Bookmarks Presents Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

Graphic for Bookmarks Presents Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah on Monday, May 15 at 6:30 pm in the Bookmarks Bookstore. Bookmarks presents Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah and his new book, Chain-Gang All-Stars, on Monday, May 15th at 6:30 pm.

This is a free event; registration is required. Each person attending the event must have a registration or book ticket. Please register on Eventbrite. Registration options:

  • Free registration: Attendance to the book talk and access to the signing line
  • Book ticket: Attendance to the book talk and a copy of Chain-Gang All-Stars

Books will also be available for purchase at the event.

To ask questions about accessibility or request accommodations, please contact Bookmarks at info@bookmarksnc.org or (336) 747-1471 x1001. At least two weeks' notice will allow us to provide the best experience possible for you and your guests.

About the Book

Loretta Thurwar and Hamara “Hurricane Staxxx” Stacker are the stars of Chain-Gang All-Stars, the cornerstone of CAPE, or Criminal Action Penal Entertainment, a highly-popular, highly-controversial, profit-raising program in America’s increasingly dominant private prison industry. It’s the return of the gladiators and prisoners are competing for the ultimate prize: their freedom.

In CAPE, prisoners travel as Links in Chain-Gangs, competing in death-matches for packed arenas with righteous protestors at the gates. Thurwar and Staxxx, both teammates and lovers, are the fan favorites. And if all goes well, Thurwar will be free in just a few matches, a fact she carries as heavily as her lethal hammer. As she prepares to leave her fellow Links, she considers how she might help preserve their humanity, in defiance of these so-called games, but CAPE’s corporate owners will stop at nothing to protect their status quo and the obstacles they lay in Thurwar’s path have devastating consequences.

About the Author

NANA KWAME ADJEI-BRENYAH is the New York Times-bestselling author of Friday Black. His work has appeared in The New York Times Book Review, Esquire, The Paris Review, and elsewhere. He was a National Book Foundation’s “5 Under 35” honoree, the winner of the PEN/Jean Stein Book Award and the Saroyan Prize, and a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle’s John Leonard Award for Best First Book, along with many other honors. Raised in Spring Valley, New York, he now lives in the Bronx.


By registering and attending this event, you agree to have your email address added to our newsletter distribution list. You may opt out at any time.

Please be advised that by attending this event your photograph or image may be taken in connection with Bookmarks. To opt out, please see a staff member. As such, you agree to relinquish any reasonable expectation of privacy and understand that the use of your image does not violate any right of privacy, law regulation, or agreement. Moreover, you hereby grant permission to Bookmarks and its representatives to use, or authorize others to use, any photographic, motion picture, image, or recording, or other record of your participation in activities in connection with Bookmarks, in whole or in part, throughout the universe in perpetuity, in all media and means, now known or hereafter developed or discovered, solely for promotional and related purposes.

Please be aware of our Code of Conduct: Bookmarks has a zero tolerance policy for harassment of any kind in person or social media, including but not limited to: Stalking; intimidation; offensive verbal comments; physical assault and/or battery; harassing or non-consensual photography or recording; sustained disruption of programs, panels, signings, and other events; bathroom policing; inappropriate physical contact; and unwelcome physical attention, in relation to, but not limited to: race, color, national origin, gender, gender identity, gender presentation, sexual orientation, age, body size, ability, appearance, religion, citizenship, pregnancy. If a person engages in harassing behavior, Bookmarks Staff will take prompt action in any form they deem appropriate, including but not limited to expulsion from the Bookmarks sponsored event or premises. This policy applies to everyone (exhibitors, attendees, authors, speakers, guests, press, staff, board members, and volunteers) at all of Bookmarks events and programming. Anyone can report harassment. If someones behavior has made you uncomfortable, or if you witness the same happening to someone else, you should immediately contact Bookmarks staff or security. In this virtual landscape, we ask that you remain respectful as you would for an in person event. We will remove and ban you from virtual events if you submit any inappropriate content, offensive or of any nature that does not pertain to the event visually, verbally, or in written content. If removed from the event, you will not receive a refund of any kind.

Event date: 
Monday, May 15, 2023 - 6:30pm
Event address: 
Bookmarks
634 W. Fourth St. #110
Winston Salem, NC 27101-2730