Author Talk with Breena Clarke

Breena Clarke is the acclaimed author of three novels and co-founder of The Hobart Festival of Women Writers. Her novels River Cross my Heart and Standing the Storm are historical fiction based in Georgetown. Breena is also the co-editor of Chicken Soup for the Soul: I’m Speaking Now (2021).

Ms. Clarke set two of her novels in historic Georgetown before she knew that the experiences of the fictional characters in her well-researched tales paralleled those of her own ancestors in many ways. Breena Clarke is a direct descendant of three generations of the Clarke family who were enslaved in the City Tavern building when it was operated in the nineteenth century as the Georgetown Hotel.

Breena will talk about the emotional and creative impact of this revelation on her and her bond with Georgetown, plus how she blends fact and fiction to let her characters carry the reader to experience an earlier era. She learned about the enslavement of her ancestors from research conducted by Yvette LaGonterie, who is now a Director on the Board of the City Tavern Preservation Foundation.