Author Tiya Miles to close History Book Festival Sept. 29

The eighth annual History Book Festival will present Tiya Miles, author of “Night Flyer: Harriet Tubman and the Faith Dreams of a Free People,” at its closing event at 2:30 p.m., Sunday, Sep. 29, at the Cape Henlopen High School Theatre.

Miles is the Michael Garvey Professor of History at Harvard University, a 2011 MacArthur Fellowship recipient, and a 2024 Guggenheim Fellow. Her book explores beyond the stock historical grid of Harriet Tubman’s world. What emerges is a human being whose mysticism becomes more palpable the more readers understand it, allowing the story to offer powerful inspiration for present-day challenges. Reservations are required and may be purchased at bit.ly/HBF-Miles. Each reservation includes one general admission seat and a signed, hardback copy of “Night Flyer.”

Miles will engage in conversation with Linda D. Harris of the Harriet Tubman Museum and Educational Center in Cambridge, Md. Harris and her husband, David B. Cole, will perform code songs, used to guide enslaved people toward their freedom via the Underground Railroad.

In addition to her discussion with Miles, Harris and her husband, David B. Cole, will open the event with a performance of “code songs,” which were once used to guide enslaved peoples toward their freedom on the Underground Railroad. 

The closing event is funded through the generous support of Griswold Home Care for Sussex and Kent counties, and presented in partnership with the Harriet Tubman Museum and Educational Center and Southern Delaware Alliance for Racial Justice.

Clara Licata, SDARJ chair, said “[Miles’] work is informative, not just from a historical standpoint, but from a faith standpoint. Ms. Miles portrays Harriet as a Moses of her time, leading her people out of slavery and into the Promised Land, which was both geographical, up north, and spiritual. These deep spiritual beliefs sustained her through all the danger of her work. To have this author as a closing speaker is truly exciting.”

For more information on all presenting authors and their featured books, go to historybookfestival.org.