Jackson, Tennessee (February 14, 2024) - Lane College will host an author reading event featuring Avery Cunningham, a distinguished Jackson, Tennessee native, at 5:00 p.m., Thursday, February 15, 2024, in Cyber Café located inside of The Water Tower Place. The reading and book signing will feature a Q&A with Dr. Erin Holliday-Karre, Assistant Professor and Interim Chair for the Department of Language and Communication.
“A debut novel everyone will be talking about,” THE MAYOR OF MAXWELL STREET by Avery Cunningham is “a triumph”, an epic love story, and “a tale of intrigue, racial tension, and class warfare, set against the glamorous and gritty backdrop of early 20th century Chicago.”
Advanced Praise for The Mayor of Maxwell Street:
"A debut novel everyone will be talking about, The Mayor of Maxwell Street is outstanding. Filled with intrigue, suspense, and a cast of characters I both adored and wanted to strangle, this novel kept me flipping the pages and holding my breath!” —Victoria Christopher Murray, New York Times bestselling author of The Personal Librarian
About the Author:
AVERY CUNNINHAM attended the University School of Jackson, and a 2016 graduate of DePaul University’s Master of Arts Writing & Publishing program. She has over a decade of editorial experience with various literary magazines, small presses, and best-selling authors. Avery grew up surrounded by exceptional African Americans who strived to uplift their communities while also maintaining a tenuous hold on prosperity in a starkly segregated environment. The sensation of being at once within and without is something she has grappled with since childhood and explores thoroughly in her work of historical fiction. When not writing, Avery is adventuring with her Bernese Mountain Dog, Grizzly, and wading waist-deep in research for her next novel. She aspires to tell the stories of complex characters fighting for their right to exist at the fringes of history. THE MAYOR OF MAXWELL STREET is her debut novel.