NEW YORK—April 15, 2021—Ijeoma Oluo, the author of So You Want to Talk About Race and Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male Power, is to speak at the U.S. Book Show. Ms. Oluo will be in conversation with Rakesh Satyal at the U.S Book Show. Mr. Satyal acquired Ms. Oluo’s forthcoming book, Be a Revolution, for HarperOne last year.
Named one of Seattle’s top 50 most influential women, the Nigerian-American Oluo, who lives in Seattle, is a widely admired speaker and author who saw her nonfiction So You Want to Talk About Race (Seal, 2018) hit the New York Times bestseller list with its publication in 2018 and remain a consistent bestseller. Since its release in 2018, the book has sold more than 405,000 print copies, according to NPD BookScan.
Publishers Weekly gave Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male Power, published by Seal Press in December, 2020, a starred review, noting, “Erudite yet accessible, grounded in careful research as well as Oluo’s personal experiences of racism and misogyny, this is an essential reckoning with race, sex, and power in America.”
“We are pleased to sit down to discuss Ijeoma’s groundbreaking work, including So You Want to Talk About Race and Mediocre, as well as give viewers a sneak peek into her next book, Be a Revolution,” said Mr. Satyal.
Rakesh Satyal is executive editor at HarperOne, a division of HarperCollins Publishers, and a Lambda Literary Award winner for Blue Boy (Kensington, 2007), which also won the 2009 Prose/Poetry Award from the Association of Asian American Studies. His second book was No One Can Pronounce My Name (Picador USA, 2017).
“Ijeoma Oluo is a great talent and an important voice in the national conversation. We are thrilled about having her take the stage at the U.S. Book Show to reflect on her past writings and take us into the future with a discussion of Be a Revolution,” said Krista Rafanello, senior marketing director of Publishers Weekly and the show manager of the U.S. Book Show.
Ms. Oluo was named to the 2021 TIME 100 Next list and has twice been named to the Root 100. Her work on race has been featured in the Guardian, the New York Times and the Washington Post, among many other publications. She received the 2018 Feminist Humanist Award and the 2020 Harvard Humanist of the Year Award from the American Humanist Association.
The live-streaming conversation between Ms. Oluo and Mr. Satyal will take place during the U.S. Book Show, at a day and time to be announced.
The inaugural U.S. Book Show (#USBookShow) is a three-day virtual conference conceived and crafted by Publishers Weekly to serve the bookselling, library, media and book publishing industry. The most trusted voice in the industry for nearly 150 years, Publishers Weekly offers deep editorial expertise and dedication to excellence.
The U.S. Book Show, which runs May 25 – 27, 2021, features a wide array of editor, book and author panels; livestreaming Q&A sessions with editors; topical library panels; professional programming geared to publishing professionals; networking opportunities and awards celebrations; and robust exhibit halls featuring publishers, big and small.
Participants and attendees will discover valuable information about forthcoming Fall 2021 titles and delight in one-to-one connections with exhibitors, booksellers, librarians, book media, publishers, authors, editors, members of the book publishing industry and allied professionals.
For more information, contact Christi Cassidy, +1-917-217-4269, ccassidy@publishersweekly.com.
High-res headshots of Ms. Oluo and Mr. Satyal:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/m66kh8lgwdmwqph/AAC2cY_Pd4HokNl1kBSAgcrTa?dl=0
Photos courtesy of the subjects.
Information about panels, speakers, registration, media passes, group sales, exhibiting: https://www.usbookshow.com
Press passes are available at https://usbookshow.com/press/
About Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly is the international news platform of the book publishing industry. Founded in 1872 and published weekly since then, the magazine boasts 1.23 million social media followers; publishes 10 e-newsletters, BookLife (a website and semimonthly supplement), Publishers Weekly en Español (in partnership with Lantia), two blogs, podcasts, a mobile edition, digital editions, and apps; and features a thriving website that reaches 14 million unique visitors annually. In conjunction with the Sharjah Book Fair, the magazine is also published in an Arabic edition.
In the last 10 years, Publishers Weekly has launched several events for the international publishing community, including New York Rights Fair, which was held in conjunction with BookExpo in New York; PubTechConnect, a series of high-level conversations about the convergence of technology and publishing, cosponsored by NYU School of Professional Studies Center for Publishing; and Global Kids Connect, an occasional conference held with BolognaFiere.
In 2020, in response to the pandemic restrictions on in-person events, Publishers Weekly launched Books on Tap, a sponsored networking event with authors; Library Lounge LIVE, a regular panel discussion on library topics; and the U.S. Selfies, an awards program for self-published authors, produced in conjunction with BookBrunch and based on the U.K. Selfies awards. PW Star Watch, an annual event to promote up-and-coming talent in the publishing industry, celebrated its sixth year with a virtual event in September 2020.