Thursday January 21st 7:00 to 8:00 pm 2027

Edwin Battistella tells the story of writer Dorothy B Hughes, the Ashland author known as “The Queen of Noir.” His new book weaves together discussion of Hughes’s literary output and the story of her life, exploring her lifelong concern with racial equality and how this manifested in her writing. Come to hear about this fascinating writer and why she still matters today .

Beginning with her upbringing in Kansas City, Missouri, Battistella follows the writer’s time studying journalism at the University of Missouri, her subsequent work as a newspaper reporter, the eventual publication of her first book, a volume of poetry, and her prolific output of mystery novels that spanned two decades. Battistella situates her work in the broader context of twentieth-century crime fiction and its connection to various political and social movements, including her life-long concern with racial equality, which culminated in the 1963 publication of her final novel, The Expendable Man, which appeared at the height of the Civil Rights movement and is considered by many to be her best work.