St. Francis College welcomed Sarah Schulman, author of The Cosmopolitans on Tuesday, September 13, 2016 to read from her novel and talk about the history of race in New York City.

(Watch Sarah Schulman)

Schulman is a novelist, playwright, screenwriter, nonfiction writer, AIDS historian and journalist. She is Distinguished Professor of the Humanities at the City University of New York, College of Staten Island, a fellow at the New York Institute for the Humanities at NYU, on the Advisory Board of Jewish Voice for Peace, and co-founder of the ACT UP Oral History Project and the NY Queer Experimental Film Festival. Her 17th novel, The Cosmopolitians (Feminist Press, 2016) recaptures the details and texture of Greenwich Village in the late 1950s, when it was a haven for refugees from uncomprehending backgrounds-long before chain stores, gentrification, and high rents became the standard. The story follows Earl, a black gay actor working in a meatpacking plant, and Bette, a white secretary.

Featuring nuanced and complex representations of characters from all walks of life, The Cosmopolitans is a psychologically suspenseful historical novel that captures New York City on the cusp of great change. "A book of sighs, for dreams thwarted and for a city that has long since moved on." -The New York Times

The event was sponsored By: American Studies, History, Crime & Popular Culture, Peace & Justice, Provost's Office, Sociology & Criminal Justice and the Women's Center