Wright Thompson, author of the acclaimed new work about the 1955 murder of Emmett Till, will read from his book during a visit to the Sewanee area on March 23 –24.

In “The Barn: The Secret History of a Murder” in Mississippi (Penguin Books), Thompson grounds his understanding of the lynching of Till, a 14-year-old Black boy from Chicago, in the historic soil of the Mississippi Delta, zeroing in on the barn where the torture and murder took place and that still stands today.

The Washington Post called The Barn “extraordinary ... an intimate history of the tragedy, but also a deep meditation on Mississippi and America.” Time magazine selected it as one of the 100 “Must Read” books of the year, “a sensitive, deeply reported book that will make you reconsider everything you thought you knew about Till’s lynching and its place in American history.” The writer Kiese Laymon called “The Barn” “the most brutal, layered and absolutely beautiful book about Mississippi, and really how the world conspired with the best and worst parts of Mississippi, I will ever read … Reporting and reckoning can get no better, or more important, than this.”

Wright will make two public appearances to discuss his work during his visit. At 6 p.m., Monday, March 23, he will be the featured speaker at “Coffee and Conversations,” sponsored by the Friends of the Franklin County Public Library, 105 S. Porter Street, in Winchester.

On Tuesday, March 24, at 7 p.m., he will read and discuss “The Barn” in Convocation Hall on the campus of the University of the South.

Thompson’s appearance in Sewanee is sponsored by the University’s Roberson Project on Slavery, Race, and Reconciliation, in partnership with the Sewanee School of Letters and The Sewanee Review.

In connection with Thompson’s visit, the Roberson Project is offering a complementary copy to anyone in the greater Sewanee area who would like one.

To get your copy, please write to us at <robersonproject@sewanee.edu>. Book clubs are especially welcome to request multiple copies. But hurry because our supply is limited.

Thompson’s appearance is made possible by an extraordinary gift from friends of the Roberson Project and the Sewanee School of Letters.