Author Jason Mott will discuss his latest work, “Hell of a Book,” at the next Conversations on Race and Policing. The program, open to the public, will take place on Zoom at 1 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 25, and can be accessed from a PC, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android at https://tinyurl.com/csusb-race-policing.

Mott’s book is about a Black author who sets out on a cross-country publicity tour to promote his best-selling novel. The novel also introduces readers to Soot, “a young Black boy living in a rural town in the recent past, and The Kid, a possibly imaginary child who appears to the author on his tour,” according to the publisher’s synopsis of the book.

“As these characters’ stories build and converge, they astonish,” the synopsis continues. “For while this heartbreaking and magical book entertains and is at once about family, love of parents and children, art and money, it’s also about the nation’s reckoning with a tragic police shooting playing over and over again on the news. And with what it can mean to be Black in America.”

Including “Hell of a Book,” Mott has published four novels and two collections of his poems. His first novel, “The Returned,” was a New York Times bestseller and was turned into a TV series, “Resurrection,” that ran for two seasons. He has a bachelor’s in fine arts in fiction and a master’s of fine arts in poetry, both from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. His poetry and fiction have appeared in various literary journals. “Hell of a Book” was named the winner of the National Book Award for Fiction, 2021.

The Conversations on Race and Policing program began after the murder of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, and its aftermath. Floyd, a Black man, was killed by a white Minneapolis police officer, triggering extensive protests, demands for systemic reform in policing, and profound dialogues on race and racism. This also led to the inception of Cal State San Bernardino’s Conversations on Race and Policing, abbreviated as CoRP.

In subsequent court cases, three other former Minneapolis police officers implicated in Floyd’s death were given prison sentences.

The series has featured scholars, journalists, law enforcement officers, lawyers, activists, artists, educators, administrators and others from throughout the nation who shared their experience and expertise on issues related to race and policing.

More than 110 forums have taken place since, and video recordings of the sessions are posted online on the Conversations on Race and Policing Lecture Series Archive. 

Upcoming programs, all set for 1 p.m. Pacific Time on Wednesdays, include:

The series organizers currently include CSUSB faculty, staff, alumni, and community members, as well as collaborators from other institutions: Amber Broaden (CSUSB and CSU Dominguez Hills, psychology), Stan Futch (president, Westside Action Group), Michael German (Brennan Center for Justice), Robie Madrigal (Pfau Library), Jeremy Murray (CSUSB History), Matt Patino (Crafton Hills College adjunct faculty and CSUSB alumnus), and Mary Texeira (CSUSB sociology).

For more information, contact Madrigal at rmadriga@csusb.edu or Murray at jmurray@csusb.edu.

Also visit the Conversations on Race and Policing webpage.