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Cristin Aptowicz

@coaptowicz

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NYTimes best selling historian/poet. OUT NOW: “The Ballad of the Fugitive William Parker” (Simon & Schuster, 2026). she/her. Philly Girl.
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✨Ballad Tour Dates: OCT & NOV!✨ I’m so grateful to everyone who came out for THE BALLAD OF THE FUGITIVE WILLIAM PARKER launch month events, from Canada to the US, from Boston to Austin, from Washington DC to New Hampshire, it’s been so great to meet so many of you throughout September. And my journey to bring the story of William and Eliza Parker to more readers continues this October & November, as I bring THE BALLAD OF THE FUGITIVE WILLIAM PARKER to bookstores, libraries, and music halls – and hit a couple of poetry stages for old times’ sake too! — all the way through Thanksgiving. Here’s where you’ll be able to find me: 📍 Tues, Oct 6 · People’s Book [ @peoplesbooktakoma ]· Takoma Park, MD · 6pm 📍 Wed, Oct 7 · Cecil County Library [ @cecillibrary ] · Elkton, MD · 6pm 📍 Fri, Oct 9 · Barnes & Noble Jenkintown [ @bnjenkintownpa ] · Jenkintown, PA · 6pm 📍 Tues, Oct 13 · Main Point Books [ @mainpointbooks ] · Wayne, PA · 6:30pm 📍 Tues, Oct 20 · The Music Hall [@musichalllounge] · Portsmouth, NH · 7pm 📍 Tues, Oct 27 · Live at the Kelly Writers House [ @kellywritershouse ] · Philadelphia, PA · 6:30pm 📍 Thurs, Nov 5 · Good Work Institute [ @goodworkinstitute ] · Kingston, NY · 6pm 🎤 Wed, Nov 11 · Supa-Dupa-Fresh [ @supadupafreshbk , with hosts @mobrowne , @iamjonsands , @jivepoetic , @adam_falkner , & @ricofrederickart ] · Brooklyn, NY · 6:30pm 📍 Tues, Nov 17 · Booked Author Series [ @bookedauthorseries ]· Providence, RI · 6:30pm 🎤 Wed, Nov 18 · @bostonpoetryslam at the Cantab Lounge [ @thecantablounge ] · Boston, MA · 8pm 🎓 Mon, Nov 23 · Central High School Career Day [ @centralalumni , @255chs96 · Philadelphia, PA 📍 = book event · 🎤 = poetry show · 🎓 = students only (Go, Lancers! ) Come hear the true tale of love, murder, treason, and the ordinary folks who stood together against injustice… and won! Bring your questions, your friends, and your copy to get signed! Tag someone who needs to be there 👇 Full details forthcoming at the link in bio. #TheBalladOfTheFugitiveWilliamParker #WilliamParker #ChristianaResistance #BookTour #NarrativeNonfiction by @coaptowicz
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8 days ago
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Friends, I am so happy to finally share the cover of my new book! ✨ THE BALLAD OF THE FUGITIVE WILLIAM PARKER: A True Tale of Love, Murder, Treason, and Ordinary Folks Who Saved America (Simon & Schuster, September 8, 2026) The year, 1851. The place, a Quaker farming community turned Underground Railroad stronghold, where a Maryland enslaver had journeyed in pursuit of four men who’d fled his plantation years before. In a few hours, he’d be dead…and twenty-seven men from the village of Christiana would be rounded up and put on trial. Not for his murder, but for treason—for waging war against the United States, at a time when it was a crime to obstruct an enslaver reclaiming his “property.” This is the story of what happened that September morning—and in the ensuing “trial of the century,” which saw the president himself advise the prosecution and a sitting congressman serve as lead attorney for the defense. But it’s also a much larger tale, spanning decades and a startlingly diverse community of abolitionists: from self-emancipated William Parker, whom legend had it bullets could not kill, to Philadelphia socialite Harriet Forten Purvis, who had the ears of politicians and a cellar full of fugitives. A stylish, propulsive, intimately human tale of ordinary people who came together to stand against injustice…and won. 📚 PRE-ORDERS ARE OPEN — and they genuinely matter! I ❤️ local indies! 📖 REVIEWERS & BOOKSELLERS: The galley is available now on NetGalley. 🗺️ BOOKSELLERS, LITERARY & HISTORICAL SOCIETIES: I’ll be touring Fall 2026 — please reach out if you’d like to host an event! A heartfelt thank you to Darlene Colón (@quamonyqueen), @christianahistoricalsociety & @1838blackmetropolis for their generous support of the project, and the extraordinary Hanif Abdurraqib (@nifmuhammad) for his kind words about it! 🙏 #CoverReveal #Bookstagram #BlackHistory #UndergroundRailroad #PhillyGirl by @coaptowicz
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7 months ago
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✨CENTRAL!!✨ It’s Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz (255!!!), coming out to you to share my BALLAD OF THE FUGITIVE WILLIAM PARKER tour dates for Oct & Nov, including some coming up soon in the Philly area! I also want you to consider joining me & other @centralalumni at the 2026 Career Day popping on November 23rd at dear old high! And @255chs96 — hope to see you on the road, at Career Day, and of course at the reunion! LET’S GO!!! by @coaptowicz
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a day ago
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On my way to @peoplesbooktakoma but needed to take a historic detour to Gorsuch Tavern! by @coaptowicz
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2 days ago
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For fans of "Master Slave Husband Wife" and "Django Unchained" comes the extraordinary true but forgotten story of “the first shots of the Civil War,” from the New York Times bestselling author of Dr. Mütter’s Marvels. Join us for a riveting conversation with Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz (@coaptowicz) about her new book "The Ballad of the Fugitive William Parker". 🗓️ Tuesday, 10/20 at 7pm With moderator: JerriAnne Boggis, executive director of the Black Heritage Trail of NH (@blackheritagetrailnh) 🎫 Your ticket includes a signed copy of the book! (The Ballad of the Fugitive William Parker, $31, hardcover) 🔗 More info and tickets online via link in bio! Visit themusichall.org (@simonandschuster) by @coaptowicz
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2 days ago
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✨MARYLAND!! I’m coming!✨ 📍TUES OCT 6th at 6pm: @peoplesbooktakoma 📍WEDS OCT 7th at 6pm: @historicalsocietyofcecilcounty LETS GO!!!! 📚❤️✨ by @coaptowicz
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2 days ago
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Main Points is thrilled to welcome Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz, author of “Dr. Mutter’s Marvels,” with her book “The Ballad of the Fugitive William Parker: A True Tale of Love, Murder, Treason, and Ordinary Folks Who Saved America.” It’s a rousing, true adventure that roams from Christiana, DE to Lancaster County to Philadelphia’s Society Hill. She’ll be joined by guest host and award-winning photographer Ed Cunicelli, who has worked with descendents of the Christiana Rebellion. This event has several ticket options: Bring Your Curiosity (free, cause we KNOW you’ll buy the book after you hear this) Curiosity With a Book - buy the book when you register Attend with the Friend You Share Books With - two seats with one copy included The event takes place in our lower level event space. #independentbookstore #authorevent #waynepa #bookstagram #19087 taken in Main Point Books by @coaptowicz
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4 days ago
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✨Maryland✨ This event is the first of two I’ll be doing next week when I head south to the Old Line State! 📚 This upcoming Tuesday, October 6th, I’ll be at People’s Book / @peoplesbooktakoma in Takoma Park to talk about THE BALLAD OF THE FUGITIVE WILLIAM PARKER, a story that begins in Maryland and ends up shaking the whole nation. I can’t wait to share this story so close to where so much of it began. Books will be available for purchase, and I’ll be happy to sign them. 📍 People’s Book 7014-A Westmoreland Ave, Takoma Park, MD 20912 🗓️ Tuesday, October 6th @ 6:00pm 🔗 Event details at the link in bio See you there! #WilliamParker #ChristianaResistance #UndergroundRailroad #MarylandHistory #TakomaPark by @coaptowicz
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6 days ago
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✨Maryland✨ This event is the second of two I’ll be doing next week when I head south to the Old Line State! 📚 This upcoming Wednesday, October 7th, I’ll be at the Historical Society of Cecil County [ @historicalsocietyofcecilcounty ] in Elkton for an author visit hosted by the Cecil County Public Library [ @cecillibrary ], or I will give a talk about THE BALLAD OF THE FUGITIVE WILLIAM PARKER, including its the stories deep Maryland roots! So many of its most important character — from, William and Eliza Parker, to Edward Gorsuch, to Frederick Douglas, and more — can trace their roots to many of the counties surrounding the area. I am thrilled to share this story in Maryland at this special event. Books will be available for purchase, and I’ll be happy to sign them. 📍 Historical Society of Cecil County 135 East Main Street, Elkton, MD 21921 🗓 Wednesday, October 7th @ 6:00pm ✨ Free & open to adults (off-site library event) 🔗 More info at cecilcountylibrary.org See you there! 🇺🇸🪕 #WilliamParker #ChristianaResistance #UndergroundRailroad #MarylandHistory by @coaptowicz
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6 days ago
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✨Jenkintown, PA✨ Next Friday, October 9th, I’ll be at the ✨brand new ✨ Barnes & Noble Jenkintown [ @bnjenkintownpa ] to celebrate THE BALLAD OF THE FUGITIVE WILLIAM PARKER. I’ll be giving a talk about the origin story of the book as well as its local connections! With a Q&A and signing to follow! I know that some @centralalumni have I already said they are going to be there, but if any more come through, please let me know on the signing line so I can add your class numbers to my end of the tour donation! It’s a tale of love, murder, treason, and the everyday folks who decided enough was enough. And it happened right here in our own Pennsylvania backyard. So come thru @ bring a friend who loves history, or, even better, one who swears they don’t! 📍 Barnes & Noble Jenkintown 905 Old York Road, Jenkintown, PA 19046 🗓 Friday, October 9th @ 6:00pm 🔗 Full details at the link in bio See you there! 🇺🇸🪕 #WilliamParker #ChristianaResistance #UndergroundRailroad #PennsylvaniaHistory by @coaptowicz
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6 days ago
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My mom took me to get my first ever library card at the Philadelphia @freelibrary card when I was three. Decades later I still remember the layout of the library, and how grown I felt when subjects I was interested in took me out of the kids section, or how happy I was to be the first kid in that branch to be lent a brand new copy of the latest Encyclopedia Brown book (“Encyclopedia Brown Takes the Cake” - a combination mystery story and cookbook. I had waited weeks to come in!). When I moved back this summer, one of the first things I did was get a new library card and as a lark, I put a request for my forthcoming book! Imagine my surprise when that request came in a few weeks after the book was published, and I got to pick up my own book from my own local branch! ❤️ If you haven’t gotten a library card for your local library, consider this your sign too! They are exactly as magical as you remember them as a kid! ❤️ by @coaptowicz
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6 days ago
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✨Wayne, PA✨ i’ve been so grateful to have such fantastic conversation partners during this tour: Descendants! Historians! Scholars! & Poets! But I am beyond excited for this event at @mainpointbooks where I will be in conversation with documentary photographer Ed @cunicelliphoto . Ed & I have worked together in the past & he is responsible for the incredible portraits of Christiana Resistance descendants & activists you see on this reel. Please join us on Tuesday Oct 13 for what I’m sure will be a fantastic conversion, followed by a Q&A & book signing! See you there!! by @coaptowicz
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8 days ago
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