Baldwin and Discovery of Self

Celebrating 100 Years of James Baldwin's Life

Talk by Margaret Soltan, Professor Emerita, George Washington University, DC

Professor Margaret Soltan started reading Baldwin while a sheltered, privileged, suburban 14-year-old.  She looks back to realize that it was Baldwin who introduced her to race and queerness.  Baldwin disclosed a world far more complex than the one she had always known/read about.  

Professor Soltan will touch upon Baldwin's preoccupation with basic existential/ethical questions, and how he placed these questions in an urban setting that gives them immediacy and excitement. How he initiates one into the broader imaginative/empathetic understanding/affirmation that is not only the ultimate value of literature but also a key component of a liberal disposition.

Please join us this Saturday, May 4, 2024 at 2:00 pm at the Georgetown Neighborhood Library, located at 3260 R Street NW ( and corner of Wisconsin Avenue NW).  Street parking is available on R Street.

For questions, please contact Jay at 202-727-0232

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