Award-winner and Hartford resident P. Djèlí Clark returns with Ring Shout, a dark fantasy historical novella that gives a supernatural twist to the Ku Klux Klan’s reign of terror.

In America, demons wear white hoods! It’s 1915 and The Birth of a Nation cast a spell across America, swelling the Klan’s ranks and drinking deep from the darkest thoughts of white folk. All across the nation they ride, spreading fear and violence among the vulnerable. They plan to bring Hell to Earth. But even Ku Kluxes can die.

Standing in their way is Maryse Boudreaux and her fellow resistance fighters, a foul-mouthed sharpshooter and a Harlem Hellfighter. Armed with blade, bullet, and bomb, they hunt their hunters and send the Klan’s demons straight to Hell. But something awful’s brewing in Macon, and the war on Hell is about to heat up.

Can Maryse stop the Klan before it ends the world?

“A fantastical, brutal and thrilling triumph of the imagination…Clark’s combination of historical and political reimagining is cathartic, exhilarating and fresh.” ―The New York Times

This virtual program is free to attend, though when you register, we hope you’ll consider contributing what you’d call a fair ticket price. We thank you for your attendance whether you’re able to donate or not. REGISTER HERE.

Copies of Ring Shout are available for purchase through the Mark Twain Store. Proceeds benefit The Mark Twain House & Museum. Books will ship after the event. We regret that we cannot ship outside of the U.S. at this time.

Phenderson Djéli Clark is the award-winning and Hugo-, Nebula-, Sturgeon-, and World Fantasy-nominated author of the novellas The Black God’s Drums and The Haunting of Tram Car 015. His stories have appeared in online venues such as Tor.com, Daily Science Fiction, Heroic Fantasy Quarterly, Apex, Lightspeed, Fireside Fiction, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, and in print anthologies including, Griots, Hidden Youth and Clockwork Cairo. He is a founding member of FIYAH Literary Magazine and an infrequent reviewer at Strange Horizons. You can visit his author site at www.pdjeliclark.com to find out more. You can also read his ramblings on SFF, history, & diversity at his aptly named blog, The Disgruntled Haradrim.

Vivian Nabeta considers herself a creative spirit with who fell in love with the arts at a young age. Her professional background is a mix of arts and culture administration, marketing, audience development, and event management. She began her professional career at Hartford Stage, Amistad Center for Arts & Culture, and the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center. She now serves as the Director of Marketing and Public Relations at Capital Community College in Hartford, CT. She is on the board of the New Haven Museum as well as the Ugandan American Nakuwadde (pronounced Nah-koo-wah-day) Mission Project (UANMP). In 2018 she was invited to become a member of the Lamont/Bysiewicz Arts and Culture Transition Sub-Committee, where she assisted in the development of an arts and culture focused agenda for then Governor-Elect Ned Lamont and Lt. Governor-Elect Susan Bysiewicz. Vivian has a Bachelor of Arts in Theater Studies from the University of Connecticut and a Master of Arts in American Studies from Trinity College.

Programs at The Mark Twain House & Museum are made possible in part by support from the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development, Office of the Arts, and the Greater Hartford Arts Council’s United Arts Campaign and its Travelers Arts Impact Grant program, with major support from The Travelers Foundation.