Listen to local author Mimi Yahn talk about her debut novel, Usurpation on Thursday, October 24 at 6:30 p.m. at the Rockingham Library. Set in 1997 and spanning two cities — Portland, Oregon, and New Orleans — Usurpation tells a powerful story about gentrification through the lives of two families, and the eyes of the novel's historian protagonist, Kitty Feliz. When her best friend's son is murdered, Kitty uncovers a racist scheme involving drug gangs, police corruption, and gentrification through the deliberate blighting of Portland's historically Black district, Albina. The author, writing under the nom de plume of Marie St. Pez, tells this story through the musings of Kitty Feliz, whose experiences as a Black lesbian lyrically link the personal with the political, and the heart with the mind. Copies of her book will be available to purchase.

Marie St. Pez is the nom de plume of Springfield resident Mimi Yahn, a long-time writer of essays, short stories, investigative articles, and political blogs. Yahn lived in New Orleans and Portland, Oregon, during the 1990s and witnessed the impact of urban renewal schemes on Black communities in both cities and the origins of gentrification throughout Portland's historically Black district, Albina. Usurpation is now available in bookstores, through the Phoenix Books, Barnes & Noble and Amazon websites, and directly from the author at www.mariestpez.wordpress.com This program is free and open to the public.

For more information, email programming@rockinghamlibrary.org, call (802) 463-4270 or stop by the Rockingham Library at 65 Westminster St.

Event Info

Dec 29, 2024, 10 AM to 12 PM

Jan 1, 2025, 10:30 AM to 12:30 PM

Jan 3, 2025, 6:30 to 9:30 PM