Historian (from below), award-winning author, filmmaker, playwright, Distinguished Professor, University of Pittsburgh marcusrediker.comhttps://bsky.app/profile/marcusrediker.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/marcusrediker.bsky.social/post/3my5hvrkcwk2iYesterday Mark Povinelli and I held the third reading of our play, *The Return of Benjamin Lay*, at the Radnor Quaker Meeting House, built in 1718 and a place Benjamin no doubt visited. We thank the Radnor, Newtown, and Middletown Quaker meetings for hosting us. I love the ghostly shadow. On to DC!18 Oct 2026 11:12 +0000at://did:plc:hss2ujwkcssduntvonxtv3ab/app.bsky.feed.post/3my5hvrkcwk2ihttps://bsky.app/profile/marcusrediker.bsky.social/post/3mxh3dearj22pHere is one of my favorite essays, from 2009, when I was a visiting professor at Cornell University and worked in their Prison Education Program at Auburn Prison (NY). Here is my account of that experience, originally published in CounterPunch. https://www.counterpunch.org/2009/09/03/inside-auburn-prison/09 Oct 2026 13:28 +0000at://did:plc:hss2ujwkcssduntvonxtv3ab/app.bsky.feed.post/3mxh3dearj22phttps://bsky.app/profile/marcusrediker.bsky.social/post/3mxbt6prvmc2jIt is a real honor to receive this year’s Slavery Archive Book Prize for *Freedom Ship*. The award means all the more to me because I have such respect for what @araujohistorian.bsky.social and her colleagues have built through the Slavery Archive Digital Initiative (@slaveryarchive.bsky.social).07 Oct 2026 11:19 +0000at://did:plc:hss2ujwkcssduntvonxtv3ab/app.bsky.feed.post/3mxbt6prvmc2jhttps://bsky.app/profile/marcusrediker.bsky.social/post/3mx7ff56eac2uOne of the many joys of giving a talk about *The Black Schooner* with my co-author David Lester at the New Haven Museum last Wednesday evening was to see my dear friends Christina Heatherton and Jordan T. Camp.06 Oct 2026 12:07 +0000at://did:plc:hss2ujwkcssduntvonxtv3ab/app.bsky.feed.post/3mx7ff56eac2uhttps://bsky.app/profile/marcusrediker.bsky.social/post/3mx2cy23ibk2tJoin us for a staged reading of my play, *The Return of Benjamin Lay*, co-written with Naomi Wallace, to be at Georgetown University's Riggs Library, Monday, Oct. 19, 2026, at 7:30pm EDT. https://events.georgetown.edu/performingarts/event/42981-the-return-of-benjamin-lay04 Oct 2026 11:40 +0000at://did:plc:hss2ujwkcssduntvonxtv3ab/app.bsky.feed.post/3mx2cy23ibk2thttps://bsky.app/profile/marcusrediker.bsky.social/post/3mwxtyc7ves2lI look forward to working again with the gifted vocalist Karen Somerville as we present "Stories and Songs of Maritime Liberation in the Chesapeake" at the Sultana Downrigging Festival in Chestertown, MD, Friday, Oct. 30, 6:15 pm, details below. Join us! downrigging.org/freedom-ship/ https://downrigging.org/freedom-ship/03 Oct 2026 12:07 +0000at://did:plc:hss2ujwkcssduntvonxtv3ab/app.bsky.feed.post/3mwxtyc7ves2lhttps://bsky.app/profile/marcusrediker.bsky.social/post/3mwq7n4p3xk25I am honored to say that my book *Freedom Ship* has been awarded the 2026 Marion Brewington Book Prize for Maritime History by the Maryland Center for History and Culture.30 Sep 2026 11:14 +0000at://did:plc:hss2ujwkcssduntvonxtv3ab/app.bsky.feed.post/3mwq7n4p3xk25https://bsky.app/profile/marcusrediker.bsky.social/post/3mwiolhiqx22dFilm screening at NYU on Monday, Sept. 28 at 7:00 pm: *Becoming Benjamin Lay* will be screened in the Espacio de Culturas auditorium, King Juan Carlos Center, 53 S. Washington Square. Please help us spread the word for this free event. Please register here: https://as.nyu.edu/research-centers/clacs/events/fall-2026/becoming-benjamin-lay.html?challenge=d06e90d7-4d8f-4b88-9d8c-10b73beb60f127 Sep 2026 11:20 +0000at://did:plc:hss2ujwkcssduntvonxtv3ab/app.bsky.feed.post/3mwiolhiqx22dhttps://bsky.app/profile/marcusrediker.bsky.social/post/3mvzn5xtlsc23Join us for the launch of our new book, *The Black Schooner: Rebellion on the Amistad, A Graphic Novel*, Wed., Sept. 30, 6:00 pm, at the New Haven Museum. I will be there in person and co-author David Lester will join remotely. The event is free. Register here: https://cthumanities.org/event/the-black-schooner-rebellion-on-the-amistad-a-graphic-novel-book-launch-event/21 Sep 2026 11:45 +0000at://did:plc:hss2ujwkcssduntvonxtv3ab/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvzn5xtlsc23https://bsky.app/profile/marcusrediker.bsky.social/post/3mvx2spcul224Delighted to say, our film *Becoming Benjamin Lay* has won the 2026 “Audience Award,” Best Feature-Length Film in the ReelAbilities Film Festival Pittsburgh. www.instagram.com/p/DdebWiuDMKm/20 Sep 2026 11:11 +0000at://did:plc:hss2ujwkcssduntvonxtv3ab/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvx2spcul224https://bsky.app/profile/marcusrediker.bsky.social/post/3mvuotac4xs25My blurb for Chloe Ireton’s new book, forthcoming from Hurst in November: “Chloe Ireton has brought to vivid life a love story in *Plotting for Freedom* and thereby made a unique, moving, deeply human, and sure to be lasting contribution to Atlantic history.” https://hurstpublishers.com/book/plotting-for-freedom/19 Sep 2026 12:31 +0000at://did:plc:hss2ujwkcssduntvonxtv3ab/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvuotac4xs25https://bsky.app/profile/marcusrediker.bsky.social/post/3mvs376oeqs2hMy blurb: “Graham Hodges has made a lifetime of major contributions to the study of American slavery and abolition. His biography of Henry Highland Garnet is a triumph -- a deeply-researched and altogether brilliant portrait.” https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300279566/henry-highland-garnet/18 Sep 2026 11:34 +0000at://did:plc:hss2ujwkcssduntvonxtv3ab/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvs376oeqs2hhttps://bsky.app/profile/marcusrediker.bsky.social/post/3mvpiz7dctc2lHappy to say that my book *Freedom Ship* will be published in Italian as *Fugitives: The Secret Routes to Freedom* by Elèuthera Edizioni, based in Milan. This is the second translation to appear so far, the other in German, with a third coming in Spanish. https://www.eleuthera.it/scheda_libro.php?idlib=63617 Sep 2026 11:04 +0000at://did:plc:hss2ujwkcssduntvonxtv3ab/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvpiz7dctc2lhttps://bsky.app/profile/marcusrediker.bsky.social/post/3mvn2mdojsc25Honored that my book *Freedom Ship* has been named a finalist for this year's #Slaveryarchive Book Prize. [contains quote post or other embedded content]16 Sep 2026 11:41 +0000at://did:plc:hss2ujwkcssduntvonxtv3ab/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvn2mdojsc25https://bsky.app/profile/marcusrediker.bsky.social/post/3mvmy6nsctc2vPenn was a good place to study while I was there, from 1976-1982: Dell Hymes and William Labov (linguistics), Arjun Appadurai and Anthony Wallace (anthropology), and Erving Goffman (sociology). I learned the most from a historian of great and unruly brilliance, early Americanist Michael Zuckerman.16 Sep 2026 10:57 +0000at://did:plc:hss2ujwkcssduntvonxtv3ab/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvmy6nsctc2vhttps://bsky.app/profile/marcusrediker.bsky.social/post/3mvkivozxek2xWhen I arrived at Penn for graduate study 50 years ago, I had no idea what I was getting into. No one in my family had ever gone to college, much less grad school. As Malcom X said, you could have hung a placard around my neck that said “hick” and it couldn’t have been any more obvious.15 Sep 2026 11:18 +0000at://did:plc:hss2ujwkcssduntvonxtv3ab/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvkivozxek2xhttps://bsky.app/profile/marcusrediker.bsky.social/post/3mvhvsadbk22pFifty years ago this month I went to Penn for graduate study: Early American/Caribbean slavery with Richard S. Dunn. I began to study sailors and pirates and eventually wrote what would become my first book, *Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea* (1987). I returned to slavery in subsequent books.14 Sep 2026 10:31 +0000at://did:plc:hss2ujwkcssduntvonxtv3ab/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvhvsadbk22phttps://bsky.app/profile/marcusrediker.bsky.social/post/3mvfjy65fak24Many years ago, when I was in graduate student at Penn, the anthropologist Clifford Geertz invited me to come work with him as one-year fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton. I was forced to decline, but I have always wondered what would have happened had I gone.13 Sep 2026 11:54 +0000at://did:plc:hss2ujwkcssduntvonxtv3ab/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvfjy65fak24https://bsky.app/profile/marcusrediker.bsky.social/post/3mv65pxm6tc26Film screening in NYC: We will show *Becoming Benjamin Lay* at New York University on Monday, Sept. 28 at 7:00 pm in the Espacio de Culturas auditorium, King Juan Carlos Center, 53 S. Washington Square. The event is free but please register by the link below: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/becoming-benjamin-lay-film-screening-and-conversation-with-marcus-rediker-tickets-2000262829970?aff=oddtdtcreator10 Sep 2026 13:26 +0000at://did:plc:hss2ujwkcssduntvonxtv3ab/app.bsky.feed.post/3mv65pxm6tc26https://bsky.app/profile/marcusrediker.bsky.social/post/3muyyc33ehc2xWe will hold the launch of our graphic novel *The Black Schooner: Rebellion on the Amistad, A Graphic Novel* at the New Haven Museum on Wed., Sept. 30 at 6:00 pm. The event is free but registration is required. See the link below. Join us! https://zip06.com/news/918822/graphic-novel-explores-the-amistad-rebellion/08 Sep 2026 12:06 +0000at://did:plc:hss2ujwkcssduntvonxtv3ab/app.bsky.feed.post/3muyyc33ehc2xhttps://bsky.app/profile/marcusrediker.bsky.social/post/3muwglisppk24Thrilled to team up with vocalist Karen Somerville to present my book *Freedom Ship* through story and song at the Downrigging Festival in Chestertown, MD, Friday, Oct. 30. I loved working with Karen on a similar presentation of the *The Slave Ship* years ago. https://downrigging.org/event/american-schooner-association-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-3/07 Sep 2026 11:44 +0000at://did:plc:hss2ujwkcssduntvonxtv3ab/app.bsky.feed.post/3muwglisppk24https://bsky.app/profile/marcusrediker.bsky.social/post/3mumcgenxsc2fGrateful to the good people at City of Asylum (@cityofasylum.bsky.social) for the screening of *Becoming Benjamin Lay* Monday evening before a large and enthusiastic audience, in person and online. With film director Tony Buba and Darin Lee, Director of Public Programming at CoA.03 Sep 2026 11:03 +0000at://did:plc:hss2ujwkcssduntvonxtv3ab/app.bsky.feed.post/3mumcgenxsc2fhttps://bsky.app/profile/marcusrediker.bsky.social/post/3mujx3eazcc2vAs many of you know, I am a collector of Haitian art. Here is a 1955 painting by a little-known artist named Roland Bigaud, who might have been related to the famous Wilson Bigaud. The luminous color used to depict a vodou ceremony is extraordinary.02 Sep 2026 12:34 +0000at://did:plc:hss2ujwkcssduntvonxtv3ab/app.bsky.feed.post/3mujx3eazcc2vhttps://bsky.app/profile/marcusrediker.bsky.social/post/3muhcw7ufo22xHonored that our film *Becoming Benjamin Lay* is an official selection of Pittsburgh’s ReelAbilities Film Festival. Anyone in PA, OH, and WV who would like to watch the film and at the same time support the festival, may screen it here between Sept. 4-13: https://reela26.eventive.org/films/6a7a2fb3ae1895a63f35b1b001 Sep 2026 11:28 +0000at://did:plc:hss2ujwkcssduntvonxtv3ab/app.bsky.feed.post/3muhcw7ufo22xhttps://bsky.app/profile/marcusrediker.bsky.social/post/3mueqqcwoe22qFor the many of you who have expressed a desire to see our new documentary film, *Becoming Benjamin Lay*, here is an opportunity. Wherever you live, you can livestream tonight’s screening at @cityofasylum.bsky.social, 7:00 pm, through Vimeo. Sign up to do so here: https://cityofasylum.org/program/tony-buba-marcus-rediker-present-becoming-benjamin-lay/31 Aug 2026 10:57 +0000at://did:plc:hss2ujwkcssduntvonxtv3ab/app.bsky.feed.post/3mueqqcwoe22qhttps://bsky.app/profile/marcusrediker.bsky.social/post/3mucax4zdns27Tomorrow evening, Monday, Aug. 31! Join Tony Buba and me for the screening of our film, *Becoming Benjamin Lay*, at @cityofasylum.bsky.social, 40 W. North Ave. on Pittsburgh’s Northside, 7:00 pm, in-person or remote. Please register for the free event here: https://cityofasylum.org/program/tony-buba-marcus-rediker-present-becoming-benjamin-lay/30 Aug 2026 11:10 +0000at://did:plc:hss2ujwkcssduntvonxtv3ab/app.bsky.feed.post/3mucax4zdns27https://bsky.app/profile/marcusrediker.bsky.social/post/3mu5afxgsx22eMy blurb for a terrific book coming in Jan. 2027: "... Christian Hogsbjerg places revolt by enslaved people at the center of a creative and inspiring Atlantic-wide freedom story, renewing and going beyond CLR James’s classic *History of Pan-African Revolt*." https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/atlantic-history-in-15-slave-revolts-9781350386402/28 Aug 2026 11:17 +0000at://did:plc:hss2ujwkcssduntvonxtv3ab/app.bsky.feed.post/3mu5afxgsx22e