026 Sine 250+ Fellow at American University, the founder of the literacy non-profit One Word at a Time, and the founder and publisher of the new Sourcebooks imprint Kwame Alexander Books.
GEORGIA COURT has mostly enjoyed a career in words, although she took a detour into high-tech, working a few years as an IBM systems engineer. After earning her master's in journalism she was marketing director for a PBS station then ran her own PR-events company, wrote a book about event planning, published a healthcare newspaper, wrote a regular column for one of Cincinnati's daily newspapers, and taught at the University of Cincinnati. She opened Bookstore1Sarasota in March 2011. Lately she's been sharing her poetry via Substack. You can find her there under the handle @georgiacourt.
Event venue & nearby stays
Bookstore1Sarasota, 117 S. Pineapple Ave., Sarasota, United States
Concerts, fests, parties, meetups — all the happenings, one place.