American School for the Deaf & MTH&M present TRUE BIZ with Sara Nović and Jeff Bravin (Virtual)

The American School for the Deaf and The MTH&M join to welcome author Sara Nović discussing TRUE BIZ – A Novel with ASD Executive Director Jeff Bravin. This virtual discussion will be presented via Zoom with American Sign Language interpretation and closed captioning. 

True biz (adj./exclamation; American Sign Language): really, seriously, definitely, real-talk

True biz? The students at the River Valley School for the Deaf just want to hook up, pass their history finals, and have politicians, doctors, and their parents stop telling them what to do with their bodies. This revelatory novel plunges readers into the halls of a residential school for the deaf, where they’ll meet Charlie, a rebellious transfer student who’s never met another deaf person before; Austin, the school’s golden boy, whose world is rocked when his baby sister is born hearing; and February, the headmistress, who is fighting to keep her school open and her marriage intact, but might not be able to do both. As a series of crises both personal and political threaten to unravel each of them, Charlie, Austin, and February find their lives inextricable from one another—and changed forever. 

FREE virtual event, although donations are gratefully accepted. REGISTER HERE.

Copies of TRUE BIZ are available for purchase through the Mark Twain Store; proceeds benefit The Mark Twain House & Museum. Books will be shipped after the event. We regret that we are NOT able to ship books outside the United States as it is cost-prohibitive to do so.   

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR 

Sara is the author of the instant NYT Bestseller True Biz, as well as the books, Girl at War and America is Immigrants. She holds an MFA in fiction and literary translation from Columbia University, and is an instructor of Deaf studies and creative writing. She lives in Philadelphia with her family. 

ABOUT THE MODERATOR 

Jeffrey S. Bravin has been employed at the American School for the Deaf in West Hartford, CT since 2002. He is currently the Executive Director responsible for oversight of the school. He reports directly to the Board of Directors with responsibility for carrying out the vision, mission and goals of ASD. 

Prior to assuming this role, Jeff served as the Assistant Executive Director/Chief Operating Officer of the school. Prior to that he was the Director of Special Projects which focused on logistics related to the building of ASD’s new State-of-the-Art Educational Facility, the Gallaudet-Clerc Education Center–as well as ASD’s PrintWorks as part of ASD’s Technology Center. This role also included supervising Information Technology Services, Security, Sign Language and Interpreting Services, as well as the Isola Bella Summer Camp. Jeff also assisted in fund development, special events and public relations strategies, including managing alumni relations. 

He earned his B.A. Degree in Government from Gallaudet University, M.S. Degree in Deaf Education from McDaniel College (formerly known as Western Maryland College), and M.S. Degree in School Administration and Supervision from Queens College.  He is currently studying for his Ed.D. in Education Leadership at the University of Connecticut.  

Jeff also currently serves on the Advisory Board for the State of Connecticut, Department of Aging and Disability Services; the Board of the Conference of Educational Administrators of Schools and Programs for the Deaf (CEASD); and the Connecticut Council on Organizations Serving the Deaf.  He was formerly on the Board of Directors for the National Theatre of the Deaf and American Society of Deaf Children. 

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Programs at The Mark Twain House & Museum are made possible in part by support from CT Humanities; the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development, Office of the Arts; Ensworth Charitable Foundation, Bank of America, N.A., Trustee; the Greater Hartford Arts Council’s United Arts Campaign; The Hartford; The Mark Twain Foundation; The National Endowment for the Humanities; and Travelers.