October 24, 2024
Author Jeff Biggers to perform “Disturbing the Bones” show at Morris Library on Oct. 30
American Book Award-winning book historian, journalist and playwright Jeff Biggers will discuss and perform excerpts from his new book, “Disturbing the Bones,” during a free, public presentation at Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s Morris Library on Oct. 30.
Biggers’ show “From Southern Illinois to Hollywood: Bringing, history, culture and stories to the stage” is at 7 p.m. in the library’s John C. Guyon Auditorium. Biggers will be joined by Isaiah Cunningham, a noted blues and soul guitarist and singer-songwriter from Eldorado, Illinois, in an old radio show format.
Written with celebrated film director Andrew Davis, the thriller novel is based on a mysterious archaeological site in Cairo, Illinois. It will take readers to the back streets of Chicago and a knife-edge investigation that morphs into a political thriller about a world on the brink. Davis is acclaimed for his film classics, including “Holes,” “Under Siege” and “The Fugitive,” which received seven Oscar nominations. New York Times bestselling author Michael Mann called the thriller “an ingenious page turner.”
Biggers earned an SIU Friends of Morris Library Delta Award in 2010 for his memoir, “Reckoning at Eagle Creek: The Secret Legacy of Coal in the Heartland,” which is based on his family’s 200-year history in Southern Illinois. The book also earned a Brower Award for Environmental Reporting. He is the author of 10 books, and his work has appeared on numerous media outlets, including National Public Radio International, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Atlantic Monthly Salon and The Nation. As founder of the Climate Narrative Project, Biggers has worked with universities across the country to bring together science, humanities and the arts to address the climate crisis.