Author Dashka Slater to Speak at NVU-Johnson

Author and journalist Dashka Slater will talk about her new book, “The 57 Bus: A True Story about Two Teenagers and the Crime That Changed Their Lives,” Sept. 24 at Northern Vermont University-Johnson.

The talk, at 8 p.m. at Dibden Center for the Arts, is free for the public. After her talk, Slater will sign copies of the book, about a white teen and a black teen in Oakland, California. An incident on a bus on the way home from school left one of the teens burned severely and the other charged with hate crimes.

Slater’s book is the “common book” read and discussed by all first-year students at NVU-Johnson this semester. Themes raised in the book are reflected in other free events open to the public on campus this fall.

They include a talk Oct. 2 by Chittenden County State’s Attorney Sarah George and a workshop Nov. 1 on restorative justice, an approach that focuses on building relationships and empowering crime victims. The exhibit “Art Behind Bars,” of works by Vermonters in prison, organized by Vermonters for Criminal Justice Reform, is on display until December in Dewey Hall.

Slater, a former columnist for the New York Times Magazine, received a creative writing fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. Her articles also have appeared in Newsweek, Salon, and Mother Jones.

For more information about Slater’s talk, call 802.635.1408. For more information about Slater, visit dashkaslater.com.