Author Danzy Senna to Speak at University of Richmond
September 27, 2004
Danzy Senna, author of the award-winning debut novel "Caucasia," will speak on writing about racial identity and read from her fiction at the University of Richmond at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 4 in Keller Hall.
The program, sponsored by the Richmond Quest, is open to the public at no charge.
Recipient of the 2002 Whiting Writers' Award, Senna recently released her second novel "Symptomatic." Both books examine the politics of race and self-identity.
"Caucasia" takes readers inside the world of two girls born out of a biracial marriage during the 1970s and raises questions of race and identity within a coming-of-age tale. It won the Stephen Crane Award for the best new fiction of the year and the American Library Association's Alex Award. It was a Los Angeles Times Best Book of the Year and one of School Library Journal's best books of the year for young adults.
"Symptomatic" continues Senna's examination of race, going a step further. The narrator is a recent college graduate living in New York City on a writing fellowship at a respected magazine. Her friendship with an older woman at work grows into something more complicated, as she becomes the object of the woman's obsession. As the young woman attempts to regain control of her life, she must ultimately question her choices.
For more information on the program, call (804) 289-8287.