An Evening With Rasheed Newson

Time: 7:30pm-9:00pm
Date: March 4, 2025
Location: Butler University’s Schrott Center for the Arts

The Vivian S. Delbrook Visiting Writers Series invites you to spend an evening with award-winning novelist and television writer Rasheed Newson on Tuesday, March 4, 2025 at 7:30PM at Butler University’s Schrott Center for the Arts. Newson will read from works such as his acclaimed novel, “My Government Means to Kill Me” which follows the journey of a young gay Black man who leaves his affluent family in Indianapolis to navigate 1980s New York City. The event will end with an audience Q&A and a book signing. Rasheed Newson grew up in Indianapolis where he attended Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory High School. He went on to attend Georgetown University, where he wrote movie reviews for the school newspaper, The Hoya. In 2002, Rasheed moved to Los Angeles and joined the entertainment industry. He worked as a production assistant; an executive assistant; an assistant to a showrunner; and the second assistant to a network president. He has an ID badge from every studio lot. Rasheed’s writing career began when he was hired as a staff writer on the Fox drama “Lie to Me.” As a writing partner with a colleague, Rasheed and T.J. Brady have worked on “Narcos,” “The Chi,” and “Shooter,” among other drama series. They are currently executive producers on Bel-Air. In 2023, Rasheed published his debut novel “My Government Means to Kill Me.” The novel tells a fierce and riveting queer coming-of-age story following the personal and political awakening of a young, gay, black man in 1980s New York City. It went on to become a New York Times Notable Book of the Year and was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Prize for Gay Fiction. Rasheed lives with his husband and their two children in Pasadena, California.