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Neruda on the Park: Cleyvis Natera in conversation with Tayari Jones

Event date: 
Wednesday, May 10, 2023 - 7:30pm to 8:30pm

This event takes place in person at Charis and on crowdcast, Charis' virtual event platform. This event is free and registration is required for virtual attendance. Click here to register to attend virtually. Please read the in-person event guidelines at the bottom of this page if you wish to attend in-person.

Charis welcomes Cleyvis Natera in conversation with Tayari Jones for a celebration of Neruda on the Park. “Strikes all the right notes—captivating characters, lyrical language, and a storyline that captures your imagination and refuses to let go . . . an unforgettable debut!”—Tayari Jones, New York Times bestselling author of An American Marriage


The Guerreros have lived in Nothar Park, a predominantly Dominican part of New York City, for twenty years. When demolition begins on a neighboring tenement, Eusebia, an elder of the community, takes matters into her own hands by devising an increasingly dangerous series of schemes to stop construction of the luxury condos. Meanwhile, Eusebia’s daughter, Luz, a rising associate at a top Manhattan law firm who strives to live the bougie lifestyle her parents worked hard to give her, becomes distracted by a sweltering romance with the handsome white developer at the company her mother so vehemently opposes.
 
As Luz’s father, Vladimir, secretly designs their retirement home in the Dominican Republic, mother and daughter collide, ramping up tensions in Nothar Park, racing toward a near-fatal climax.
 
A beautifully layered portrait of family, friendship, and ambition, Neruda on the Park weaves a rich and vivid tapestry of community as well as the sacrifices we make to protect what we love most, announcing Cleyvis Natera as an electrifying new voice.

Cleyvis Natera is the author of the debut novel Neruda on the Park. Her fiction, essays and criticism have appeared in The New York Times Book Review, URSA Fiction, Alien Nation: 36 True Tales of Immigration, The Brooklyn Rail, TIME, The Rumpus, Gagosian Quarterly, The Washington Post, The Kenyon Review, Aster(ix) and Kweli Journal, among other publications.

New York Times best-selling author Tayari Jones is the author of four novelsmost recently An American Marriage. Published in 2018, An American Marriage is an Oprah’s Book Club Selection and also appeared on Barack Obama’s summer reading list as well as his year-end roundup. The novel was awarded the Women’s Prize for Fiction (formerly known as the Orange Prize), Aspen Words Prize, and an NAACP Image Award. It has been published in two dozen countries. Jones, a 2021 Guggenheim Fellow, has also been a recipient of the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award, United States Artist Fellowship, NEA Fellowship, and Radcliffe Institute Bunting Fellowship. Her third novel, Silver Sparrow, was added to the NEA Big Read Library of classics in 2016. Jones is a graduate of Spelman College, University of Iowa, and Arizona State University. She is an Andrew D. White Professor-at-Large at Cornell University and the Charles Howard Candler Professor of Creative Writing at Emory University.

In-person event guidelines:

  • All attendees must wear a face mask at all times.

  • We will begin seating people at 7 pm ET.

  • This event will be live-streamed via crowdcast. Click here to register to attend virtually.

  • As a reminder: If you are not feeling well, please do not come to the event.

  • If you have any questions regarding these guidelines or to request specific accessibility accommodations, please contact info@charisbooksandmore.com or call the store at 404-524-0304

If you would like to watch the virtual event with computer-generated captions, please watch in Google Chrome and enable captions. If you have other accessibility needs or if you are someone who has skills in making digital events more accessible please don't hesitate to reach out to info@chariscircle.org. We are actively learning the best practices for this technology and we welcome your feedback as we continue to connect across distances.

By attending our event you agree to our Code of Conduct: Our event seeks to provide a harassment-free experience for everyone, regardless of gender, gender identity and expression, age, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, ethnicity, religion (or lack thereof), class, or technology choices. We do not tolerate harassment in any form. Sexual language and imagery are not appropriate. Anyone violating these rules will be expelled from this event and all future events at the discretion of the organizers. Please report all harassment to info@chariscircle.org immediately.

Event address: 
A Charis Hybrid (In-Person + Virtual) Event
184 S. Candler Street
Decatur, GA 30030
Neruda on the Park: A Novel By Cleyvis Natera Cover Image
$18.00
ISBN: 9780593358504
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Ballantine Books - May 2nd, 2023

NEW YORK TIMES EDITORS’ CHOICE • An exhilarating debut novel following members of a Dominican family in New York City who take radically different paths when faced with encroaching gentrification


The Untelling By Tayari Jones Cover Image
$17.99
ISBN: 9781538742129
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Grand Central Publishing - August 15th, 2023

From the author of the Oprah Book Club Selection An American Marriage, here is an emotionally powerful novel that "succeeds mightily...truly a wonderful story" (Boston Globe).


An American Marriage (Oprah's Book Club): A Novel By Tayari Jones Cover Image
$16.99
ISBN: 9781616208684
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Algonquin Books - February 5th, 2019

A NEW YORK TIMES AND WASHINGTON POST NOTABLE BOOK

A 2018 BEST OF THE YEAR SELECTION OF NPR  * TIME  * BUSTLE  * O, THE OPRAH MAGAZINE  * THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS  * AMAZON.COM

OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB 2018 SELECTION

 
WINNER OF THE 2019 NAACP IMAGE AWARD FOR OUTSTANDI


Silver Sparrow By Tayari Jones Cover Image
$16.99
ISBN: 9781616201425
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Algonquin Books - May 8th, 2012

From the New York Times Bestselling Author of An American Marriage

“A love story . . . Full of perverse wisdom and proud joy . . . Jones’s skill for wry understatement never wavers.”
O: The Oprah Magazine

Silver Sparrow will break your heart before you even know it.


Leaving Atlanta By Tayari Jones Cover Image
$17.99
ISBN: 9781538742105
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Grand Central Publishing - March 14th, 2023

From the author of the Oprah's Book Club Selection An American Marriage, here is a beautifully evocative novel that proves why Tayari Jones is "one of the most important voices of her generation" (Essence).


Event Summary: 
“Strikes all the right notes—captivating characters, lyrical language, and a storyline that captures your imagination and refuses to let go . . . an unforgettable debut!”