Contemporary Issues Forum
Grown Women - Intergenerational Healing through Fiction
- SAT, AUG 1, 2026
- 3:00-4:00 PM
- Hall of Philosophy
SPEAKER:
Sarai Johnson
Award-Winning Author
TOPIC:
Writing educator and author of Grown Women, Sarai Johnson, explains how reading and writing fiction helped her grow through her own experiences with intergenerational trauma, estrangement, and motherhood. Johnson describes her journey and how others might seek healing and understanding with storytelling.
Book Signing (following lecture): Grown Women: A Novel
Speaker Bio:
Sarai Johnson grew up in the South, primarily in Nashville, Tennessee. She studied journalism and English at Howard University, and later earned a master’s degree in Literature from American University. She has taught writing at both her alma maters and with several nonprofit writing programs in the DC area. She lives in Alexandria, Virginia, with her husband, two children, and dog.
In 2025, Sarai Johnson received the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work by a Debut Author and the Zora Award for Debut Fiction at the Hurston/Wright Foundation Legacy Awards.
Venue located on Chautauqua Institution grounds; a gate pass is required.