The St. Louis County Library Foundation will host award-winning fiction author De’Shawn Charles Winslow at the Natural Bridge branch at 7 p.m. Tuesday Jan. 17, 2023. The Black History Celebration event is presented in partnership with December Magazine.
Winslow will discuss his book and career with Ron A. Austin, a fellow fiction writer and Saint Louis University Professor.
Winslow’s, latest work, “Decent People” is described as “a sweeping and unforgettable novel of a Black community reeling from a triple homicide, and the secrets the killings reveal.”
In a still-segregated town of West Mills, North Carolina, in 1976, three enigmatic siblings—are found shot to death in their home. The people of West Mills— on both sides of the canal that serves as the town’s color line—are in a frenzy of finger-pointing, gossip, and wonder.
The crime is the first reported murder in the area in decades, but the authorities don’t seem to have any interest in solving the case. Fortunately, one person is determined to do more than talk.
While fictional, this is not Winslow’s first foray into West Mills.
He is the 2019 winner of the First Novel Prize for In West Mills, which was published by Bloomsbury.
The novel “spans decades in a rural North Carolina town where a canal acts as the color line, In West Mills is a magnificent, big-hearted small-town story about family, friendship, storytelling, and the redemptive power of love.”
A Boston Globe review starts, “Winslow’s quietly glorious novel is dedicated ‘To the reader,’ and it engages on a level that’s appropriately intimate.”
Winslow was born and raised in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, and in 2003 moved to Brooklyn, New York. He is a 2017 graduate of Iowa Writers’ Workshop and holds a BFA in creative writing and an MA in English literature from Brooklyn College.
He has received scholarships from the Napa Valley Writers’ Conference and the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference. Winslow lives in East Harlem, New York.
Austin is an assistant professor of English at SLU. He earned a B.A. in 2007 from that university and an MFA from the University of Missouri-St. Louis in 2011.
He authored “Avery Colt Is A Snake, A Thief, A Liar in 2019
A review on heavyfeather.com says Austin’s debut novel, “follows Avery Colt from nine-years-old through the beginning of manhood. Although he regards being “soft as pudding” as his downfall, it might actually be his saving grace.”
“At its heart, this is a book about family and community.”
The St. Louis County Library Foundation is a financial supporter of the St. Louis County Library District. It assists local libraries do more by:
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Securing financial support beyond public tax dollars.
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Funding and supporting programs and special projects that promote reading and literacy.
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Partnering with area groups and businesses to build a better community.
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Serving as an ambassador and advocate for our county libraries, their programs, and community impact.
For more information, visit www. foundation.slcl.org.
