Mendoza AJ Hikes

Paola Mendoza | Solis: A Companion to Sanctuary

In conversation with AJ Hikes

From the authors of Sanctuary comes a haunting near-future companion tale about undocumented immigrants subjected to deadly experiments in a government labor camp and the four courageous rebels who set into place a daring plan to liberate them.

Paola Mendoza is a proud immigrant from Colombia. She is an award-winning filmmaker, best-selling author and has organized some of the largest and most impactful cultural and political movements in the past decade, including the Women’s March, Families Belong Together & Trans Prom. She uses art to disrupt and disarm, to change our thinking, and to advance movements for immigrants, reproductive justice and the LGBTQ community. Her work has been supported by The Ford Foundation, Just Films, Pop Culture Collaborative, Opportunity Agenda, and Race Forward, among many others. She co-authored the New York Times bestseller Together We Rise: Behind the Scenes at the Protest Heard Around the World. Her YA novel, Sanctuary, was a critical darling and is currently being adapted into a motion picture. Her most recent YA title, SOLIS (the sequel to Sanctuary), will be released in the Fall. Paola’s work has been published in The New York Times, USA Today, Huffington Post, Glamour, InStyle, Elle and Teen Vogue.

Her films Igualada, Entre Nos, On the Outs & Free Like the Birds have garnered international and critical acclaim at the Sundance Film Festival, Berlin Film Festival and Toronto International Film Festival just to name a few.

Paola is a founder of The Resistance Revival Chorus, The Meteor and The Soze Agency..

Because you love Author Events, please make a donation when you register for this event to ensure that this series continues to inspire Philadelphians.

Books will be available for purchase at the library on event night!


The views expressed by the authors and moderators are strictly their own and do not represent the opinions of the Free Library of Philadelphia or its employees.

Event Time Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024 7:30pm - 8:30pm

Paola Mendoza | Solis: A Companion to Sanctuary
Event Location
Parkway Central Library

Related Events

Jill Lepore

Wednesday, September 9, 2026

7:00pm-8:00pm

The Author Events Series presents Jill Lepore | The Rise and Fall of the Artificial State In Conversation with Tamala Edwards Meelya Gordon Endowed Lecture Inspired by Hannah Arendt’s The...
Erin Riley

Tuesday, September 15, 2026

7:00pm-8:00pm

The Author Events Series presents Erin Riley | The Mighty WMMR In Conversation with John DeBella In the early 1980s, the scrappy radio station 93.3 WMMR was on the verge...
Emily Wilson

Tuesday, September 22, 2026

7:00pm-8:00pm

The Author Events Series presents Emily Wilson | Crossing the Wine-Dark Sea In Conversation with Merve Emre Montgomery Auditorium is now sold out. We have opened a rush line for...