The Kneeling Man: Leta McCollough Seletzky in conversation w/ Isabelle Dupuy

Marking the 55th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr’s death, Leta McCollough Seletzky joins us from the US, and in conversation with Isabelle Dupuy, to discuss her revelatory new book, an investigation into the conflicted and complex life of her father.

A Black spy in the Civil Rights era and the kneeling man in the famous photograph of King’s assassination, Marrell ‘Mac’ McCollough was suspected of having been involved in King’s murder. Seeking to understand the truth behind those accusations, what motivated her father’s career with the police and how his story impacted Leta’s own perspective on what it is to be Black in America, The Kneeling Man is a compelling personal and political tale of alienation and ambivalence; struggle, self-definition and compromised choices.

Set vividly in the sharecropper South, on the streets of Memphis and in the halls of power, the twists and turns of this one man’s life tell the story of twentieth-century Black America.

About the speakers

Leta McCollough Seletzky is a National Endowment for the Arts 2022 Creative Writing Fellow. A litigator turned essayist and memoirist, she has written for The Atlantic, The New York Times, O -The Oprah Magazine and The Washington Post.

Isabelle Dupuy grew up in Haiti, has lived in America and came to the UK to work on a City trading floor before becoming an author. Her first novel Living the Dream was shortlisted for the Diverse Book Awards 2021. Her writing has been published in the New York Times, Bad Form Review, Black Ballad, the Bookseller and more. She is a trustee of The London Library.

N.B. This event will take place in person at The London Library and will be livestreamed. If you are joining us in person, please see our Event Access and COVID Guidelines before you arrive. Doors (and the bar) open at 7.00pm for a 7.30pm start. The livestream will begin on YouTube from 7.30pm and will be available to watch live or at any time after the event, using the same link.

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