C.J. Hopkins is working on a new book. The operative term is "working." He and his team are traveling across the country interviewing Americans to learn what they feel about the state of the country. The team is documenting and recording public town halls wherein they hold space for public engagement and interaction with each other over the issue of the state of the nation. It's called the America Road Trip Project.
Public perspectives that are shared in the town halls will be included in a new book. C.J. and his team are scheduled for a Town Hall in Ashland on September 30.
C.J. Hopkins joins the Exchange with his photographer Hugo Fernandez and event producer Margaret Anna Alice.
ABOUT THE PROJECT
In September-October 2025, author/political satirist C. J. Hopkins and photographer Hugo Fernandez will take a road trip back and forth across the USA, talking about America with people from all walks of life and of all political persuasions. Their adventures on the road, the stories and perspectives of the people they meet along the way, and Professor. Fernandez’s photographs will be published as a book, Strangers in a Strange Homeland (working title), by Arcade Publishing in 2026.
ABOUT THE TEAM
C.J. Hopkins, author
C. J. Hopkins is an award-winning playwright, novelist, and political satirist. His plays have been produced and have toured at theatres and festivals including Riverside Studios, 59E59 Theaters, Traverse Theatre, Belvoir St. Theatre, the Du Maurier World Stage Festival, 7 Stages, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Adelaide Fringe, Brighton Festival, and the Noorderzon Festival.
His plays are published by Bloomsbury/Methuen and Broadway Play Publishing, Inc. His essays are published by Skyhorse Publishing and Consent Factory Publishing. His debut novel, Zone 23, is published by Arcade Publishing.
Hugo Fernandez, Professor of Photography, LaGuardia Community College/CUNY
Hugo Fernandez has been a Professor of Photography and Art Appreciation at LaGuardia Community College for over 30 years. He received a Masters of Fine Arts degree from the Yale School of Art in Photography. Born the son of Cuban exiles, he was raised in Miami, Florida, New York City and Boston. He moved to New York City in 1993 and Connecticut in 2018. His work is tied to his families life in Cuba and experience as immigrants in the United States. He has traveled in much of Europe and the Americas. He met CJ Hopkins in high school (1978).
Margaret Anna Alice, writer (event producer in Ashland)
Margaret Anna Alice writes about politics, health, psychology, language, human rights, civil liberties, philosophy, history, and culture at her Substack, "Margaret Anna Alice Through the Looking Glass." As an Apocaloptimist, she counterbalances her exposure of dark topics such as corruption, propaganda, mass control, totalitarianism, democide, genocide, and war with empowering solutions equipping people to recognize and resist psychological/emotional manipulation; narcissistic abuse; and tyranny.
The author of the dystopian fairy tale “The Vapor, the Hot Hat, & the Witches’ Potion,” she is best-known for her world-famous poem “Mistakes Were NOT Made.” Her work has been published in numerous anthologies, outlets, and magazines.
