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PEN America Presents:

Birmingham READS: South to America by Imani Perry

An interactive discussion of the book, South to America by Imani Perry.

Please join PEN America Birmingham for a community discussion and writing workshop on the value of southern colloquialism, marginalization, language, and identity. Using Imani Perry’s South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation as a discussion guide, attendees will discuss the importance of the south, valuing its distinct voice and vernacular as key components to telling the truth of our nation.

The Birmingham Reads Project is a citywide literary event dedicated to engaging and uniting Birmingham community members in reading one book of fiction or nonfiction in one given year. This year’s selection South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation (winner of the 2022 National Book Award for nonfiction), by Birmingham native Imani Perry, is an ambitious accounting of the beauty, tragedy, and history of the Southern United States.

Teaching artist Tania De’Shawn will lead attendees through a dynamic session that will dive deep into the double meanings of how the south tells stories of freedom and enslavement, the God of the free and the enslaved.

Please note: You don’t have to have read South to America to enjoy this dynamic and interactive event.

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