HU Annual Read-In Event Welcomes Author Leanne Howe
Selected novel "The Miko Kings" features scenes set at Hampton Institute

Howe autographs her novel
for a HU student.

Author LeAnne Howe and Dr. John
Alewynse, chair of the HU
Department of English.

Author LeAnne Howe reads a segment from
her novel 'The Miko Kings' at the HU
Annual Read-In Event.

Click on images to enlarge.

What: HU Annual Read-In Event

Where: Hampton University Student Center Ballroom

When: Wednesday, March 24 at 7 p.m.

Hampton, Va. – Hampton University’s Department of English welcomes LeAnne Howe, author of “The Miko Kings,” to the campus for the university’s Annual Read-In Event on March 24 at 7 p.m. in the Student Center Ballroom. The event is free and open to the public.

Howe will read excerpts from “The Miko Kings,” provide a brief discussion on federal Indian policy, and also discuss the writing process. The event will also feature a performance by the Four Rivers Inter-Tribal Drum group.

Each year, the Department of English encourages HU students to continue reading for pleasure by selected one fictional book that discusses items relevant to issues students confront in their everyday lives for the Annual Read-In activities. The selected book is integrated into English classes and all HU students, faculty and staff are invited to participate in the reading.

Set during America’s baseball fever of 1907, “The Miko Kings” tells the story of an all-Native American baseball team from Ada, Okla., set to play against the United States’ Seventh Cavalry team for the Twin Territories’ pennant. Howe’s novel shifts continually through several time periods and locations, including scenes set at Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute (now Hampton University).

Howe is a citizen of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma and a professor of English and American Indian studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her first novel, “Shell Shaker,” received an American Book Award in 2002. Visit her blog at http://mikokings.wordpress.com/.

For more information regarding the Annual Read-In Event, please contact the Department of English at (757) 727-5421.