Tonight at NOMA, don’t miss this edition of Arts and Letters with authors Thomas Beller and Jesmyn Ward. Before the discussion, learn more about self-taught art at a gallery talk on Self-Taught Genius with curatorial assistant Anne C. B. Roberts.

• 5-8 pm: Art on the Spot
• 5:30-8:30 pm: Music by Daria Dzruik & The Hip Drops Duo
• 5:30-8 pm: Meet Mark Derby, Museum Shop Artist of the Month
• 6 pm: Self-Taught Genius gallery talk with Anne C. B. Roberts
• 7 pm: Book signing with Jesmyn Ward
• 7:30 pm: Arts and Letters with Thomas Beller and Jesmyn Ward

About Thomas Beller and Jesmyn Ward

Author Jesmyn Ward won a National Book Award for Salvage the Bones, her gritty and lyrical novel of Hurricane Katrina-era Mississippi. Her latest work is the 2013 memoir Men We Reaped. She is the recipient of Tulane’s first Paul and Debra Gibbons Professorship. Thomas Beller has penned four volumes, including Seduction Theory, a collection of short stories published in 1995, and The Sleep-Over Artist, which was a Los Angeles Times Best Book of 2000 and a New York Times Notable Book. He is also an Associate Professor of English at Tulane University.

Thomas Beller and Jesmyn Ward will discuss issues of identity, originality, creativity, fiction and fact, being a refugee in your own country, and Beyonce and the Blues, among other topics for this edition of Arts and Letters.

About Daria & The Hip Drops Duo

Most frequently compared to Lily Allen, or an unexpected blend of No Doubt colliding with Regina Spektor, Daria & The Hip Drops win over listeners with every performance and recording. The group got their start recording Daria’s first solo album Calliope in 2010, and has continued to grow under the name of the full band, Daria & The Hip Drops, consisting of teamwork between singer, steel pannist, and keyboardist Daria Dzurik and producer Graham Robinson, and a collaboration of other artists that provide backing grooves. Although the group has its roots in upbeat indie pop and rock, influences are wide with steel drums and Caribbean influences, heavy funk bass lines, and the occasional electro-synth sample. Artists and bands like Santigold, The Talking Heads, and Toots & The Maytals have present influences in the band’s sound, as well as the music and culture from the southeast region of the United States, from New Orleans to Miami.