Pulitzer winner Isabel Wilkerson to headline McGill’s Beatty Lecture
Isabel Wilkerson will deliver the 2025 Beatty Lecture at McGill University on October 23. The event will take place during the university’s Homecoming week and will be moderated by CBC’s Nahlah Ayed. President Barack Obama awarded Wilkerson the National Humanities Medal in 2016 for her vital storytelling work.
Dominique Bérubé, McGill’s Vice-President (Research and Innovation), said: “Isabel Wilkerson is a voice the world needs to hear.” He praised her ability to confront injustice with courage and empathy.
A career rooted in power and truth
Wilkerson studied journalism at Howard University. She began her career at the Detroit Free Press before joining The New York Times. In 1994, at age 33, she made history as the first Black woman—and first Black journalist—to win a Pulitzer Prize for individual reporting.
The Beatty Lecture series at McGill began in 1954. It brings eminent thinkers to Montreal to share transformative ideas. Wilkerson will deliver the 71st lecture in this prestigious lineup.
Books that reshaped the narrative
Her first book, The Warmth of Other Suns (2010), took 15 years to write. Based on over 1,200 interviews, it chronicles the Great Migration of six million Black Americans from the South to northern and western cities. The work was named one of the top two books of the 21st century by The New York Times, topping best-seller lists and winning the National Book Critics Circle Award.
In 2020, Wilkerson published Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents, which uncovers the hidden caste system that divides America. Her book was a New York Times best-seller for 58 weeks and named Time magazine’s Nonfiction Book of the Year. Ava DuVernay adapted it as the film Origin in 2023.
Teaching and awards across academia
Wilkerson has held prestigious positions at Emory, Princeton, Northwestern, and Boston University. Her academic roles span teaching journalism and leading narrative nonfiction programs.
She has received major awards, including the George S. Polk Award, the NAACP Image Award, the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, among others.
