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A Reading & Conversation with Garrard Conley
March 30 @ 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm
A Reading & Conversation With
New York Times-Bestselling Author, Garrard Conley
New York Times-Bestselling Author, Garrard Conley
Garrard Conley is the author of the New York Times-bestselling memoir Boy Erased (Penguin 2016), now a major motion picture. Boy Erased was nominated for a Lamdba Literary Award and was featured as a top 2016 nonfiction book by O Magazine, Buzzfeed Books, and Shelf Awareness, among others. It has now been translated in over a dozen languages.
Conley will read from his work, followed by an onstage conversation with Greg Wrenn, memoirist and JMU associate professor of English.
This event is open to students, faculty, staff, and members of the public.
LOCATION/TIME:
Thursday, March 30, 2023
6:00 PM
Wilson Hall Auditorium, James Madison University
Thursday, March 30, 2023
6:00 PM
Wilson Hall Auditorium, James Madison University
ABOUT BOY ERASED:
The New York Times bestselling memoir about identity, love and understanding.
Now a major motion picture starring Nicole Kidman, Russell Crowe, and Lucas Hedges, directed by Joel Edgerton.
“Every sentence of the story will stir your soul” (O Magazine).
The son of a Baptist pastor and deeply embedded in church life in small town Arkansas, as a young man Garrard Conley was terrified and conflicted about his sexuality. When Garrard was a nineteen-year-old college student, he was outed to his parents, and was forced to make a life-changing decision: either agree to attend a church-supported conversion therapy program that promised to “cure” him of homosexuality; or risk losing family, friends, and the God he had prayed to every day of his life. Through an institutionalized Twelve-Step Program heavy on Bible study, he was supposed to emerge heterosexual, ex-gay, cleansed of impure urges and stronger in his faith in God for his brush with sin. Instead, even when faced with a harrowing and brutal journey, Garrard found the strength and understanding to break out in search of his true self and forgiveness.
By confronting his buried past and the burden of a life lived in shadow, Garrard traces the complex relationships among family, faith, and community. At times heart-breaking, at times triumphant, Boy Erased is a testament to love that survives despite all odds.
The New York Times bestselling memoir about identity, love and understanding.
Now a major motion picture starring Nicole Kidman, Russell Crowe, and Lucas Hedges, directed by Joel Edgerton.
“Every sentence of the story will stir your soul” (O Magazine).
The son of a Baptist pastor and deeply embedded in church life in small town Arkansas, as a young man Garrard Conley was terrified and conflicted about his sexuality. When Garrard was a nineteen-year-old college student, he was outed to his parents, and was forced to make a life-changing decision: either agree to attend a church-supported conversion therapy program that promised to “cure” him of homosexuality; or risk losing family, friends, and the God he had prayed to every day of his life. Through an institutionalized Twelve-Step Program heavy on Bible study, he was supposed to emerge heterosexual, ex-gay, cleansed of impure urges and stronger in his faith in God for his brush with sin. Instead, even when faced with a harrowing and brutal journey, Garrard found the strength and understanding to break out in search of his true self and forgiveness.
By confronting his buried past and the burden of a life lived in shadow, Garrard traces the complex relationships among family, faith, and community. At times heart-breaking, at times triumphant, Boy Erased is a testament to love that survives despite all odds.
SPONSORED BY:
The Department of English; The College of Arts and Letters; The Department of Psychology; SOGIE; The Department of Justice Studies; The Nelson Institute; and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
The Department of English; The College of Arts and Letters; The Department of Psychology; SOGIE; The Department of Justice Studies; The Nelson Institute; and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
CONTACT:
For questions or more information, please email Angela M. Carter, Marketing Specialist: carte2am@jmu.edu or Professor Greg Wrenn: wrenngj@jmu.edu
For questions or more information, please email Angela M. Carter, Marketing Specialist: carte2am@jmu.edu or Professor Greg Wrenn: wrenngj@jmu.edu
