This event will take place off-site at The Haven (112 W. Market St.).
Join us as we celebrate the release of Jocelyn Nicole Johnson’s debut book, My Monticello. A signing will follow. This in-person event will be cosponsored by WriterHouse and will be free and open to the public. The doors for the event will open at 6:45 PM. We recommend arriving early for the best seating. Copies of My Monticello will be for sale in the lobby of The Haven before and after the event. There will also be a place to pick up any pre-orders that have not been picked up from the shop. Please see below for pre-ordering information.
About the Book: My Monticello is a fiction debut of five stories and a novella, all set in Virginia. Each story explores burdened inheritances and extraordinary pursuits of belonging. The eponymous novella that concludes the collection follows a diverse group of Charlottesville neighbors as they flee violent white supremacists. Led by Da’Naisha, a young Black descendant of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings, the group seeks refuge in Jefferson’s historic plantation home in a desperate attempt to outlive the long-foretold racial and environmental unravelling within the nation.
About the Author: A fellow of Tin House, Hedgebrook and VCCA, Jocelyn Nicole Johnson has published her writing in Guernica, The Guardian, and elsewhere. Her short story “Control Negro” was anthologized in The Best American Short Stories, guest edited by Roxane Gay, who called it “one hell of a story,” and was read live by LeVar Burton as part of PRI’s Selected Shorts series. A veteran public school art teacher, Johnson lives and writes in Charlottesville, Virginia.
My Monticello will be released on October 5. To order the book, please see below for the New Dominion Bookshop book order form or call the shop at 434-295-2552. If you would like the book to be signed and/or inscribed, please include that information in the “Message for Our Booksellers” field. If you select the “In-store Pickup” option, you will be able to either pick up your order from New Dominion ahead of the event, or you can pick up your order from The Haven the night of the event. We will be bringing all outstanding pickup orders to The Haven for easy pickup.
"A badass debut by any measure—nimble, knowing, and electrifying."
—Colson Whitehead, Pulitzer Prize–winning author
My Monticello Book Order Form
Shop local and support your community bookstore! Order books from New Dominion Bookshop by filling out the contact form below. Please make sure that you list the book title(s) that you would like to order. We will give you a call when your order is ready. If you are placing a pre-order for a book that has not yet been released, your book will be ready on or soon after the book’s release date. There is no need to pre-pay. We will collect your payment when you pick up your order or when your order is shipped.