One Book One BART: Author Margaret Wilkerson Sexton on BART, "the transportation system that has not stopped carrying me"

Oakland-based writer Margaret Wilkerson Sexton is the author of On the Rooftop, the official selection of One Book One BART's fall 2023 book club. The acclaimed novel follows a mother whose dream of musical stardom for her three daughters collides with their own aspirations, set against a backdrop of a gentrifying 1950s Fillmore District in San Francisco.  

Sexton will be giving a free and open-to-the-public author talk at BART Headquarters (2150 Webster Street, Oakland) on Wednesday, Nov. 1, from noon to 1pm.

The talk will be livestreamed, and a registration link is forthcoming. More info here. 

In 2006, Sexton left her hometown of New Orleans for the Bay Area to interview for a job. She tells BART: "I didn't have a car so I rode BART everywhere." 

Read the rest of her statement about moving to the region and riding BART below:

I was thrilled to hear that On The Rooftop was chosen as the Fall 2023 selection for One BART, One Book. I moved to the Bay Area in 2006 via a one-way ticket from my hometown of New Orleans. I had come for a potential job and had reached the second round of interviews. It was a big job, and I was one year out of college; it was unlikely that I would get it. I didn’t have a car so I rode BART everywhere, trying to memorize the different stops and wondering where they might lead. I used BART to get to the Mission District where my then boyfriend, now husband lived on Florida and 24th. My great aunt had moved from New Orleans to San Francisco during the Great Migration then settled in Vallejo. When I went to visit her, it was her grandchildren who picked me up at the Richmond Station. And of course, I took the BART to my job interview. After, while waiting at Millbrae, I called my dad and sobbed into the phone. I didn’t know what I was doing. In just the few days since I’d arrived, I’d fallen in love with the Bay Area but didn’t know if I would have a viable way to live there. I didn’t know then that I would end up getting the job, nor that I would marry in the Bay Area and have my children there. I didn’t know that I would eventually write a book set in the city I was coming to know. And it was impossible to imagine that that book would be honored by the transportation system that has not stopped carrying me. 

-- Margaret Wilkerson Sexton, author of On the Rooftop

One Book One BART's fall club is fast underway! Read the book and join us for upcoming events in October and November: 

Sat. Oct 21, 1pm-3pm: Train Read-In from Richmond Station to Daly City Station (55 min) 

• Join BART staff for this season’s Train Read-In – a 55-minute ride starting at Richmond Station and ending at Daly City Station. Feel free to hop on along the way! Check back for full schedule. 
• What to expect: 
  • Book club-style small group discussions 
  • Trivia (with exclusive prizes!)  
  • Raffle 
  • More! 

Wed, Nov. 1, noon to 130pm: Author Talk with Margaret Wilkerson Sexton at BART Headquarters in Downtown Oakland (2150 Webster St, Oakland)

• On the Rooftop author Margaret Wilkerson Sexton stops by BART HQ for a moderated author talk and Q&A.  
• Event will be livestreamed.
• Join the mailing list and check bart.gov/bookclub to ensure you get a spot for the talk. Registration will go live mid-October. 

Visit bart.gov/bookclub to learn more about the book and where to find it locally, including from our partners the San Francisco Public Library, Moe's Books, Folio Books, and Banter Bookshop. Our bookstore partners are offering a 20% discount on the title when you show your Clipper card.