Cincinnati-based author and journalist Dani McClain comes to moCa for an interactive public conversation shaped by the questions at the heart of Homing Instinct: Letting Go of the Shore: What does it mean to belong somewhere? What do we carry across generations? What must we release to move toward the futures we are trying to build?

Presented as part of ThirdSpace’s Freedom Lecture series, McClain will draw from her acclaimed writings, including Homing Instinct, her original short story included in Octavia’s Brood, which served as the foundation for Lydia Dean Pilcher’s film of the same name. The gathering will invite audiences into guided conversation, reflection, and shared discovery, setting the frame for a Juneteenth weekend of intergenerational conversation, collective memory, and dreaming out loud.

EXPERIENCE HOMING INSTINCT: Come early to experience the three-channel video presentation of Homing Instinct prior to the talk and tour moCa's galleries.

BAR OPENS: 6PM

TALK: Begins at 6:30PM

TICKETS: $10 (includes one drink ticket to be used on the evening of the event)

About the author

McClain reports on race, parenting and reproductive health. Her writing has appeared in outlets including The New York Times, TIME, The Atlantic, and Harper's Bazaar.   Her work has been recognized by the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association, the National Association of Black Journalists and Planned Parenthood Federation of America, and she has received a James Aronson Award for Social Justice Journalism.   McClain is a contributing writer at The Nation. She was a staff reporter at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and has worked as a strategist with organizations including Color of Change and the Drug Policy Alliance.   Her book, "We Live for the We: The Political Power of Black Motherhood," was published in 2019 by Bold Type Books and was shortlisted in 2020 for a Hurston/Wright Legacy Award. She was the Cincinnati Public Library's writer-in-residence in 2020 and 2021.