Three Books, Three Presenters, One Winner for the Best Book of 1924!

Hundred-Year Retroactive Book Award of 1924

The Associates of the Boston Public Library cordially invites you to participate in our Hundred-Year Retroactive Book Award competition, a free hybrid event, which will weigh the enduring literary merits of three bestsellers published in 1924.

This year’s contenders are:

1. E. M. Forster's A Passage to India
2. Herman Melville's Billy Budd
3. W. E. B. Du Bois's The Gift of Black Folk

The books will be championed by Brown Professor Paul B. Armstrong; Yale Professor, Richard Deming; and Boston University Professor, Paula C. Austin, respectively. Boston radio host Kennedy Elsey will moderate the lighthearted debate, after which the audience will vote to determine the winner of the Hundred-Year Retroactive Book Award of 1924.

The program book is available here.

A reception with the presenters will follow the debate in the BPL's Commonwealth Salon. This can be found on the first floor of the Boylston Street building, in-between the glass elevator and the door to the Courtyard. Following the event, staff will help direct attendees to the reception.

Logistics

The Hundred-Year Retroactive Book Award will take place in Rabb Hall at the Boston Public Library in Copley Square.

Though ticket sales have ended for the virtual event, you can still join the livestream on Zoom by clicking this link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85632311661

We recommend that you join the link below before the event to download the Zoom application and test the system's capabilities.

For more details about the Associates of the Boston Public Library, the presenters, or the book selections, please visit our website. Please get in touch with the Associates' office with any questions via hello@AssociatesBPL.org or 617-536-3886.

Find out more about the book contenders and the presenters defending them!

A Passage to India by E. M. Forster explores the complex and often troubled relationships between Indians and British colonizers in India. Set against the backdrop of the British Raj, the novel delves into themes of race, colonialism, and the clash of cultures, culminating in a mysterious incident at the Marabar Caves that strains these relations further.

Paul B. Armstrong is Professor of English Emeritus at Brown University and the editor of the Norton Critical Edition of A Passage to India (2021). He is the author of several books. Paul will defend A Passage to India.

Billy Budd by Herman Melville is a novella about a young, innocent sailor, Billy Budd, impressed into service on the HMS Bellipotent. His natural charisma and goodness incite the envy of Master-at-Arms John Claggart, leading to false accusations, a tragic confrontation, and a morally complex resolution involving duty, justice, and sacrifice.

Richard Deming is a poet, critic, and essayist, and is the author of six books. He teaches at Yale University, where he is the Director of Creative Writing Richard Deming will defend Billy Budd by Herman Melville.

The Gift of Black Folk by W. E. B. Du Bois examines the significant contributions of African Americans in shaping the United States. It explores their role in American history, highlighting their achievements in areas like democracy, economics, and culture, and counters the prevailing narrative (at the time) of African American inferiority.

Paula C. Austin is a U.S. historian with a focus on the history of race and racism. She is the Associate Professor Of History And African American & Black Diaspora Studies and Director Of Graduate Studies at Boston University. Paula will defend The Gift of Black Folk by W. E. B. Du Bois.

Find out more about our Moderator!

Kennedy Elsey is honored to be back to moderate this debate for the third year in a row. She is the co-host of the popular morning radio program, Karson and Kennedy, on Mix 104.1. She grew up in suburban Chicago and graduated from Drake University with a double major in Theater and Psychology. Kennedy is deeply involved in community events and runs a program called Karson & Kennedy’s Cool Kids. Cool Kids brings amazing kids who have overcome adversity on fun adventures, at no cost to the kid or their families. She is also an outspoken advocate for mental health awareness serving on the board for Samaritans and raising funds with her program "Your Light Is Needed". Kennedy lives in Quincy with the most stable man in her life, her Lab, Elvis.