Tom Tom Festival Presents: A Conversation with John Grisham and Deirdre Enright

John Grisham & Deirdre Enright – The Courage to Confront a Broken System

Join bestselling author John Grisham and Deirdre Enright, founder of the UVA Innocence Project, at the historic Paramount Theater for a powerful conversation on justice, wrongful conviction, and the moral courage required to confront systemic failure.

This headlining conversation will launch the 14th Annual Tom Tom Festival, whose theme is COURAGE, and will explore the human cost of mass incarceration, the realities behind wrongful convictions, and the long road to exoneration for those imprisoned for crimes they did not commit. Most importantly, the conversation will examine the bravery necessary to demand fairness, accountability, and compassion in our criminal justice system.

Drawing from decades of legal advocacy, investigative work, and storytelling, Grisham and Enright will share the stories of wrongfully convicted individuals, and examine how narrative, law, and public will intersect in the fight for reform — underscoring why innocence work remains one of the most urgent civil rights issues of our time.