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NAME:Urbana Free Library
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UID:bb51ecd7-ea72-401b-8ba5-e590a0c23e29
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DTSTAMP:20260803T150450Z
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20230923T150000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20230923T163000
SUMMARY:A Conversation with Francesca T. Royster
LOCATION:The Urbana Free Library\nThe Urbana Free Library
X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=The Urbana Free Library;X-
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DESCRIPTION:Join author Francesca T. Royster for a discussion and book sig
 ning on her memoir "Choosing Family: a Memoir of Queer Motherhood and Blac
 k Resistance" as part of Pygmalion 2023..\nhttps://urbanafreelibrary.libne
 t.info/event/8844464
X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=text/html:<p>There are times in your life when you make
  choices that change everything: choosing a new job\, finding a partner\, 
 adopting or having a child. For author Francesca T. Royster\, one of those
  big changes was choosing to adopt a child with her partner later in life.
  Her nuanced memoir thoughtfully discusses how this decision affected her 
 notions of family\, adoption\, queerness\, race\, and how these topics als
 o intersected in her life. Her memoir will make you think deeply about you
 r own major life events.</p>\n<p>Francesca T. Royster is a Professor of En
 glish at DePaul University in Chicago\, and received her PhD from Universi
 ty of California\, Berkeley in English literature. She&rsquo\;s written sc
 holarly work on Shakespeare\, Black lesbian country-music fans\, Prince\, 
 and Fela Kuti on Broadway\, among other topics. She is the author of the b
 ooks <a href="https://cucatalog.org/polaris/search/searchresults.aspx?ctx=
 6.1033.0.0.1&amp\;type=Keyword&amp\;term=Black%20Country%20Music:%20Listen
 ing%20for%20Revolutions&amp\;by=KW&amp\;sort=RELEVANCE&amp\;limit=TOM=*&am
 p\;query=&amp\;page=0&amp\;searchid=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><em>
 Black Country Music: Listening for Revolutions</em></a>&nbsp\;(2022)\,&nbs
 p\;<a href="https://cucatalog.org/polaris/search/searchresults.aspx?ctx=6.
 1033.0.0.1&amp\;type=Keyword&amp\;term=Choosing%20Family:%20A%20Memoir%20o
 f%20Queer%20Motherhood%20and%20Black%20Resistance&amp\;by=KW&amp\;sort=REL
 EVANCE&amp\;limit=TOM=*&amp\;query=&amp\;page=0&amp\;searchid=2" target="_
 blank" rel="noopener"><em>Choosing Family: A Memoir of Queer Motherhood an
 d Black Resistance</em></a> (2023)\,&nbsp\;<em>Sounding Like a No-No: Quee
 r Sounds and Eccentric Acts in the Post-Soul Era</em>&nbsp\;(2013)\, and<e
 m> Becoming Cleopatra: The Shifting Image of an Icon</em>&nbsp\;(2003)\, a
 s well as numerous scholarly and creative essays.</p>\n<p><a href="https:/
 /www.abramsbooks.com/product/choosing-family_9781419756177/" target="_blan
 k" rel="noopener">Reviews on <em>Choosing Family</em></a>:</p>\n<p>&ldquo\
 ;Affecting . . .&nbsp\;Insightful and reflective\, this is a moving tribut
 e to the power of chosen family.&rdquo\; [Publisher's Weekly]</p>\n<p>&ldq
 uo\;Memorable and fluid\, professor Francesca T. Royster&rsquo\;s memoir&n
 bsp\;Choosing Family&nbsp\;blends her family&rsquo\;s history with her sto
 ry of adopting an infant girl\, juxtaposing personal life with political l
 ife and allowing each to illuminate the other. . . . In the lyrical memoir
 \, the personal and political unite in a queer\, interracial couple&rsquo\
 ;s celebration of choosing to adopt an infant.&rdquo\; [Foreword Reviews]<
 /p>\n<p>&ldquo\;The book builds on an intergenerational lineage of powerfu
 l women whose strength Royster brings to her own mothering. . . . A potent
  love letter to community in all its forms.&rdquo\; [Kirkus Reviews]</p>\n
 <p>Books will be available to purchase at the reading.</p>\n<p><em>This ev
 ent is generously funded by&nbsp\;<strong>The Urbana Free Library Foundati
 on</strong>.</em></p>\nhttps://urbanafreelibrary.libnet.info/event/8844464
URL;VALUE=URI:https://urbanafreelibrary.libnet.info/event/8844464
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