Join Bland Simpson, Kenan Distinguished Professor of English and Creative Writing at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for a discussion of his book Two Captains from Carolina. Simpson chronicles the stories of two nineteenth-century mariners from North Carolina--one African American, one Irish American. Grandy, born a slave, captained freight boats on the Dismal Swamp Canal and bought his freedom three times before he finally gained it. Maffit was a legendary blockade runner and raider for the Confederate navy.A book signing will follow the reading.