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Image for event: A Discussion with Author Tess Chakkalakal

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A Discussion with Author Tess Chakkalakal

in partnership with the University of Waterloo

2025-04-04 12:00:00 2025-04-04 13:00:00 America/New_York A Discussion with Author Tess Chakkalakal For Adults Main Library - James J. Brown Auditorium

Friday, April 04
12:00pm - 1:00pm

Add to Calendar 2025-04-04 12:00:00 2025-04-04 13:00:00 America/New_York A Discussion with Author Tess Chakkalakal For Adults Main Library - James J. Brown Auditorium

Main Library

James J. Brown Auditorium

For Adults

About the Event

Join us for an engaging discussion with Tess Chakkalakal, author of A Matter of Complexion: The Life and Fictions of Charles W. Chesnuttas she speaks with moderator Dr. Vay. Whether you're interested in doing some learning over your lunch hour or a student looking to explore literary history, this is a great opportunity to hear about Chakkalakal’s work and insights.

Presented in partnership with the University of Waterloo English Language and Literature Department.

About the Author

Tess Chakkalakal teaches African-American and American Literature at Bowdoin College. Her writing has appeared in The New England Quarterly, J19, American Literary History, and many others. She is the author of Novel Bondage: Slavery, Marriage, and Freedom in Nineteenth-Century American (Illinois UP, 2011) and co-editor of Jim Crow, Literature, and the Legacy of Sutton E. Griggs (University of Georgia Press, 2013) and Imperium in Imperio: A Critical Edition (West Virginia UP, 2022) She lives in Brunswick, Maine.

About the Book

In A Matter of Complexion, Tess Chakkalakal gives readers the first comprehensive biography of Charles W. Chesnutt. A complex and talented man, Chesnutt was born in 1858 in Cleveland to parents who were considered “mixed race.” He spent his early life in North Carolina after the Civil War. Though light-skinned, Chesnutt remained a member of the Black community throughout his life. He studied among students at the State Colored Normal School who were formerly enslaved. He became a teacher in rural North Carolina during Reconstruction. His life in the South of those years, the issue of race, and how he himself identified as Black informed much of his later writing. He went on to become the first Black writer whose stories appeared in The Atlantic Monthly and whose books were published by Houghton Mifflin.

Through his literary work, as a writer, critic, and speaker, Chesnutt transformed the publishing world by crossing racial barriers that divided Black writers from white and seamlessly including both Black and white characters in his writing. In A Matter of Complexion Chakkalakal pens the biography of a poor teacher raised in rural North Carolina during Reconstruction who became the first professional African American writer to break into the all-white literary establishment and win admirers as diverse as William Dean Howells, Booker T. Washington, Ida B. Wells, and Lorraine Hansberry.

About the Moderator

DR. VAY, moderating the event, is a professor in the departments of Communication Arts and English Language and Literature at the University of Waterloo, where he is also the inaugural director of Black Studies.  He research focuses on the intersections of race and masculinity in US and Canadian literature, rhetoric, performance, and sociolinguistics. He is currently completing a book of essays on teaching Black language and literature in what he terms Ameri-Canada.


Photography Notice: Please note that photographs and videos may be taken at this event and may be broadcast, reproduced, and/or made available in print or online. For individual or small group photos, staff will make attendees aware of their presence and will ask permission before taking photos. 

For larger public events, please note that by attending, you are consenting to the use of your appearance, image, and voice in print or digital productions created by the Waterloo Public Library for promotional use only. Please speak to library staff at the event if you’d like to be excluded from any photo/video. 

Programmer: Charlie

AGE GROUP: | Adults 19+ |

EVENT TYPE: | Cultures and Communities | Author Events |

TAGS: | Adult learning |

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John M. Harper Branch - Community Room
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John M. Harper Branch - Community Room
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John M. Harper Branch - Study Room 3
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John M. Harper Branch - Study Room 3
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John M. Harper Branch - Community Room
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John M. Harper Branch - Community Room
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McCormick Branch
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Main Library
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John M. Harper Branch - Community Room
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Main Library
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Eastside Branch - Study Room 1
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Eastside Branch - Study Room 1
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Sat, May 24, 10:00am - 11:00am
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McCormick Branch
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Eastside Branch - Program Room
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Main Library - James J. Brown Auditorium
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John M. Harper Branch - Community Room
For adults in their 20s and 30s.

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McCormick Branch
For kids ages 6 to 9 years old.
This event is full

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McCormick Branch
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McCormick Branch
For babies 0 to 12 months with a caregiver.
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John M. Harper Branch - Community Room
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McCormick Branch
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Main Library - James J. Brown Auditorium
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John M. Harper Branch - Community Room
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John M. Harper Branch - Program Room
For kids ages 6 to 8 years old.
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Main Library - James J. Brown Auditorium
Ages birth to 5 years with a caregiver.

Tue, May 27, 10:30am - 12:30pm
John M. Harper Branch - Community Room
For Older Adults

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Main Library - James J. Brown Auditorium
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For adults in their 20s and 30s.

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Eastside Branch - Program Room
Ages birth to 5 years with a caregiver.

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McCormick Branch
For kids ages 2 to 5 years with a caregiver.
This event is full

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John M. Harper Branch - Community Room
For Older Adults
This event is full

Wed, May 28, 2:00pm - 3:00pm
Main Library - James J. Brown Auditorium
Adults

Wed, May 28, 4:00pm - 5:00pm
Eastside Branch - Program Room
For kids ages 7 to 10 years old.
This event is full

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For kids ages 6 to 8 years old.

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Main Library - James J. Brown Auditorium
For Adults

Wed, May 28, 6:00pm - 8:00pm
Main Library
For families with school-aged children.

Wed, May 28, 6:00pm - 8:00pm
McCormick Branch
Everyone welcome

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McCormick Branch
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John M. Harper Branch - Community Room
For tweens ages 9 to 12 years old.

Thu, May 29, 10:30am - 11:30am
McCormick Branch
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Thu, May 29, 2:00pm - 3:00pm
John M. Harper Branch - Community Room
For kids ages 3 to 4 years with a caregiver. This program is intended for children entering kindergarten in September 2025.
This event is full

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McCormick Branch
For tweens ages 8 to 12 years old.
This event is full

Thu, May 29, 7:00pm - 8:00pm
Main Library - James J. Brown Auditorium
For Adults

Thu, May 29, 7:00pm - 8:00pm
John M. Harper Branch - Community Room
For Adults
This event is full

Fri, May 30, All day
All library locations
For Families

Rescheduled
Sat, May 31, 10:00am - 11:00am
New date Saturday, May 31, 2:00pm - 3:00pm
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For kids ages 6 to 9 years old.

Sat, May 31, 10:30am - 11:00am
John M. Harper Branch - Community Room
For babies 0 to 12 months with a caregiver.

Sat, May 31, 11:00am - 11:45am
Eastside Branch - Program Room
For Families

Sat, May 31, 1:00pm - 2:00pm
John M. Harper Branch - Community Room
For Families

Sat, May 31, 2:00pm - 3:00pm
McCormick Branch
For kids ages 6 to 9 years old.
This event is full

Sat, May 31, 3:00pm - 4:00pm
John M. Harper Branch - Community Room
For Families

Mon, Jun 02, 6:30pm - 7:30pm
John M. Harper Branch - Program Room
For kids ages 6 to 8 years old.
This event is full

Mon, Jun 02, 7:00pm - 8:30pm
Main Library - James J. Brown Auditorium
For Adults

Wed, Jun 04, 6:00pm - 8:00pm
Main Library - James J. Brown Auditorium
For Adults
Registration opens Wednesday, May 14 2025 at 7:00pm

Wed, Jun 04, 6:00pm - 8:00pm
Main Library
For families with school-aged children.
Registration opens Wednesday, May 14 2025 at 7:00pm

Wed, Jun 04, 6:30pm - 8:00pm
McCormick Branch
For Adults

Thu, Jun 05, 7:00pm - 8:00pm
John M. Harper Branch - Community Room
For Adults
This event is full

Rescheduled
Sat, Jun 07, 10:00am - 11:00am
New date Saturday, June 07, 2:00pm - 3:00pm
McCormick Branch
For kids ages 6 to 9 years old.

Sat, Jun 07, 2:00pm - 3:00pm
McCormick Branch
For kids ages 6 to 9 years old.
This event is full