Originally broadcast at 3:30 p.m. ET Thursday, August 25, 2022.

This program is made possible by the Caroline Roberts Barnum and Julianne Barnum Follansbee Fund

Dawnie Walton will join us in the Hall of Philosophy to give the author’s presentation for the 2022 CLSC selection, The Final Revival of Opal & Nev.

Named best book of the 2021 by Barack Obama, The Washington Post, NPR, Esquire, Entertainment Weekly, Goodreads, The Millions, Reader’s Digest, Kirkus Reviews, among others, The Final Revival of Opal & Nev is an electrifying novel about the meteoric rise of an iconic interracial rock duo in the 1970s, their sensational breakup, and the dark secrets unearthed when they try to reunite decades later for one last tour.

Dawnie Walton is a fiction writer and journalist whose work explores identity, place, and the influence of pop culture. She has won fellowships from the MacDowell Colony and the Tin House Summer Workshop, and earned her MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Previously, she worked as an executive-level editor for magazine and multimedia brands, including Essence, Entertainment Weekly, Getty Images, and LIFE. A native of Jacksonville, Florida, she lives with her husband in Brooklyn.

About Chautauqua Institution: Chautauqua Institution is a community on the shores of Chautauqua Lake in southwestern New York state that comes alive each summer with a unique mix of fine and performing arts, lectures, interfaith worship and programs, and recreational activities. As a community, we celebrate, encourage and study the arts and treat them as integral to all of learning, and we convene the critical conversations of the day to advance understanding through civil dialogue. CHQ Assembly is the online expression of Chautauqua Institution's mission.