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Mar 09, 2026
Join Academy Award-winning actress Viola Davis and bestselling author James Patterson in conversation with The New York Times’ Sarah Lyall for a celebration of their new novel, Judge Stone — and an exploration of how storytelling can interrogate power, conscience, and the fragile promises of democracy.
Set in the small town of Union Springs, Alabama, Judge Stone centers on Judge Mary Stone, the most respected citizen in her community — where she now faces the most divisive case in the region’s history. Criminally, the verdict seems clear. Ethically, there is no safe ground. The result of Davis and Patterson’s collaboration is not just a courtroom thriller, but a cultural event: a meeting of artistic forces asking urgent questions about justice, power, and who we choose to trust. At a time when democracy itself is being tested by questions of moral authority and justice, Judge Stone insists that these debates belong not only in courtrooms, but in our shared imagination.
In a special conversation about the book — a rare meeting of two legends and unlikely creative partners — Davis and Patterson reflect on their unprecedented collaboration and the sense of moral urgency, and lived experience, that shaped it.
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