The renowned novelist and the revered artist discuss their new book, a unique collaboration that explores the hidden history of the plant world. Pre-order your copy of An Encyclopedia of Gardening for Colored Children and get your free ticket now!

Jamaica Kincaid and Kara Walker come together to share their new book, a one-of-a-kind production entitled An Encyclopedia of Gardening for Colored Children. It is an inventive and surprising survey about what our gardens reveal. Kincaid offers an ABC of the plants that define our world and reveals the often brutal history behind them. Walker illustrates each entry with provocative, brilliant, enthralling, many-layered watercolors. They speak with New Yorker staff writer and theater critic Hilton Als.

Presented as part of The Polonsky Exhibition of The New York Public Library's Treasures, which showcases some of the most extraordinary items from the 56 million in our collections. Among them is The Brownies Book, a children’s magazine published by W.E.B. Du Bois and whose primary intended audience was Black children. The event will begin with a short talk on The Brownies Book and other items reflecting stories of Black childhood by Barrye Brown, the Curator of Manuscripts, Archives, and Rare Books at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.

Pre-order your copy of the book! Tickets labeled "In-Person (with book)" include a copy of An Encyclopedia of Gardening for Colored Children that you'll receive upon entry.

To join the event in-person | Doors will open 45 minutes before the program begins. For LIVE from NYPL events, we generally overbook to ensure a full house. Booked seats that have not been claimed will be released shortly before start time, and seats may become available then. A standby line will form 45 minutes before the program.

To join the livestream | Want a copy of An Encyclopedia of Gardening for Colored Children? Order your book at the Library Shop—proceeds benefit The New York Public Library.

A livestream of this event will be available on the NYPL event page. To receive an email reminder shortly in advance of the event, please be sure to register! If you encounter any issues, please join us on NYPL's YouTube channel.

An Encyclopedia of Gardening for Colored Children will also be available for purchase from the Library Shop the evening of the event. All books purchased in the bundle should be picked up the evening of the event. If you are unable to pick up your book the evening of the event, you must pick up your book at the NYPL Shop within 14 days. Any unclaimed books will be donated to the Library.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Jamaica Kincaid was born in St. John’s, Antigua. Her books include At the Bottom of the River, Annie John, Lucy, The Autobiography of My Mother, My Brother, Mr. Potter, and See Now Then. She teaches at Harvard University and lives in Vermont.

Kara Walker is best known for her candid investigation of race, gender, sexuality, and violence through silhouetted figures. She was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship in 1997 and an Eileen Harris Norton Fellowship in 2008. She has been the Tepper Chair in Visual Arts at Rutgers University since 2015. Her work can be found in museums throughout the world, including the Guggenheim, MoMA, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Tate Gallery. She lives in New York.

Hilton Als is an award-winning journalist, critic and curator. He has been a staff writer at The New Yorker since 1994. Prior to The New Yorker, Als was a staff writer for the Village Voice and an editor-at-large at Vibe. He has received numerous awards for his work, including the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism (2017), Yale’s Windham-Campbell Literature Prize (2016), the George Jean Nathan Award for Dramatic Criticism (2002-03), and a Guggenheim Fellowship (2000). His first book, The Women, was published in 1996. His next book, White Girls, was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and the winner of the Lambda Literary Award in 2014. His most recent book, My Pinup, was published in November 2022. In 2017, he curated the critically lauded exhibition Alice Neel, Uptown, which traveled from David Zwirner, New York, to Victoria Miro, London and Venice. In 2019, Als presented God Made My Face: A Collective Portrait of James Baldwin at David Zwirner, New York, followed by Frank Moore at, David Zwirner, New York (2021) and Toni Morrison’s Black Book, at David Zwirner, New York (2022). He curated a series of three successive exhibitions for the Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, of the work of Celia Paul (2018), Lynette Yiadom-Boakye (2019), and Njideka Akunyili Crosby (2022). In 2022, he curated Joan Didion: What She Means at the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, which traveled to the Perez Art Museum Miami. He is currently a teaching professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and has also taught at Columbia University's School of the Arts, Princeton University, Wesleyan University, and the Yale School of Drama.

READ THE BOOK:

• Borrow: NYPL Catalog


• E-Book app: SimplyE, available on iOS and Android

Don't have a New York Public Library card? Get one here!

If you have symptoms consistent with COVID-19 or suspect you have been in close contact with someone who has tested positive, please stay home.

ACCESSIBILITY

In-Person | Assistive listening devices and/or hearing loops are available at the venue. You can request a free ASL (American Sign Language) interpretation or CART (Communication Access Real-Time Translation) captioning service by emailing your request at least two weeks in advance of the event: email accessibility@nypl.org or use this Gmail template. This venue is fully accessible to wheelchairs. 

Livestream | Captions and a transcript will be provided. Media used over the course of the conversation will be accompanied by alt text and/or audio description. You can request a free ASL (American Sign Language) interpretation by emailing your request at least two weeks in advance of the event: email accessibility@nypl.org or use this Gmail template.

CONNECT

For questions and inquiries, please email publicprograms@nypl.org or use this Gmail template.

Please submit press inquiries at least 48 hours before the event: email press@nypl.org or use this Gmail template.

The New York Public Library's free services and resources are made possible thanks to the support of the Friends of the Library. Join this group of Library lovers and take advantage of special membership benefits, like invitations to members-only virtual events, discounts at the Library Shop, and more. Join now.

LIVE from NYPL is made possible by the continuing generosity of Celeste Bartos, Mahnaz Ispahani Bartos and Adam Bartos, the Margaret and Herman Sokol Public Education Endowment Fund, and the support of Library patrons and friends.

Treasures programming is made possible by the Estate of Helen Sisserson.

Jamaica Kincaid © Kenneth Noland
Kara Walker © Ari Marcopoulos
Hilton Als © Ali Smith