Event Description
Porter Square Books: Boston Edition and GrubStreet are delighted to present the latest installment of the Grubbie Debut event series, featuring Jason Prokowiew! Join us for a celebration of his new book, War Boys: A Father and Son Memoir. Theresa Okokon will join Prokoview in conversation, and the author talk will be followed by a signing line.
We are pleased to offer a virtual attendance option for this event. Register to attend on Crowdcast here: https://www.crowdcast.io/c/warboys
ABOUT WAR BOYS
War Boys is an exploration of a family experiencing intergenerational trauma: an adult son seeking to understand his terrifying and abusive father, interwoven with a biography of his father, who experienced unimaginable horrors as a child during World War II.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Jason Prokowiew received the PEN America/Jean Stein Grant for Literary Oral History, a Fulbright Scholar Award, and the Trio House Nonfiction Prize for War Boys. His writing has appeared in The North American Review, The Guardian, Salon, WBUR’s Cognoscenti, Roxane Gay’s “The Audacity,” Under the Sun, and on WORLD Channel’s Stories from the Stage, where his piece “Sing” is the most watched in the show’s history. He’s received support from Bread Loaf, Tin House, Ragdale, and the Mass Cultural Council. A Memoir Incubator graduate, Jason lives on a lake in Massachusetts with his husband Dave and their greyhound Champ.
Theresa Okokon is an award-winning writer, storyteller, and teacher. A Wisconsinite living in New England, she is the co-host of Stories From The Stage who—in addition to writing and performing her own stories—also teaches storytelling and writing, coaches other tellers, hosts storytelling events, collaborates with nonprofits on narrative-driven special projects and events. An alum of both the Memoir Incubator and Essay Incubator programs at GrubStreet, Theresa's memoir of essays about memory, family stories, and the death of her father -- titled WHO I ALWAYS WAS -- was published by Atria Books at Simon & Schuster in 2025.
This class will take place in-person at our Center for Creative Writing in Boston's Seaport neighborhood.
Covid-19 Update:
GrubStreet's space will be mask-optional when Boston's Covid-19 Community Level is low or medium. When the Covid-19 Community Level is high, our space will require masks. Please check GrubStreet's Covid-19 page for the latest info on masking and Community Levels before visiting in person.
Space Accessibility:
Our space is ADA accessible with automatic door openers, ADA-compliant restrooms, desk and table spacing, braille signage, and elevator. Our classrooms can be equipped with ALS for hard of hearing individuals. We cannot guarantee a scent-free environment. For more accessibility requests, please contact our Operations team at [email protected] or (617) 695-0075.