Riva Lehrer with Chase Joynt (postponed)

Award-winning author Riva Lehrer will join writer and director Chase Joynt to discuss the socially challenged body in her new memoir, Golem Girl.

This event has been postponed until a later date. We apologize for any inconvenience. 

The Koffler’s Books & Ideas series is proud to present artist, writer, and curator, Riva Lehrer, and her new book, Golem Girl: A Memoir. Winner of the Barbellion Prize, finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Autobiography, and named One of the Best Books of 2020 by Kirkus Reviews, Riva shares her story as an artist born with disabilities who searches for freedom and connection in a society afraid of 'strange bodies'.

Riva Lehrer will join award-winning author and filmmaker, Chase Joynt, in an online conversation.

Thanks to Penguin Random House Canada; to event bookseller, Glad Day Bookshop; and to promotional partner, Miles Nadal JCC.

RIVA LEHRER is an artist, writer, and curator whose work focuses on issues of physical identity and the socially challenged body. She is best known for representations of people with impairments, and those whose sexuality or gender identity have long been stigmatized. A longtime faculty member of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Riva Lehrer is currently an instructor in medical humanities at Northwestern University.

CHASE JOYNT is a writer and director whose films have won jury and audience awards internationally.  With Aisling Chin-Yee, Chase co-directed No Ordinary Man, which was presented at Cannes Docs 2020 as part of the Canadian Showcase of Docs-in-Progress and premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2020. His latest short film, Framing Agnes, premiered at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival, won the Audience Award at Outfest in Los Angeles, the Juror Award at the Ann Arbor Film Festival, and is being developed into a feature film with support from Telefilm Canada’s Talent to Watch program. Joynt’s first book You Only Live Twice (co-authored with Mike Hoolboom) was a Lambda Literary Award Finalist and named one of the best books of the year by The Globe and Mail and CBC.  Most recently, Chase directed an episode of Two Sentence Horror Stories for the CW, which is now streaming on Netflix.

The Koffler Centre of the Arts is dedicated to accessibility. CART will be provided at this event, and a transcript and video/audio recording will be available afterwards on the Koffler website. This Zoom event is in webinar format, meaning all event attendees will be off camera. We will do our best to accommodate additional access needs; if you have questions or concerns, please contact our access point person, Francis, at ftomkins@kofflerarts.org.

Our year-round Books & Ideas series spotlights provocative writers, novelists and thinkers, celebrating literary excellence and fostering critical dialogue through compelling book launches, author talks and in-depth interviews. 

This spring, Books & Ideas continues to recognize female voices and experimental literature, featuring authors and books that reflect upon forgotten histories, intersectionality, personal narratives, and self-discovery. All programs will be presented virtually on our online platform. 

Books & Ideas was launched with the generous support of Dorothy Shoichet & Family and the Estate of Joseph Koenig.

Riva Lehrer, photo by Nathan Keay.