La Salle library to host Jesmyn Ward on June 6

The La Salle Public Library, in partnership with Illinois Libraries Present, will virtually host two-time National Book Award winner, Jesmyn Ward, in conversation with Executive Director of the American Library Association Tracie D. Hall at 7 p.m. Tuesday, June 6.

Ward is the author of fiction, non-fiction and memoir, including the bestselling “Sing, Unburied, Sing,” and the memoir “Men We Reaped.” Her many honors include the Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction, a MacArthur Genius Grant and a Strauss Living Award. In 2017, she became the first woman and first person of color to win the National Book Award for Fiction twice. The standout writer of her generation, Ward’s stories are largely set on the Gulf Coast of Mississippi, where she grew up and still lives. A professor of creative writing at Tulane University, Ward’s latest book, “Navigate Your Stars,” is an adaptation of her 2018 commencement address at Tulane that championed the value of hard work.

Hall is an American librarian, author, curator and advocate for the arts. She is the first African American woman to lead the American Library Association, where she’s served as executive director since 2020, and fights for social justice, access to information and universal broadband.

This program is free and open to the public and made possible by Illinois Libraries Present, a statewide collaboration among public libraries offering premier events. Illinois Libraries Present is funded in part by a grant awarded by the Illinois State Library, a department of the Office of Secretary of State, using funds provided by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services, under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act. Register at https://bit.ly/ILPJesmynWard.

For more information, contact the La Salle Public Library at 815-223-2341.