George Saunders, Misty Copeland, Parents Of Trayvon Martin To Headline Chicago Humanities Festival

By Stephen Gossett in Arts & Entertainment on Jan 4, 2017 6:51PM

Chicago Humanities Festival

The Chicago Humanities Festival just announced its headliners for the upcoming winter program, and true to form, the lineup doesn’t disappoint. Scheduled to appear in separate events are Chicago-native short-story great George Saunders, color-barrier-breaking American Ballet Theatre dancer Misty Copeland, and Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin, mother and father of the late Trayvon Martin.

Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin on Thursday, Feb. 17 and Friday, Feb. 18
Five years after the tragic, controversial death of their son, Trayvon Martin, his parents come to a city grappling with its own problems of racism, violence and criminal justice to share their experience and perspective. A book by Fulton and Martin, Rest in Power: The Enduring Life of Trayvon Martin, comes out in hardcover on January 31.

George Saunders on Thursday, March 2
The Chicago native and MacArthur Genius Grant recipient has written some of the most celebrated short fiction of the last two decades, including the National Book Award finalist Tenth of December and (a Chicagoist favorite) CivilWarLand in Bad Decline. Saunders returns to his old stomping grounds to discuss his upcoming debut novel, Lincoln in the Bardo.

Misty Copeland on Thursday, March 23
The first African-American principal dancer at the American Ballet Theatre, Copeland talks with longtime Chicago broadcaster Robin Robinson about diversity in ballet and overcoming racism and personal injury.

Tickets are available now for CHF members and go on sale to the general public on Thursday, Jan. 12. Tickets, times and location information are available here.