My Time Will Come: Redemption, Identity, and the Stories That Shape Our Lives

At 13 years old, Ian Manuel was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He would spend the next 26 years incarcerated, including 18 years in solitary confinement.

In this Spark Salon, poet, activist, and author Ian Manuel shares how reflection, forgiveness, and imagination helped him survive and transform his life. During his years in prison, Ian turned to poetry as a way to confront his past, examine the beliefs he carried about himself, and question the story that his life had already been decided.

Drawing from his memoir My Time Will Come, Ian explores how the stories we tell ourselves can either confine us or open the possibility of change. His journey includes an extraordinary friendship with the woman he shot as a teenager, who later became an advocate for his release, a relationship that challenged both of them to see each other in a completely different way.

Through poetry and lived experience, Ian invites us to reflect on accountability, forgiveness, and how our beliefs about who we are and who others are can shape the course of a life.

6:00 p.m.: Doors open, reception
7:00 p.m.: Program begins promptly
8:00 p.m.: Book signing and reception

In-person attendees will receive a complimentary book.