Charlie Baker Endowed Lecture Series: Leslie Jamison
Wednesday, Oct. 14, from 7–8:30 p.m.
Appalachian Theatre of the High Country
Free Admission — Open to the Public
BOONE, N.C. — Appalachian State University’s Department of English will support a special evening with New York Times best-selling novelist and essayist Leslie Jamison on Wednesday, Oct. 14, from 7–8:30 p.m. at the Appalachian Theatre of the High Country, located at 559 West King Street in downtown Boone. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.
The event — part of the Charlie Baker Endowed Lecture Series — is presented by UNC Health Appalachian and the Mountain Area Health Education Center (MAHEC) Boone Family Medicine Residency with support from App State’s Department of English. The special evening will feature Jamison discussing themes that run throughout her work, including empathy, illness, addiction, motherhood, love, and the complicated ways people make meaning from their lives.
The conversation is intended for health care professionals and anyone interested in stories, relationships, and the shared human experience. Admission is free and open to the public. All seating is general admission, and no registration is required.
Jamison is the author of the 2024 memoir Splinters, as well as the essay collections The Empathy Exams and Make It Scream, Make It Burn; the critical memoir The Recovering; and the novel The Gin Closet.
Born in Washington, D.C., and raised in Los Angeles, Jamison has also lived in Iowa, Nicaragua, and New Haven and currently lives in Brooklyn. She has worked as a baker, office temp, innkeeper, tutor, juice barista, store clerk, and medical actor, experiences she describes as distinct worlds that remain with her.
Jamison teaches in Columbia University’s MFA program, where she has worked with students for more than a decade. Her writing has appeared in publications including Harper’s, Oxford American, A Public Space, Virginia Quarterly Review, and The Believer. She is currently a contributing writer at The New Yorker.
For more information about the event, visit apptheatre.org/events-and-tickets/unchealth-leslie-jamison.
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About the Appalachian Theatre of the High Country
The independent, nonprofit Appalachian Theatre of the High Country serves as a hub for entertainment in downtown Boone and the High Country, providing programming for residents and visitors to Western North Carolina. The 627-seat theatre hosts a variety of events, including live concerts, films, theatre, dance, and educational and community productions. Reopened in 2019, the historic venue combines its original Art Deco character with modern performance capabilities. Learn more about the Appalachian Theatre of the High Country
About the Department of English
The Department of English at Appalachian State University is committed to outstanding work in the classroom, the support and mentorship of students, and a dynamic engagement with culture, history, language, theory and literature. The department offers master’s degrees in English and rhetoric and composition, as well as undergraduate degrees in literary studies, film studies, creative writing, professional writing and English education. Learn more about the Department of English
About UNC Health Appalachian
UNC Health Appalachian, the leader for healthcare in the High Country, is comprised of three hospitals, 13 medical practices, Seby B. Jones Regional Cancer Center, Rehabilitation Center, and Appalachian Healthcare Foundation. UNC Health Appalachian stays committed to promoting health in the High Country, enhancing the quality of life, and simply “making life better." Learn more about UNC Health Appalachian
A poised woman in a vivid geometric-patterned dress sits in a red chair against a dark studio background, looking calmly toward the camera.
Acclaimed writer Leslie Jamison. Photo by Beowulf Sheehan.