Join us as we welcome author, Lisa Braxton,  and her award-winning new novel, The Talking Drum. Lisa will begin with a drumming demonstration and tell us about the inspiration behind the novel.

The Talking Drum explores intra-racial, class, and cross-cultural tensions, along with the meaning of community and belonging. The novel explores the profound impact gentrification has on people in many neighborhoods, and the way in which being uprooted affects the fabric of their families, friendships, and emotional well-being. 

The Talking Drum is the winner of the Shelf Unbound magazine 2020 competition for Best Independently Published Book, winner of the 2020 Outstanding Literary Award from the National Association of Black Journalists, the Winner of the 2021 IPPY Gold Medal for Urban Fiction, a finalist for the 2021 International Book Awards for Multicultural Fiction, and a finalist, 2020 Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Awards.

Lisa Braxton is an essayist, short story writer, and novelist. She earned her MFA in creative writing from Southern New Hampshire University, her Master of Science in Journalism Broadcasting from Northwestern University and her Bachelor of Arts in Mass Media from Hampton University.