The Marshall Artist series will speak with Javier Zamora this March at the Joan C. Edwards Playhouse.
Marshall students and faculty can attend at 4 p.m. on Thursday, March 6, and there will also be a public show at 7:30 p.m.
Students can acquire free tickets for the show by visiting the Marshall Artists Series Box Office with their MU ID or when the doors open for the show.
Angela Jones, the director of marketing and external affairs for the Marshall Artist Series, said the conversation with Zamora will be moderated by Avinandan “Avi” Mukherjee, the provost and senior vice president of Academic Affairs, Montserrat Miller, the executive director for John Deaver Drinko Academy, and Tim Irr, anchor/reporter for WSAZ.
“The majority of the conversation is going to be about his book, ‘Solito,’ which is a New York Times Best Seller,” Jones said. “It’s all about his journey as a nine-year-old from El Salvador to be reunited with his parents in the United States. It was supposed to be a short journey, and it took two months, and it was terrifying along the way.”
The Marshall Artist series, for any student attending the event, will be offering a copy of Zamora’s book at the show.
“We offer a free copy of the book to students who attend,” Jones said. “If you haven’t read ‘Solito,’ and you come to the chat, and you’re very intrigued, then you’ll have the opportunity to read the book.”
This event is a part of the “Masters At Marshall Distinguished Speaker Series,” and Jones said the Marshall Artist Series are trying to get people that can spark some ideas and interesting conversation at Marshall.
“We’re trying to get folks that you know are great to spark a conversation,” Jones said.
Jones said the organization has been super excited to do this Distinguished Speaker Series, and it has been great with all the speakers they’ve had.
“We’re thrilled with this new speaker series,” Jones said. “It has been a wide, diverse selection of speakers to date. Last season, we kicked it off with Jon Meacham, who’s a political presidential historian. We did Beth Macy, who is an author and wrote the book ‘Dopesick’ that turned into the Hulu series.”
Jones said the organization has been so excited and says they would love for students to come for the opportunity, especially since tickets are free.
“I think students really don’t always recognize the opportunity, and sometimes, they miss the opportunity, and we don’t want them to miss this opportunity, so we would love for them to come out and see the show. I mean, tickets are free,” Jones said.
Soleil Woolard can be contacted at [email protected].
