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Caster Semenya presenting “The Race to Be Myself: A Memoir” in conversation with KIM MCLARIN
November 1, 2023 @ 7:00 pm
| $15 – $38
Harvard Book Store welcomes CASTER SEMENYA—two-time Olympic Games gold medalist—for a discussion of her new memoir The Race to Be Myself. She will be joined in conversation by KIM MCLARIN—acclaimed author and Professor of Creative Writing and Graduate Program Director of the MFA in Popular Fiction at Emerson College.
Ticketing
There are two ticket options available for this event. Caster will sign copies of The Race to Be Myself after the presentation. Additional copies of the book will be for sale at the event.
Book-Included Ticket: Includes admission for one and one hardcover copy of The Race to Be Myself.
Admission + 20% Coupon Ticket: Includes admission for one, plus a coupon which can be used for 20% off the purchase of Caster Semenya’s The Race to Be Myself exclusively onsite at the First Parish Church event on November 1.
About The Race to Be Myself
Olympian and World Champion Caster Semenya is finally ready to share the vivid and heartbreaking story of how the world came to know her name. Thrust into the spotlight at just eighteen years old after winning the Berlin World Championships in 2009, Semenya’s win was quickly overshadowed by criticism and speculation about her body, and she became the center of a still-raging firestorm about how gender plays out in sports, our expectations of female athletes, and the right to compete as you are.
Told with captivating speed and candor, The Race to Be Myself is the journey of Semenya’s years as an athlete in the public eye, and her life behind closed doors. From her rural beginnings running free in the dust, to crushing her opponents in record time on the track, to the accusations and falsehoods spread about her in the press, the legal trial she went through in order to compete, and the humiliation she has been forced to endure publicly and privately. This book is a searing testimony for anyone who has been forced to stop doing what they love.
Praise for The Race to Be Myself
“Caster’s story isn’t just a tale of perseverance and poise, it’s a story that makes us all interrogate our humanity and the world we build with our actions every day. An essential read.” —Trevor Noah