Ladee Hubbard, author of The Talented Ribkins (Melville House, 2017), will come to St. Pete next month as the 2018 LitSpace St. Petersburg Writing Resident. Toni Morrison called Hubbard's book, which is set in Florida, an "original and wildly inventive novel is in a class by itself."
Hubbard is the third Writing Resident selected by Keep St. Pete Lit. She'll work on her second novel while in residency here June 6-20. She'll also host a public reading and offer a writing workshop.
“Naming Ladee as our 2018 Resident is a huge step forward for us,” said Keep St. Pete Lit co-founder and Executive Director Maureen McDole. “Our mission is to help connect Tampa Bay to the national literary conversation, and Ladee is very much at the center of that.”
Hubbard teaches Africana Studies at Tulane University. Although born in Massachusetts, she grew up in Florida and the US Virgin Islands.
Kirkus Reviews selectedThe Talented Ribkins as one of its Best Books of 2017. KSPL describes it as such:
"The Talented Ribkins is a cutting but humane satire that’s equal parts Colson Whitehead, Jonathan Swift, and The X-Men. Each member of the Ribkins family has an extraordinary ability, from scaling any wall to breathing fire. While W.E.B. Dubois’ might have placed them in the “talented tenth” of African-American leaders, they haven’t all lived up to that call. Now the family patriarch, Johnny Ribkins, finds himself entangled with mobsters and racing around Florida as he scrambles to pay off old debts."
Want to take her writing workshop? Of course you do. We'll let you know as soon as we know as it's scheduled.
