The Mill Valley Library welcomes Carvell Wallace for a special conversation about his new book, Another Word for Love, a transformative memoir that reimagines the conventions of love and posits a radical vision for healing. In conversation with writer and creative consultant Shawn Taylor.

In Another Word for Love, Wallace excavates layers of his own history, situated in the struggles and beauty of growing up Black and queer in America—making sense of seeking refuge from homelessness with a young single mother, living in a ghostly white Pennsylvania town, becoming a partner and parent, and raising two teenagers in what feels like a collapsing world.

Carvell Wallace grew up between southwestern Pennsylvania, Washington, DC, and Los Angeles. He attended the New York University Tisch School of the Arts and worked as a stage actor before spending fifteen years in direct-service youth nonprofits. He has covered art, entertainment, music, culture, race, sports, and parenting for The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, Slate, GQ, Pitchfork, MTV News, and other outlets. As a podcast host, he has been nominated for a Peabody Award and won a Kaleidoscope Award. He is the coauthor of Andre Iguodala's New York Times bestselling basketball memoir, The Sixth Man. He lives in Oakland and has two adult children, a comfortable couch, and a lot of plants.

Shawn Taylor is a writer, university lecturer, and communications coach and consultant. He is a lifelong music fan, and spends much of his time listening to bootlegs of his favorite bands, and trying to introduce his daughter to new music. His new book, The Alphabet for New and Expecting Fathers will be released around Father’s Day 2024.

Our bookseller for this program is Sausalito Books by the Bay.