ACT OF GRACE
A Conversation with Karen Simpson and Robbie Ransom
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Presented by The Author's Forum
Saturday, June 25, 2011
5:00 PM
Room 2435, North Quad, 105 S. State Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Free and open to the public
This event is a special edition of the Ann Arbor Book Festival, focusing on new writers and the local writing groups that support their creative work
Book signing and sale courtesy of Crazy Wisdom Bookstore
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Karen Simpson's first novel, Act of Grace, explores the story of Grace Johnson, a bright, perceptive, African-American high school senior who saves the life of a Klansman named Jonathan Gilmore. Everyone in her hometown of Vigilant, Michigan wants to know why.
Few people, black or white, understand her actions - especially since rumor has it that many years ago, a member of the Gilmore family murdered several African-American residents. And if Grace had her way, she would not reveal the circumstances that led her to make what some deem to be a foolish sacrifice and an act of treason against her race.
The decision to remain silent, however, is not Grace's to make, for the spirit of her ancestors has emerged and insists, in ways Grace cannot ignore, that she bear witness to the violent racial history that continues to divide the town of Vigilant. But when Grace discovers a century-old tale of blood-soaked, eye-for-eye vengeance that includes the mysterious death of her own father, she questions whether she has the ability and the will to accept the mind-bending spiritual challenge in front of her.
As Grace reluctantly embarks on the unlikeliest of journeys and into the magical world of the African-American traditions used by her ancestors to fight slavery and oppression, she undergoes a spiritual transformation that leads to the true nature of her calling: to lead Jonathan Gilmore, the town of Vigilant, and her own soul on a path toward reconciliation, redemption, and true grace.
| Karen Simpson |
Karen Simpson resides in Ann Arbor Michigan and is the author of Act of Grace. She received her bachelor's degree in Animal Husbandry from Michigan State University and a M.S. in Historic Preservation from Eastern Michigan University. A historic preservationist trained in heritage interpretation and administration, she has designed exhibits for museums and other historical groups that deal with issues of cultural diversity and racial reconciliation. The subjects and themes from her fiction are often taken from the stories she discovered while doing historical research. Simpson has participated in many literary conferences including the Hurston Wright and Callaloo Creative Writing Workshops. In 2009 she was awarded the Speculative Literature Foundation’s Older Writers Grant. Act of Grace is her first novel.
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| Robbie Ransom |
Robbie Ransom was born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and raised in Flint Michigan. The mother of two sons and two daughters, Robbie started writing in graduate school after receiving Honorable Mention for Outstanding Graduate Women's Paper in Women Studies at Eastern Michigan University. She is a member of the African American Women's Writing Group and an adjunct professor in the Department of Women and Gender Studies at Eastern Michigan University. Ransom recently retired from the University of Michigan as the Director of Multicultural Programs.
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The Author's Forum is collaboration between the University of Michigan Institute for the Humanities, University Library, Great Lakes Literary Arts Center, and the Ann Arbor Book Festival.
For more info on this event, visit http://www.lsa.umich.edu/humin/events.
