Joanne Leedom-Ackerman And Elliot Ackerman: Joint Book Event

Join us in welcoming Joanne Leedom-Ackerman and Elliot Ackerman for a conversation between mother and son about their recent novels!

Both political thrillers, but of different kinds, BURNING DISTANCE by Joanne Leedom-Ackerman and HALCYON by Elliot Ackerman offer us new frameworks for engaging with questions of contemporary history.

JOANNE LEEDOM-ACKERMAN is a novelist, short story writer, journalist and activist for literature and human rights. Her fiction includes The Dark Path to the River, a regional bestseller, and No Marble Angels. A former reporter for The Christian Science Monitor, she served for three years as the International Secretary of PEN International and has also worked with and served on the boards of the International Crisis Group, Human Rights Watch, Save the Children, and Refugees International. A native of Dallas, she has lived in New York City, Los Angeles, and London, while balancing her career with raising two sons. She now makes her home in Washington, DC.

ELLIOT ACKERMAN is the author of the novels Red Dress in Black and White, Waiting for Eden, Dark at the Crossing (a finalist for the National Book Award), and Green on Blue (a finalist for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize), as well as the memoir Places and Names, and is the coauthor with Admiral James Stavridis of the best seller 2034: A Novel of the Next World War. Ackerman is both a former White House Fellow and Marine, and served five tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, where he received the Silver Star, the Bronze Star for Valor, and the Purple Heart.