Join Arlington Public Library for an evening with Joel Christian Gill, author of FIGHTS, New York Times Best Graphic Novel of 2020 and YALSA 2021 Great Graphic Novels for Teens.

 
FIGHTS is the visceral and deeply affecting memoir of artist/author Joel Christian Gill, chronicling his youth and coming of age as a Black child in a chaotic landscape of rough city streets and foreboding backwoods. Propelled into a world filled with uncertainty and desperation, young Joel is pushed toward using violence to solve his problems by everything and everyone around him. But fighting doesn't always yield the best results for a confused and sensitive kid who yearns for a better, more fulfilling life than the one he was born into, as Joel learns in a series of brutal conflicts that eventually lead him to question everything he has learned about what it truly means to fight for one.
 
 
About the author
Joel Christian Gill is a cartoonist, historian and Associate Professor of Illustration at Massachusetts College of Art and Design. He wrote the words and drew the pictures in the series Strange Fruit and Tales of The Talented Tenth (Fulcrum books). His latest work is a memoir chronicling how children deal with abuse and trauma: Fights: One Boy's Triumph Over Violence (Oni Press January 2020.) He is currently adapting the 2016 National Book Award winning Stamped from the Beginning a Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Prof. Ibram X Kendi into a graphic novel from Ten Speed Press.  Gill has dedicated his life to creating stories to build connections with readers through empathy, compassion, and ultimately humanity. He received his MFA from Boston University and his BA from Roanoke College.
 
 
Registration required. This event will be held via Zoom. Instructions to join the Zoom meeting will be emailed to all registrants. You don't have to read the book to join, but it is encouraged.
Date:
Friday, February 12, 2021
Time:
4:00pm - 5:00pm
Audience:
Events for High Schoolers Good for Parents
Categories:
Author Talk
Calendar:
Arlington Public Library
Registration has closed.

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  • Phone: 703-228-5993
  • Email: Jberg@arlingtonva.us