Name: An Evening with Rob Franklin and John Vercher: Great Black Hope
Start: 2025-06-20T19:00:00-04:00
Location: Midtown Scholar Bookstore

An Evening with Rob Franklin and John Vercher: Great Black Hope

Midtown Scholar Bookstore

Award-winning author Rob Franklin takes the stage to discuss one of the most anticipated novels of the year, Great Black Hope.

The Midtown Scholar Bookstore is honored to welcome award-winning writer Rob Franklin to Harrisburg for a conversation and signing on one of the most anticipated novels of the year, Great Black Hope. Franklin will be in conversation with John Vercher.Registration is free but required to attend this event. Doors will open at 6:00pm; the event will begin at 7:00pm. Seating is general admission; first come, first served. Early arrival is encouraged. Books will be available for purchase at the event, and both authors will be available afterwards for a book signing.This event will be live-streamed. Every live-stream ticket includes one signed copy of Great Black Hope and the live-stream link. The link will be sent at least 24 hours before the event begins. Please check your spam folder if you do not receive the link in time. The books will be shipped via USPS Priority. U.S. addresses only. Please include your shipping address at checkout.About the Book:A gripping, elegant debut novel about a young Black man caught between worlds of race and class, glamour and tragedy, a friend’s mysterious death and his own arrest, from an electrifying new voice.An arrest for cocaine possession on the last day of a sweltering New York summer leaves Smith, a queer Black Stanford graduate, in a state of turmoil. Pulled into the court system and mandated treatment, he finds himself in an absurd but dangerous situation: his class protects him, but his race does not.It’s just weeks after the death of his beloved roommate Elle, the daughter of a famous soul singer, and he’s still reeling from the tabloid spectacle—as well as lingering questions around how well he really knew his closest friend. He flees to his hometown of Atlanta, only to buckle under the weight of expectations from his family of doctors and lawyers and their history in America.But when Smith returns to New York, it’s not long before he begins to lose himself to his old life—drawn back into the city’s underworld, where his search for answers may end up costing him his freedom and his future.Smith goes on a dizzying journey through the nightlife circuit, anonymous recovery rooms, Atlanta’s Black society set, police investigations and courtroom dramas, and a circle of friends coming of age in a new era. Great Black Hope is a propulsive, glittering story about what it means to exist between worlds, to be upwardly mobile yet spiraling downward, and how to find a way back to hope.About the Author:Born and raised in Atlanta, Rob Franklin is a writer of fiction, criticism, and poetry, and a cofounder of Art for Black Lives. A Kimbilio Fiction Fellow and finalist for the New England Review Emerging Writer prize, he has published work in New England Review, Prairie Schooner, and The Rumpus among others. Franklin holds a BA from Stanford University and an MFA from NYU’s Creative Writing program. He lives in Brooklyn and teaches writing at the School of Visual Arts. Great Black Hope is his first novel.John Vercher lives in the Philadelphia area with his wife and two sons. He has a BA in English from the University of Pittsburgh and an MFA in creative writing from the Mountainview Master of Fine Arts program. John was an assistant teaching professor in the Department of English and Philosophy at Drexel University, was the inaugural Wilma Dykeman writer-in-residence at the University of North Carolina, Asheville, and is the 2024–2025 artist-in-residence at Monmouth University. His debut novel, Three-Fifths, was named one of the best books of the year by the Chicago Tribune and Booklist. It was nominated for the Edgar Award and the Strand Critics Award for Best Debut Novel. His second novel, After the Lights Go Out, called “shrewd and explosive” by the New York Times, was named a Best Book of Summer 2022 by Book Riot and Publishers Weekly and a Booklist Editors’ Choice book of 2022. His novel, Devil Is Fine, was named one of Time’s Must-Read Books of 2024 and has been longlisted for the Aspen Words Literary Prize.Prices include applicable PA sales tax and Harrisburg City amusement tax.

Our {communityGuidelinesLink} describe the sort of content we prohibit on Eventbrite. If you suspect an event may be in violation, you can report it to us so we can investigate.

To report other categories of prohibited or illegal content, submit {link}

An Evening with Rob Franklin and John Vercher: Great Black Hope

More events from Midtown Scholar Bookstore

Discover more events from Midtown Scholar Bookstore, from Hobbies to other experiences you might love.

Still looking for the right event?

Explore all events in Harrisburg and filter by date, category, and more to find the perfect fit.

An Evening with Rob Franklin and John Vercher: Great Black Hope

More events from Midtown Scholar Bookstore

Discover more events from Midtown Scholar Bookstore, from Hobbies to other experiences you might love.

You might also like...

Browse more events with different dates, prices, and formats to find your next great experience.

Still looking for the right event?

Explore all events in Harrisburg and filter by date, category, and more to find the perfect fit.