
Meet & Greet with Dr. Melva Sampson
Featured Book

The Pink Robe Chronicles
A timely and powerful womanist meditation on voice, faith, and healing from the creator of the viral Pink Robe Chronicles livestream movement, pastor, and rising voice in public theology and digital ministry Rev. Dr. Melva L. Sampson.
For Black women who've grown weary of shrinking back.
The Pink Robe Chronicles began in a moment of heartbreak. In August 2016, Rev. Dr. Melva L. Sampson wrapped herself in a tattered pink robe, pressed "Go live" on Facebook, and preached from her living room--grieving the police killing of Korryn Gaines and the silencing of her own voice in the pulpit. That livestream became a sanctuary. Week after week, she showed up in her robe, offering meditations on justice, healing, and spiritual insurgency. What started as a digital hush harbor grew into a movement.
Now, in this powerful new collection of womanist wisdom, Dr. Sampson weaves together sermons, essays, letters, and reflections that center the lived experiences of Black women navigating identity, trauma, joy, and liberation. With fierce honesty and poetic depth, she chronicles her journey from silence to sovereignty, bringing ancestral wisdom, theological insight, and radical love into a sacred space for the weary and the rising.
Each chapter closes with prompts, meditations, and affirmations that invite us into reflection, healing, and embodied truth-telling. The Pink Robe Chronicles offers a space to rest, rage, and reimagine. It is a love letter to Black women's brilliance, a call to collective healing, and a reminder that our stories are sacred--and our voices, unchained.
This book will be available for purchase at the event.
About This Event
Dr. Melva Sampson will be meeting readers and signing copies of The Pink Robe Chronicles from 1:00 - 3:00 pm at the bookstore. No registration is required; simply stop by while you're holiday shopping! Readers can purchase a copy of the book at the meet & greet, or you can order online now to pick up at the event.
Featured Author

Melva L. Sampson
Rev. Melva L. Sampson, PhD, is a preacher, practical theologian, and digital innovator whose groundbreaking ministry, The Pink Robe Chronicles, has created sacred space for healing, imagination, and liberation. An assistant teaching professor at Wake Forest University School of Divinity, she weaves womanist wisdom, ancestral memory, and Afrofuturist vision into her scholarship and storytelling. Her work bridges the digital hush harbor, embodied spirituality, and communal flourishing, inviting readers into a practice of love, resilience, and justice.
About the Venue

Bookmarks
Bookmarks is a literary arts nonprofit located in downtown Winston-Salem, NC, with the mission is to build an inclusive, curious, and connected community through books. Bookmarks hosts hundreds of events each year and produces the largest annual book festival in the Carolinas. We connect readers with bestselling and award-winning authors, support local schools through book access and outreach, and partner with organizations across Winston-Salem to bring books into more lives.
Visit store pageMore at Bookmarks

Bookmarks Book Club
Our flagship book club meets on the first Monday of each month to discuss popular fiction and nonfiction titles. Meetings take place at the Bookmarks Bookstore in downtown Winston-Salem. Attend the 12:00 pm meeting for a peer-led discussion, or join us at the 6:30 pm meeting for a staff-led discussion. Meetings are subject to change; please check the Bookmarks events calendar for the latest information. We are currently reading from a selection of banned books. October - Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas November - Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison December - Pride: The Story of Harvey Milk and the Rainbow Flag by Rob Sanders (Plus, join us for our holiday book swap!) See more information about book clubs at Bookmarks on our website.

After School with Max Brallier
Join us on Thursday, November 5 for a free after school event with bestselling author Max Brallier! Attendees can expect The Last Kids on Earth-themed games and activities , a presentation from the author, time for audience Q&A , and a book signing . You are welcome to bring books from home to be signed, and we'll also have books available for purchase at the event. Register for this free event to let us know you're coming! You'll have the chance to pre-pay for a copy of The Last Kids on Earth and the Zombie Parade: The Graphic Novel when you register. Make your purchase with your registration to guarantee a copy is reserved for you at the event. We are thrilled that Max Brallier is visiting as part of our Authors in Schools program, which connects students directly with authors to spark a love for reading and writing. Bookmarks is able to donate copies of the author's books to school libraries because of generous givers. Please consider donating with your registration or at the event to support this mission.

A Book Talk with Jeff Zentner
Join us on Thursday, November 12 at 6:30 pm to hear from Jeff Zentner about his latest novel Love, Like Apples . Stephanie Perkins ( Overdue, Anna and the French Kiss ) will be joining as the conversation partner. Registration is free , and you'll have the option to pre-purchase your copy of Love, Like Apples when you RSVP. Additional books by both authors will be available for purchase at the event, and there will be a book signing after the talk.