Paul Beatty, author of the acclaimed novel, The Sellout, spent the night in conversation with Isaac Fitzgerald at St. Francis College for the Walt Whitman Writers Series on December 3, 2015.

Beatty previously came to St. Francis College during the Brooklyn Book Festival in September. He appeared on a panel with other authors who were selected for the short list of the 2015 St. Francis College Literary Prize. Maud Casey won the award for her book, The Man Who Walked Away.

Buzzfeed's Isaac Fitzgerald has hosted three previous events at the College; conversations with Margaret Atwood, Junot Díaz, and Stephen King with Peter Straub, Owen King and Emma Straub.

Beatty was the thirteenth writer to visit St. Francis for the Walt Whitman Series which continues to bring top contemporary authors to Brooklyn Heights to share their work and writing experiences with students, faculty and the entire Brooklyn community. Previous authors include Junot Díaz, Charles Baxter, George Saunders, James Salter, Colum McCann, Ben Marcus, Dinaw Mengestu, Kate Christensen, Julie Orringer, Jonathan Lethem, Darcey Steinke, and Rick Moody.

The Walt Whitman Series is a continuation of St. Francis College's commitment to supporting Brooklyn's literary community. In addition to visits by these authors, the College also offers the biennial $50,000 St. Francis College Literary Prize and helps sponsor and host events for the Brooklyn Book Festival; giving students, faculty and the entire Brooklyn community a front row seat to some of the best and most diverse professional writers at work today.

About The Sellout

A biting satire about a young man's isolated upbringing and the race trial that sends him to the Supreme Court, Paul Beatty's The Sellout showcases a comic genius at the top of his game. It challenges the sacred tenets of the United States Constitution, urban life, the civil rights movement, the father-son relationship, and the holy grail of racial equality—the black Chinese restaurant.

Paul Beatty, The Sellout (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux), is the author of the novels, Tuff, Slumberland and The White Boy Shuffle, and the poetry collections Big Bank Take Little Bank and Joker, Joker, Deuce. He was the editor of Hokum: An Anthology of African-American Humor. He lives in New York City.

Isaac Fitzgerald is the editor at Buzzfeed Books and the co-founder of Pen & Ink.