Colson Whitehead, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning “The Underground Railroad,” will speak at 7 p.m. on Jan. 31 in the UWM Student Union Wisconsin Room.
The novel, which also won the 2016 National Book Award for fiction, imagines a world in which the Underground Railroad is a secret network of train tracks and tunnels beneath the southern United States. The story follows two slaves escaping to freedom.
The National Book Award judges called the novel “A suspenseful tale of escape and pursuit, which combines elements of fantasy and the counter-factual with an unflinching, painfully truthful depiction of American slavery.”
The UWM information desk is selling discounted tickets. UWM student tickets cost $13. Faculty and staff tickets cost $16. A signed paperback edition of “The Underground Railroad” is included in the ticket cost.
The event is presented by the UWM Student Union and Boswell Book Company.
