20-05-2025
Best-selling authors David Grann, Brit Bennett to kick off Rochester speaker series
Two authors whose books have resided atop the New York Times best-seller list are slated to be the initial speakers at a new Rochester speaker series.
David Grann, whose narrative nonfiction books have often topped the Times list, is scheduled as the inaugural speaker in the Rochester Speakers Series. Grann, the author of "Killers of the Flower Moon" and "The Wager," is scheduled for Oct. 7.
Also scheduled is best-selling novelist Brit Bennett, author of "The Vanishing Half" and "The Mothers," who is scheduled for April 21, 2026.
The series will be held at Asbury First United Methodist Church on East Avenue in Rochester.
For some, the Rochester Speakers Series may revive memories of the Rochester Arts & Lectures series that in the late 1980s and early 90s drew a wealth of authors and journalists of note to Rochester. Among the visiting speakers were Maya Angelou, Kurt Vonnegut, Calvin Trillin and Isabel Allende.
"Everyone comments that we miss having something like that," said Nancy Klotz, a local lawyer who, with Laura Hamilton, a marketing and communications consultant, is a co-founder of the Rochester Speakers Series.
Over the past year, organizers of the series surveyed local arts, journalism, literary and professional organizations to sample the appetite for such a speakers' event. The demand was there, as well as a recommendation that the series be limited to three to four visitors a year.
Utilizing a contribution from the Louis S. & Molly B. Wolk Foundation, the organizers were able to design the series and invite its initial authors. The organizers envision a continuing series that relies upon ticket sales and grants.
One ticket pricing platform offers cheaper $35 tickets for individuals under 35 years old to attract younger people to the series.
'Sister cities Syracuse and Buffalo have had successful high-profile speaker series for decades, demonstrating both audience demand and the value of such events," Hamilton said in a news release. "But people here aren't always eager to make the long drive to either city. Rochester Speakers Series brings such events home, and we couldn't be more thrilled to introduce this series to our community.'
Grann's "Killers of the Flower Moon" tells of a little-known murderous plot against indigenous Osage men and women by white people who stole oil-rich land from the tribe. The book was transformed into an Oscar-nominated film by director Martin Scorsese and actor Leonardo DiCaprio.
"The Wager" is a riveting account of mutiny, shipwreck and survival with an 18th century British warship. Scorsese and Dicaprio have also acquired the film rights to the book.
Bennett's books, like Grann's, arrived with critical acclaim.
"The Vanishing Half" explores race and identity as two light-skinned Black teens, after the lynching murder of their father in the 1940s, follow very different life treks, with one choosing to pass as white.
Bennett's book "The Mothers" was hailed as a rich debut novel with depth-filled characters and a propulsive plot constructed around a familial secret.
Tickets for the series are on sale at the website The Rochester Speakers Series is a nonprofit organization.
— Gary Craig is a veteran reporter who, during the past Rochester Arts & Lectures series, interviewed visiting speakers Seymour Hersh, Rush Limbaugh, Carl Hiaasen and others.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Authors David Grann, Brit Bennett to kick off Rochester speaker series
