My Account

Marian McFadden Memorial Lecture

The Marian McFadden Memorial Lecture Series was established after the Library Foundation received a gift from the estate of Marian McFadden, Director of Public Libraries in Indianapolis from 1945-1956. This annual author lecture series, which typically takes place in the Spring, was named in her honor. Learn more about additional author events The Library hosts throughout the year.

2024 Lecturer
Misty Copeland

Wednesday, March 20 at 7 p.m.
Madam Walker Legacy Center
617 Indiana Ave., Indianapolis

Misty Copeland is the author of the New York Times Bestselling memoir, Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina, co-written with award-winning journalist and author Charisse Jones. She has also published several children’s books including the award-winning Firebird, illustrated by Christopher Myers, and Bunheads, a biographical glimpse of young Misty as she makes friends and auditions for a role in Coppélia.


Misty is a celebrated artist, making history as the first black woman to perform the lead role of Odette/Odile in American Ballet Theatre’s Swan Lake. In June 2015, Misty was promoted to principal dancer, making her the first African American woman to ever be promoted to the position in the company’s 75-year history.

FAQ

Where do I park?

Free parking is available in specified lots near the Center but traffic is currently impacted due to the Indiana Avenue Cultural Trail expansion.

The north-west bound traffic lane on Indiana Avenue is temporarily closed for construction.

A detour for northbound Indiana Ave vehicles is available by turning south on West St. from Indiana Ave then turning west on Michigan St. (from West St.) and turning north on Blackford St. (from Michigan St.). From Blackford drive onto the Urban League parking lot then right to the Madam Walker Parking Lots.

Where is the best drop off point?

If you are ridesharing, there is a drop off area near the intersection of Indiana Avenue and West Street. This section is directly in front of the box office and accessibility ramp.

Will the program be livestreamed?

Yes! The entirety of the 2024 McFadden lecture will be livestreamed on YouTube. Please visit The Indianapolis Public Library YouTube channel.

2023 Lecturer Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Silvia Moreno-Garcia Recommends

If you haven't explored Latin American literature very much, here are some recommendations Silvia shared to help you get started!

Monstrilio

Sámano Córdova, Gerardo

Horror. Grieving mother Magos cuts out a piece of her deceased eleven-year-old son's lung, nurturing it until in gains sentience, and hides this carnivorous little Monstrilio in the walls of her family's decaying Mexico City estate, but Monstrilio's innate impulses threaten to destroy this fragile second chance at life.

Our Share of Night

A Novel

Enriquez, Mariana

Horror. In 1981, a young father and son set out on a road trip across Argentina, devastated by the mysterious death of the wife and mother they both loved. United in grief, the pair travels to her family home near Iguazú Falls, where they must confront the horrific legacy she has bequeathed.

Ten Planets

Stories

Herrera, Yuri

Science Fiction. Drawing on science fiction, noir, and the philosophical parables of Jorge Luis Borges's Fictions and Italo Calvino's Cosmicomics, this collection features fantastical stories in which monsters and aliens abound, but knowing who is the monster and who is the alien is a tricky proposition.

Past Lecturers:

  • 2023 - Silvia Moreno-Garcia
  • 2022 - Kadir Nelson
  • 2021 - Cancelled due to COVID-19
  • 2020 - Cancelled due to COVID-19
  • 2019 - Ta-Nehisi Coates
  • 2018 - Jeff Kinney
  • 2017 - Junot Díaz
  • 2016 - Jacqueline Woodson
  • 2015 - Khaled Hosseini
  • 2014 - David Wiesner
  • 2013 - Ann Patchett
  • 2012 - Mo Willems
  • 2011 - Bob Woodward
  • 2010 - Neil Gaiman
  • 2009 - Nicholas Sparks
  • 2008 - Eric Carle
  • 2007 - Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (delivered by Mark Vonnegut)
  • 2006 - Patricia Cornwell
  • 2005 - Marc Brown
  • 2004 - John Irving
  • 2003 - Louis Sachar
  • 2002 - David McCullough
  • 2001 - Tomie dePaola
  • 2000 - Doris Kearns Goodwin
  • 1999 - Judy Blume
  • 1998 - Margaret Atwood
  • 1997 - Jon Scieszka & Lane Smith
  • 1996 - Amy Tan
  • 1995 - Gary Paulsen
  • 1994 - William Styron
  • 1993 - Chris Van Allsburg
  • 1992 - Gail Godwin
  • 1991 - Maurice Sendak
  • 1990 - John Updike
  • 1989 - David Macaulay
  • 1988 - Tom Wolfe
  • 1987 - Lloyd Alexander
  • 1986 - Kurt Vonnegut
  • 1985 - Jean Fritz
  • 1984 - James Baldwin
  • 1983 - Richard Peck
  • 1982 - Gail Sheehy
  • 1981 - Scott O'Dell
  • 1980 - Norman Mailer
  • 1979 - Elaine L. Konigsburg
  • 1978 - Saul Bellow
Indianapolis Public Library Foundation Logo

Made possible by Friends of the Library through gifts to The Indianapolis Public Library Foundation.