Date: Wednesday 9/18
Time: 7-8p
Age Group: Adults 18+

Program Location: Shanis Auditorium

Description: Nationally bestselling author Louis Bayard will discuss his 9/17 release, The Wildes. A master of historical fiction, Bayard's newest novel explores the life of literary legend Oscar Wilde. In this singularly powerful novel, Bayard brings Oscar Wilde’s wife Constance and two sons out from the shadows of history and creates a vivid and poignant story of secrets, loss, and love.

“Wonderfully researched, beautifully crafted, movingly told… a treasure to read.” — Andrew Sean Greer

“Witty, poignant, and richly imagined... A boldly audacious re-visioning of the martyrdom of Oscar Wilde, one which would have astonished Wilde himself.” — Joyce Carol Oates

Book sale and signing to follow the discussion, brought to you by Reads and Company Bookshop.

Presenter:  In the words of the New York Times, Louis Bayard “reinvigorates historical fiction,” rendering the past “as if he’d witnessed it firsthand.” His acclaimed novels include The Pale Blue Eye, adapted into the global #1 Netflix release starring Christian Bale, Jackie & Me, ranked by the Washington Post as one of the top novels of 2022, the national bestseller Courting Mr. Lincoln, Roosevelt's Beast, The School of Night, The Black Tower, and Mr. Timothy, as well as the highly praised young-adult novel, Lucky Strikes. His reviews and articles have appeared in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and Salon, and he is a contributing writer to the Washington Post Book World. A former instructor at George Washington University, he was the chair of the PEN/Faulkner Awards and the author of the popular Downton Abbey recaps for the New York Times. His work has been translated into more than a dozen languages.

Registration: Online registration required. Registration begins 8/12. Click here to register.