One Book, One Community 2019 Features Author Angie Thomas and ‘The Hate U Give’

Editor’s Note: Tickets for the Angie Thomas lecture have all been reserved, though tickets for the movie screening are still available. Please visit the One Book, One Community website for further updates.

Angie Thomas Lecture Moving to Walton Arts Center to Meet Demand

The scheduled lecture by Angie Thomas, author of The Hate U Give, has been moved to the Walton Arts Center to meet the demand for tickets.

The One Book, One Community event will still be held at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 26.

The lecture was originally scheduled for the Faulkner Performing Arts Center on the University of Arkansas campus. But popular demand was so strong the free tickets to the event were all reserved within 48 hours.

The tickets already reserved through the Faulkner Center will be honored. Additional tickets are now available through the Walton Arts Center box office. Tickets are free but must be reserved in advance. Ticket reservations can be made by calling 479-443-5600 or by visiting waltonartscenter.org. You can reserve and pick up tickets in-person at the Walton Arts Center Box Office from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. Monday through Friday and noon until 4 p.m. on Saturday. There is a limit of two tickets per person.

The screening of the movie version of The Hate U Give at 6 p.m. Monday, March 25, will still be held at the Faulkner Performing Arts Center. There are still free tickets available for this event. They can be reserved at The Hate You Give Movie Ticket. Free tickets may also be reserved in person at the Faulkner Center box office or by phone at 479-575-5387, from 1:30-5 p.m. weekdays.

“I can’t thank the Walton Arts Center enough for working with us on such a short notice to make this event possible,” said Kevin Fitzpatrick, chair of the One Book, One Community committee. “We knew there would be a great deal of interest in hearing Angie Thomas, still we were surprised at how quickly the tickets were snapped up.”

“Walton Arts Center is proud to support the University of Arkansas’ One Book, One Community project by hosting Angie Thomas’s lecture, said Peter B. Lane, president and CEO of Walton Arts Center. “She is helping us have conversations around an important topic in our nation, and her voice is one that needs to be heard.”

Angie Thomas’ first novel, The Hate U Give, is this year’s One Book, One Community selection, and is being read and discussed by people across campus and the community.

In a video message Pearl Dowe, associate professor and chair of the Department of Political Science says the book – and the movie made from it – raise compelling contemporary issues.

The Hate U Give is based on Thomas’ life in Jackson, Mississippi, and was inspired by events and issues that led to the Black Lives Matter movement. The novel — and the movie made from it — tell the story of 16-year-old Starr Carter, who lives in an inner city neighborhood while attending a suburban prep school. These separate worlds collide when she is the only witness when a police officer shoots her best friend – who was unarmed, but may have been dealing drugs. Starr must decide whether to speak out, even if it puts her world and her life in danger.

Several community discussion opportunities for The Hate U Give are also scheduled in March, leading up to the screening and Thomas’s lecture. A full schedule can be found at the One Book, One Community website.

Angie Thomas will also speak to the “Annual Gathering of the Groups” at the Fayetteville Public Library on Wednesday March 27, an event for book club members throughout the Northwest Arkansas region.

A version of this story also appeared in the U of A’s Newswire publication.