Scripps Presents has announced its spring 2022 season, “The Food Issue,” which will focus on food justice, sustainability, culture, and creativity with a slate of virtual and in-person programming featuring renowned chefs and food activists. Scripps Presents will once again partner with PEN America this season to host discussions with prize-winning contemporary authors. Additional programming will be announced throughout the spring.
“We’re really excited about exploring food this season,” Corrina Lesser, artistic director of Scripps Presents, said. “Beyond its obvious importance in sustaining us as humans, it’s also a topic that is at the heart of the critical conversations we’re having as a society about activism, sustainability and innovation.”
This year’s MLK Commemorative Lecturer and cookbook author Bryant Terry will discuss how he’s amplifying new voices of color in the culinary world, and activist Cleo Silvers will discuss the role of food in sustaining the Black Panther movement. Writer and curator Fanny Singer will reflect on her life with her mother, Chez Panisse founder and restaurateur Alice Waters, with longtime family friend and food writer Ruth Reichl. Famed food columnist Yotam Ottolenghi will also return to the Scripps Presents stage for an in-person conversation about global cuisine, culinary collaborations, and kitchen creativity.
Scripps Presents will continue its partnership with PEN America and the Strand Bookstore for the PEN Out Loud author conversation series. This season’s lineup presents four conversations between authors whose latest works offer thought-provoking examinations of race, sexuality, and identity. Participating authors include National Book Award finalist Robert Jones Jr., PEN/Faulkner Award-winning author Julie Otsuka, poet Solmaz Sharif, and memoirist and cultural critic Julissa Arce.
Founded in 2016 as Scripps College’s premiere public events program, Scripps Presents is committed to hosting thought-provoking conversations with emerging and established scholars, writers, performers and thinkers. Previous guests have included Angela Davis, Samin Nosrat, Lena Waithe, and Colson Whitehead. Additional information about Scripps Presents event protocols is available here.