Please join the University of Georgia Press and the Grady College of Journalism & Mass Communication's Low-residency MFA Program in Narrative Nonfiction in celebrating the book launch of High Yella: A Modern Family Memoir by Steve Majors, a book Kirkus Reviews called "A brave reckoning with multiple questions of identity, class, family, race."
Valerie Boyd, the Charlayne Hunter-Gault Distinguished Writer in Residence and founder and director of Grady’s innovative low-residency MFA Program in Narrative Nonfiction will introduce Majors, whose book is the latest release in Crux: The Georgia Series in Literary Nonfiction. Majors will read excerpts from his book, which will be followed by a Q&A moderated by Anjali Enjeti, author of Southbound: Essays on Identity, Inheritance, and Social Change.
Part of the 2021 Spotlight on the Arts Festival, this virtual event is free and open to the public. Books are available to purchase directly from UGA Press on their website for 30% off with code 08HIYELLA at check out here: https://ugapress.org/book/9780820360317/high-yella/
MORE ABOUT HIGH YELLA
Majors was the white passing, youngest son growing up in an all-Black family that struggled with poverty, abuse, and generational trauma. High Yella is the poignant account of how he tried to leave his troubled childhood and family behind to create a new identity, only to discover he ultimately needed to return home to truly find himself. And after he and his husband adopt two Black daughters, he must set them on their own path to finding their place in the world by understanding the importance of where they come from.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
STEVE MAJORS is a former television news journalist who worked for media organizations such as NBC News and most recently for mission-driven national nonprofits. His essays on race, culture, and identity have been published in the New York Times, Washington Post, and other outlets. Currently he serves as vice president of marketing for Teach for America. He lives in suburban Maryland with his family.