Ohio State University presents an evening with bestselling author Ta-Nehisi Coates

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ta-Nehisi Coates, New York Times bestselling author and National Book Award recipient, will deliver a talk at The Ohio State University on at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 13 at Mershon Auditorium, 1871 N. High St.  The talk is free and open to the public, but registration is required and the event is expected to reach capacity quickly.

Coates will give the inaugural Olivia J. Hooker Distinguished Diversity Lecture, in a discussion moderated by Don Pope-Davis, dean of the College of Education and Human Ecology. Coates’ visit is presented by the College of Education and Human Ecology, in collaboration with the Office of Diversity and Inclusion and the Office of Student Life.

The 30-minute discussion will be followed by an opportunity for questions from the audience.

Coates is a distinguished writer in residence at New York University's Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute.

He is the author of the bestselling books The Beautiful Struggle, We Were Eight Years in Power and Between The World And Me, which won the National Book Award in 2015. Coates is a recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship.

He is also the current author of the Marvel comics The Black Panther and Captain America.

Books will be available for purchase.

The Olivia J. Hooker Distinguished Diversity Lecture Series is named to memorialize Olivia J. Hooker, a 1937 graduate of the college and the first African American female to serve in the U.S. Coast Guard. The last survivor of the Tulsa Race Riots, she spent her youth and early adult years in Columbus. After studying at Ohio State, she became a teacher, and later earned a master’s degree from Teachers College of Columbia University and a PhD in psychology from the University of Rochester. Among her positions, she served as an associate professor at Fordham University. She recently passed away at the age of 103.

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Contact: Janet Ciccone.2@osu.edu, 614-292-5338