Bliss Broyard This Way Comes

Bliss Broyard, American fiction writer and memoirist
November 17, 2008 at 4 p.m.
Weinstein Hall’s Brown-Alley Room

Bliss Broyard is the author of two books: a “beautifully choreographed” collection of stories, My Father Dancing, (Booklist reviewer Donna Seaman) and a provocative memoir/family history, One Drop: My Father’s Hidden Life—A Story of Race and Family Secrets. Broyard’s short fiction has appeared in a variety of venues and was selected for both the Best American Short Stories of 1998 and The Pushcart Anthology.

The daughter of New York Times literary critic Anatole Broyard, Bliss Broyard learned when she was in her early twenties and shortly before her father died in 1990, that he had African ancestry. One Drop explores the reasons behind her father’s choice to pass for white, traces her hidden family history back to New Orleans, details her meetings with family members whom she did not know and reveals her own struggle to come to terms with what all of this means for her own identity and sense of self. Her latest book, which reads like a novel, was published to widespread acclaim last fall and will be out in paperback in September. The Richmond Quest is sponsoring Broyard’s visit.


It's being held in the same room used for Trey Ellis's reading. Now, I know it's in the middle of the afternoon on a week day, and 4 p.m. might make it tough to make for some brothers (whenever I sponsor events, I usually hold them at night, but this ain't my event). Still, I hope the advance notice will allow you to arrange for some time off and you can come check her out...