Colson Whitehead reads from his novel Cool Machine, followed by a conversation, book sale and signing.
Colson Whitehead comes to Congregation Emanu El on Thursday, November 12, at 7:30 PM. He'll be reading from his novel Cool Machine, followed by an on-stage conversation with a local author or journalist, a book sale, and a signing. The evening is part of the 2026/2027 Inprint Margarett Root Brown Reading Series, presented by Inprint, Houston's premier literary arts nonprofit, which works to foster creative writing and inspire readers and writers across the city.
Whitehead arrives in Houston as a two-time Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winner and a #1 New York Times bestselling author. He's the first writer to win the Pulitzer for consecutive books: The Underground Railroad in 2016 and The Nickel Boys in 2019. His other honors include MacArthur and Guggenheim Fellowships, a Whiting Writers Award, the Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction, and the National Humanities Medal. He also served as the New York State Author from 2018 to 2020.
Beyond those two Pulitzers, his bibliography runs deep. He's written The Intuitionist, John Henry Days, and Sag Harbor, along with the essay collection The Colossus of New York and the nonfiction The Noble Hustle. Cool Machine is the latest addition to that list, and it's the book he'll be reading from that night.
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Tickets are $35 for general admission, and that price includes a copy of Cool Machine. The reading starts at 7:30 PM at Congregation Emanu El, 1500 Sunset Boulevard, Houston, TX 77005.
