# Event Details - **Event Name**: Justin Torres: Blackouts - **Event Start and End Date**: Wed, 04 Nov, 2026 at 12:00 pm – Wed, 04 Nov, 2026 at 05:00 pm (-05:00) - **Event Description**: In his National Book Award-winning novel Blackouts, author Justin Torres explores queer history, inheritance, and erasure.About this EventJefferson Humanities Forum presentsJustin Torres: BlackoutsConversation with the Author | Wednesday, November 4, 12-1 p.m. | Jefferson Alumni Hall, Atrium, 1020 Locust Street, Philadelphia (Center City Campus). Lunch provided while supplies last.Keynote Lecture | Wednesday, November 4, 4-5 p.m. | DEC Forum, Lawrence N. Field DEC Center, 4201 Henry Avenue, Philadelphia (East Falls Campus)Both events free and open to all.At the core of the novel Blackouts is the imagined deathbed conversations between a young, unnamed narrator (referred to as Nene) and his friend and elder, Juan Gay. As Juan waits for his end, the two recount for each other moments of joy and oblivion, resurrecting loves, lives, mothers, fathers, and minor heroes. Juan shares his tattered and redacted copy of Sex Variants: A Study of Homosexual Patterns, and passes on his final wish: that Nene complete the story of Jan Gay, the real-life researcher whose early-20th-century interviews with queer people across the United States and Europe offered the foundation of Sex Variants, but whose contributions ended up being eclipsed—and all but erased—by the scientists whose legitimacy she required to publish her work. A dream-like and genre-defying creation, Blackouts incorporates erasure, photographs, testimony, illustrations, imaginary screenplays, and more as it insists that we look long and steadily at what we have inherited and what we have made.Justin Torres is a novelist celebrated for a distinctly lyrical style that weaves truth and fiction, blending genres as he explores queer art, love, lineage, life, and death—and the multifaceted dynamics between family, friends, mentors, and strangers—through narrative. He is the author of Blackouts, winner of the 2023 National Book Award, and the instant contemporary queer classic We the Animals, which was translated into fifteen languages and adapted into a feature film. A graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, Torres was named a National Book Foundation “5 Under 35,” a Wallace Stegner Fellow at Stanford University, a fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University, a Cullman Center Fellow at the New York Public Library, and was a recipient of a 2024 Guggenheim Fellowship. His short fiction and essays have appeared in The New Yorker, Harper’s, Granta, Tin House, The Washington Post, LA Times Image Magazine, and Best American Essays. He lives in Los Angeles and teaches at UCLA. He is at work on a new novel.During 2026-2027, the Jefferson Humanities Forum hosts multidisciplinary scholars and thinkers to investigate the theme of Movement.Co-presented by Jefferson Humanities & Health, the Philadelphia University Honors Institute at Thomas Jefferson University and the College of Humanities & Sciences.Learn more: Jefferson.edu/HumanitiesQuestions? Contact Kirsten Bowen, Humanities Program Coordinator, at kirsten.bowen@jefferson.edu.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcoBOEhrtQ0&t=9s - **Event URL**: https://allevents.in/philadelphia/justin-torres-blackouts/100001999719870965 - **Event Categories**: art, literary-art, business, workshops, health-wellness, entertainment, science-fair - **Interested Audience**: - total_interested_count: 0 - **Event Highlights**: - Duration: 5 hours - Location: Lawrence Field DEC Center, DEC Forum - Languages: English ## Ticket Details - **Ticket Price Range**: min: 0, max: 0, currency: USD ## Event venue details - **city**: Philadelphia - **state**: PA - **country**: United States - **location**: Lawrence Field DEC Center, DEC Forum - **lat**: 40.0231719 - **long**: -75.1942263 - **full address**: Lawrence Field DEC Center, DEC Forum, 4201 Henry Avenue, Philadelphia, United States ## Event gallery - **Alt text**: Justin Torres: Blackouts - **Image URL**: https://cdn-az.allevents.in/events3/banners/d350ae392c619ca2fafa50866474e3403ba97727be3d6b126d3a5a214ed0897e-rimg-w1200-h600-dc087898-gmir.jpg?v=1790893870 ## FAQs - **Q**: When and where is Justin Torres: Blackouts being held? - **A:** Justin Torres: Blackouts takes place on Wed, 04 Nov, 2026 at 12:00 pm to Wed, 04 Nov, 2026 at 05:00 pm at Lawrence Field DEC Center, DEC Forum, 4201 Henry Avenue, Philadelphia, United States. - **Q**: Who is organizing Justin Torres: Blackouts? - **A:** Justin Torres: Blackouts is organized by Jefferson Humanities & Health. - **Q**: Who is this event for? Is it right for me? - **A:** Justin Torres: Blackouts is ideal for art lovers, collectors, creatives, and anyone inspired by visual arts, installations, and exhibitions. Whether you're a first-time attendee or a longtime enthusiast in Philadelphia, this event is thoughtfully curated to deliver a standout experience worth every moment. 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