Bestselling novelist and British Fantasy Award and Locus Award winning author Silvia Moreno-Garcia will be the featured speaker at our 44th Annual Marian McFadden Memorial Lecture.
Due to unforeseen circumstances, the lecture, previously scheduled for March 16, 2023, has been postponed until 7 p.m. on Thursday, September 28 at the Madam Walker Legacy Center.
If you already had a ticket for the March 16 date, your ticket remains valid for the September date. Please look for updates from The Library closer to the event.
If you are on the waitlist, you will keep your spot. IndyPL will share updates with you through Eventbrite as seats become available.
If you do not currently have a ticket, please check back on this page this summer to see if more tickets have become available.
For updated information as we get closer to the event, please check back on this page or email tellus@indypl.org.
IndyPL is hosting additional author events throughout 2023. To learn more and register, check indypl.org/calendar.
Mexican by birth, Canadian by inclination, Silvia Moreno-Garcia is the author of a number of critically acclaimed novels, including Gods of Jade and Shadow (Sunburst Award for Excellence in Canadian Literature of the Fantastic, Ignyte Award), Mexican Gothic (Locus Award, British Fantasy Award, Pacific Northwest Book Award, Aurora Award, Goodreads Award), and Velvet Was the Night (finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and the Macavity Award).
She has edited several anthologies, including She Walks in Shadows (World Fantasy Award winner, published in the USA as Cthulhu’s Daughters). Silvia is the publisher of Innsmouth Free Press. Her fiction has appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies.
She has an MA in Science and Technology Studies from the University of British Columbia. She lives in Vancouver, British Columbia.
What to Read Next Based on Your Favorite Silvia Moreno-Garcia Book
Silvia Moreno-Garcia is an award-winning author whose writings span time periods, genres, and settings. Most readers are at least passably familiar with her gothic horror novel, Mexican Gothic, but Moreno-Garcia has also written a fantastical historical-romance novel The Beautiful Ones, a 70s noir mystery Velvet Was the Night, and a dark urban fantasy novel Certain Dark Things, amongst others. With such a wide range of genres, it is possible that readers will adore one of her novels and find another not quite to their taste. To help the adventurous reader navigate Silvia Moreno-Garcia's 8 published novels (and her short story collection), this list pairs each of her novels with a book that is similar in theme, tone, and/or plot.
The Daughter of Doctor Moreau
A Novel
The Daughter of Doctor Moreau is a reimagining of H.G. Wells classic novel, The Island of Doctor Moreau, set in 19th century Mexico and featuring Doctor Moreau's daughter, Carlota Moreau.
Empire of Wild
A Novel
Joan's husband, Victor, has been missing for nearly a year when Joan finds him in a revival tent claiming to be the Reverend Eugene Wolff. Fans of the Daughter of Doctor Moreau will appreciate that this Red Riding Hood retelling also incorporates critiques of colonialism, a hint of magical realism, and a touch of romance.
The Beautiful Ones
The Beautiful Ones is a slow-burn historical romance with just a touch of magic. Hector, a renowned telekinetic, has returned to Loisal hoping to woo his childhood love, Valerie. Instead he befriends Valerie's sister-in-law, another telekinetic named Nina.
Past Lecturers:
- 2022 - Kadir Nelson
- 2021 - Cancelled due to COVID-19
- 2020 - Cancelled due to COVID-19
- 2019 - Ta-Nehisi Coates
- 2018 - Jeff Kinney
- 2017 - Junot Díaz
- 2016 - Jacqueline Woodson
- 2015 - Khaled Hosseini
- 2014 - David Wiesner
- 2013 - Ann Patchett
- 2012 - Mo Willems
- 2011 - Bob Woodward
- 2010 - Neil Gaiman
- 2009 - Nicholas Sparks
- 2008 - Eric Carle
- 2007 - Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (delivered by Mark Vonnegut)
- 2006 - Patricia Cornwell
- 2005 - Marc Brown
- 2004 - John Irving
- 2003 - Louis Sachar
- 2002 - David McCullough
- 2001 - Tomie dePaola
- 2000 - Doris Kearns Goodwin
- 1999 - Judy Blume
- 1998 - Margaret Atwood
- 1997 - Jon Scieszka & Lane Smith
- 1996 - Amy Tan
- 1995 - Gary Paulsen
- 1994 - William Styron
- 1993 - Chris Van Allsburg
- 1992 - Gail Godwin
- 1991 - Maurice Sendak
- 1990 - John Updike
- 1989 - David Macaulay
- 1988 - Tom Wolfe
- 1987 - Lloyd Alexander
- 1986 - Kurt Vonnegut
- 1985 - Jean Fritz
- 1984 - James Baldwin
- 1983 - Richard Peck
- 1982 - Gail Sheehy
- 1981 - Scott O'Dell
- 1980 - Norman Mailer
- 1979 - Elaine L. Konigsburg
- 1978 - Saul Bellow
The Marian McFadden Memorial Lecture Series was established after the Library Foundation received a gift from the estate of Marian McFadden, Director of Public Libraries in Indianapolis from 1945-1956. This annual author lecture series, which typically takes place in the Spring, was named in her honor.
Made possible by Friends of the Library through gifts to The Indianapolis Public Library Foundation.