Story/Teller Arts: James Ijames on Fat Ham

On the heels of Fat Ham’s critically acclaimed Broadway run, James Ijames joins The Center for Fiction for a rich conversation on his inventive, poignant, and hilarious play. In Fat Ham, Juicy—a young, queer, Southern man grappling with questions of identity—is visited by the ghost of his father at his mother’s wedding/family barbecue, and ordered to avenge his murder. Winner of the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Fat Ham is an “outstanding transformation of Shakespeare’s tragedy into a play about Black masculinity and queerness” that “echoes Hamlet and finds a language beyond it” (New York Times).

The Center for Fiction is thrilled to continue its collaboration with Theatre Communications Group for this event, with past events featuring Jackie Sibblies Drury and Claudia Rankine; Annie Baker and Branden Jacobs-Jenkins; Heidi Schreck and Paula Vogel; Sarah Ruhl and Matthew Aucoin; Aleshea Harris and Nissy Aya; Lynn Nottage and Damon Tabor; Martyna Majok, Naveen Kumar, and David Zayas; Taylor Mac and Laura Collins-Hughes; and Will Arbery, Chloé Cooper Jones, and Leslie Jamison.

Each ticket (in-person and livestream) will come with a signed copy of Fat Ham.