Novelist Dennard Dayle to Visit ECC and Talk About the “Value of Satire”

Jamaican American author Dennard Dayle will visit Elgin Community College (ECC) on Tuesday, April 14, to take part in the college’s Writers Center Reading Series to discuss the value of satire. Dayle will speak about his book: “How to Dodge a Cannonball,” a satirical novel that follows a white flag-bearer pretending to be a Black soldier during the Civil War.

Dayle will lead a fiction writing craft workshop from 2 to 3:15 pm in Building B, Room B313. The reading series event will take place from 7 to 8:30 pm in Building B, Room B181 (Community Room), at the Spartan Drive campus, 1700 Spartan Drive, Elgin, Illinois.

“I want them to know that as local madness intensifies, one strategy is simply to be crazier,” Dayle said on what he hopes participants take away from the events. “Satire's often hailed as instructive or preventative, but I think it shines for coping and catharsis. When you can process madness a little better, you're a little more capable of acting.”

Dayle earned his bachelor’s degree in English from Princeton University and an MFA from Columbia University. His other works include the short story collection “Everything Abridged.” NBC and New York Magazine have also featured him for his satirical art project that involved posting thousands of fake campaign posters across New York City. 

To reserve a spot for the workshop or reading series, go to elgin.edu/academics/writers-center/.