Tamara Payne on Pulitzer Prize-Winning Biography of Malcolm X Presented by Purchase College

Purchase College-SUNY will present Tamara Payne in Conversation with Professor Andrew Salomon on Thursday, Oct. 21, 2021, from 6:00 – 7:00 p.m. Payne will be discussing her late father’s award-winning book, The Dead Are Arising: The Life of Malcolm X.

The program, which is free and open to the public, will be held digitally via Zoom. The event continues the exciting fall season of the Durst Distinguished Lecture Series, a premiere cultural offering that features leading guest authors.

The Dead Are Arising: The Life of Malcolm X won the Pulitzer Prize in Biography and the National Book Award for Nonfiction, was longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction, and was named a best book of the year by the New York Times, The Washington Post, and many other publications. Les Payne, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who served as an editor and columnist at Newsday, worked on The Dead Are Arising for nearly 30 years. Tamara, his daughter, was the lead researcher and co-author, completing the book after he passed away in 2018 at the age of 76.

“Les Payne and Tamara Payne have added greatly to the understanding of Malcolm X and the ongoing struggle for many Americans to achieve the full promise of American ideals,” said Andrew Salomon, an associate professor of Journalism at Purchase. “Tamara continues the legacy of her father to follow the facts and write the truth, and to hold those in power to account.”

Anthony Domestico, an associate professor of Literature at Purchase and Chair of the Literature Department, added, “The Dead Are Arising is an awesome work of history, graceful in its style and meticulous in its research. It’s also a record of, and tribute to, scholarly collaboration and familial love.”

To register for the event, visit https://purchase.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJItdu-vpz4tGdIeWyXdkvK2qxfPnOm0_ytH

As a small public college, Purchase is proud to introduce students to the level of expertise provided by the Durst Distinguished Lectures. Current and past Durst Lecturers have won an impressive array of the highest level of literary honors, including National Book Awards, MacArthur Foundation Grants, Pulitzer Prizes, Guggenheim Foundation Fellowships and Man Booker Prizes for Fiction.

This season of Durst Distinguished Lectures will continue with Lynda Barry, the leading cartoonist, painter, and writer, at an in-person and simulcast event on Oct. 28. Ms. Barry was selected as this year’s Roy and Shirley Durst Distinguished Chair in Literature. Kaitlyn Greenidge will be featured on Nov. 9 in a virtual program.

The Durst Distinguished Lecture Series and the Roy and Shirley Durst Distinguished Chair in Literature are funded by the Roy and Shirley Durst Distinguished Chair in Literature Endowment. The mission of the Durst programs is to infuse the experience and intellect of leading writers into the Purchase community, while providing diverse opportunities for these writers to interact with students and influence campus life.

For more information, please visit: https://www.purchase.edu/academics/school-of-humanities/lectures/durst-distinguished-lectures/; call 914.251.6550, or email humanities@purchase.edu.

About Performing Arts Center

Experience. Something. Real. The Performing Arts Center, Purchase College, a four-theater complex located on the campus of Purchase College, SUNY, is the major professional, non-profit arts presenter in the region. The Center presents a broad range of professional performances that engage, challenge, and educate as well as entertain, offering world-class music, dance, theatre, comedy, film, and family programming to audiences from throughout the region. Music presenting ranges from classical to pop and features the leading artists of our time as well as emerging stars; as the major regional presenter of dance, programs have included only area appearances of several important traditional, contemporary, and folkloric companies; theatre presentations reflect a deep commitment to presenting innovative ensembles. The Center’s on-going initiatives also encompass artist partnerships, residency activities, and commissions; creating opportunities for students to participate in the artistic process; increasing educational opportunities in the arts for k -12 students and multi-generational learners; and revitalizing efforts in the community to make the arts more accessible to broad and diverse audiences. Box Office Hours: Tuesday – Friday, Noon – 6 p.m., Weekends and evenings before performances.