Reed College

Author of It Starts With Anger James Spooner will be visiting campus on Nov 9th as our special author visit for Fall's MRC Book Club gathering. Spooner will be giving a talk on the intersections of punk, race and creative art practice, with time for Q&A.

Reed Librarians picked this coming-of-age graphic memoir that explores race, identity, and rebellion because of how Spooner traces how their reactionary anger evolved into a creative force. Confronted with systemic racism, microaggressions, and Nazi extremism within punk spaces, Spooner follows the founding of the Afro-Punk movement all the way to their leaving of the space due to all the ways it fell short as a scene that was ironically both liberating and alienating for the Black people drawn to it.

Their zine-inspired work includes photos, illustrations, and cartoon panels with traditional narrative in a unique package that examines the tension between the conflation of underground culture and mainstream success.

All are welcome to this event. Open to the community. Free for all.

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We encourage Reed students, staff and faculty to sign up for the MRC Book Club to score a copy of Spooner's autobio. Sign up for your free copy here.