By: Daniel Guillen
February 26, 2018
Sam Bailey visited Dominican University on January 16th 2018 and provided insight into her early career as an actress and multi-genre writer. Including an established reputation in Chicago’s Live Literary scene. She is currently a writer and director of HBO’s Brown Girls. The event was held within the Fine Art’s Martin Recital Hall auditorium. Audience members included students, faculty, community members, and fans of all ages and diversities. Gema Ortega gave an introduction for Sam Bailey by honoring her hard work, which has brought her an Emmy nomination for Brown Girls. A student followed up by saying how her work inspires her own ambitions in life as a student and artist.
Sam Bailey took the podium and began with an unfinished story that gave insight into her style of writing and tastes. The audience absorbed every word and detail. Then after an abrupt stop, she admitted the piece was unfinished. Yet, the characters and the conflicts were introduced, developed, and ripe for further detail. Her point being that as an artist of any kind, there are tough times. Moments where the creative juices are thriving and other times when they fall flat. Her advice spread across the room. The audience found truth in her stories and humor in her struggles that made her stronger and her human experience more relatable.
The event ended with a Q & A between Sam Bailey and Professor Maggie Andersen. This part of the event dove further into her experiences as an actress and the uncongenial paths that artists typically find themselves on. She spoke of her time as a student and all the things she appreciated experiencing and the importance of connections that turned into lasting friendships. She was driven enough to take the opportunity of a web series and turned it into a show deal with non-other than HBO.
On March 22, 2018 from 7-9 P.M. is the Fifth Annual Caesar and Patricia Tibet Poetry Reading featuring Julia Alvarez. Julia Alvarez is an prize winning poet, novelist, children’s author, and essayist. Many literary critics believe she is the one of the most significant Latina writers and receives international recognition. Famous novels include How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents (1991) and In the Time of the Butterflies (1994). A book signing will follow the poetry reading and books will be available for purchase.
