A Conversation with DONNA HILL, an American Author and Professor

Join us for an intimate conversation with author and MEC Assistant Professor Donna Hill to discuss her recent book, I Am Ayah-The Way Home. Set amid Sag Harbor’s vibrant African American history, I Am Ayah is the rich story of discovering oneself, family legacy, true love and finding the way home…no matter how long the journey takes. Publishers Weekly’s Starred Review writes, “Hill manages to make the present and past story lines equally captivating.” While Kirkus Reviews writes that elements “echo those in Octavia E. Butler’s Kindred.”

Book signing to follow.

Donna Hill
Guest Speaker

Marilyn Morton-Anderson
Moderator

Yvonee Torres Bratcher
Moderator

Location:
1638 Bedford Avenue • Edison O. Jackson Auditorium • 6:00pm

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Donna Hill
Author/Professor

Donna Hill is an Assistant Professor of Professional Writing at Medgar Evers College. She began her literary career in 1987 writing short stories. Since that time she has more than 100 published titles to her credit since her first novel was released in 1990. Three of her novels have been adapted for television. She has been featured in Essence, the New York Daily News, USA Today, Today’s Black Woman, and Black Enterprise among many others. She has received numerous awards for her body of work—which cross several genres– including The Career Achievement Award, and The Zora Neale Hurston Literary Award among others, as well as commendations for her community service. Donna is a graduate of Goddard College with an MFA in Creative Writing. Her novel Confessions In B-Flat, received a Starred review from Publisher’s Weekly and is being adapted for the screen by Amblin Partners and executive produced by Academy Award winner Octavia Spencer. Her latest novel is I Am Ayah—The Way Home, which also received a starred review from Publisher’s Weekly and compared to elements in Octavia Butler’s Kindred by Kirkus Reviews. In April 2023 Donna and her colleague Dr. Cristina Migliaccio were awarded a Black, Race, and Ethnic Studies (BRES) Curriculum Faculty Fellow Grant from the CUNY Graduate Center.

Marilyn Morton-Anderson
AKALiteraries Book Club

Marilyn Morton-Anderson was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. After graduation from high school, she attended college in the mid-west.

Ms. Anderson graduated from college and moved to New York to begin a career in Education. Her first position was in Brooklyn, New York as a certified Kindergarten teacher in a city run day care center. She remained there as the head teacher for seven years.

The next six years Marilyn taught in the Bronx, New York in the parochial school system. There she taught grades four through seven in Mathematics.

From the Bronx her career took her to Mount Vernon, New York in Westchester County. Ms. Anderson taught grades five and six in elementary school. Marilyn moved on to middle school where she became department head in Mathematics.

Later she became Assistant Principal. During the summer months she was principal of the High School Summer School Program.

Marilyn Morton-Anderson retired as a Middle School Principal in 2016.

She promised herself to step foot on all seven continents after retirement. Marilyn successfully visited four continents before the Covid 19 Pandemic halted travel.

Marilyn is the proud mother of two adult children. Ms. Anderson is a member of the Bronx Chapter, Eta Omega Omega, of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated. She is also an active member of the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) Westchester Section, Zete Eta Chapter of the National Sorority of Phi Delta Kappa (NSPDK) of Westchester, and Jack & Jill Associates of Westchester.

Ms. Morton-Anderson has always been a lover of all genres of books and literature.

Yvonne Torres-Bratcher
AKALiteraries Book Club

Yvonne Torres – Bratcher is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. She holds a master’s degree in social work from Columbia University. Currently she serves as the Senior Director of Clinical Services in a Hospital for Behavioral Health and Drug addiction recovery. She has over 30 years of experience serving clients that experience social determinants of health insecurities. She has private practices where she has worked with her clients to achieve goals and set reasonable expectations. She mostly enjoys reading and discussing books, she reads an average of 3 – 4 books a month.