AViD Presents: Adam Higginbotham

British journalist and author Adam Higginbotham released his debut book, the nonfiction bestseller, Midnight in Chernobyl, in 2019. The book earned Higginbotham the 2020 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction, and was named one of the best books of the year by The New York Times, Time Magazine, Kirkus Reviews, NPR, and others.

After reporting on the Chernobyl nuclear disaster for more than a decade, Higginbotham delivered a powerful investigation into how propaganda, secrecy, and myth obscured the true story of one of the 20th century’s greatest disasters. The book draws from hundreds of hours of interviews and letters, plus unpublished memoirs and documents from recently declassified archives to present a harrowing narrative that brings the disaster to life through the eyes of the men and women who witnessed it.

The event will be moderated by Courtney Crowder. Courtney is the first female Iowa Columnist for The Des Moines Register. She focuses on telling human stories with an investigative eye and a narrative touch. Crowder’s first journalism job was with the Chicago Tribune Books section, where she interviewed authors, kept the review copy room under control and organized the Printers Row Lit Fest.  A graduate of New York University, Crowder is a gummy bear aficionado and a parallel parking master.

The 2021 season of AViD is sponsored by the Des Moines Public Library Foundation with support from these generous donors: Nationwide Foundation, Union Pacific Foundation, Kelly and Brad Edmister, Principal, Humanities Iowa and the National Endownment for the Humanities, Mary K. and Daniel M. Kelly Family Foundation, Karen Shaff and Steven Jayne, Pamela Bass-Bookey and Harry Bookey, Cultivating Compassion: The Dr. Richard Deming Foundation, Dr. Katherine and Andrew Hauser, Douglas and Deborah West, Cynthia O’Brien and Michael Fitzpatrick, Mary M. Riche, Shelley and Martin Brody, Dawn Taylor, Judy Blank, Jann Freed and John Fisher, Barbara and Jon Yankey, and The Des Moines Register (in-kind) and Iowa Public Radio (in-kind).