The Underground Railroad Limited Series Brings Colson Whitehead’s Novel to Life

Colson Whitehead’s The Underground Railroad was the winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, as well as a number one New York Times bestseller. Academy Award-winning director Barry Jenkins brings the book to life in a new series that chronicles Cora Randall’s desperate bid for freedom in the Antebellum South. After escaping a Georgia plantation for the rumored Underground Railroad, Cora discovers no mere metaphor, but an actual railroad beneath the Southern soil.

Festival writer Colson Whitehead has established himself as one of the most versatile and innovative writers in contemporary literature. We were honored to have him appear at the 2018 Festival to discuss his work, including The Underground Railroad. He has received a MacArthur Fellowship, A Guggenheim Fellowship, a Whiting Writers Award, the Dos Passos Prize and a fellowship at the Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers. In 2018, New York State named him their New York State Author, and in 2020 the Library of Congress awarded him their Prize for American Fiction.