Worcester's top
annual literary event will be held Oct. 26, with five guest authors at a dinner
benefiting the Worcester Public Library.
A Celebration of
Authors 2017's moderator Joe Cox, president of the EcoTarium, will present
speakers at the 5:30- 9 p.m. event in the White Room at Crompton Collective,
138 Green St.
Guests will be
celebrated authors Andre Dubus III, John Dufresne, Margot Livesey, Elizabeth
Searle and Annie Weatherwax.
Dubus, author of
"House of Sand and Fog," "The Garden of Last Days,"
"Dirty Love" and the memoir, "Townie," teaches fiction at
UMass Lowell. His New York Times best sellers have won numerous literary
awards. "House of Sand and Fog" became an Academy Award-nominated
film starring Ben Kingsley. Dubus grew up in mill towns along the Merrimack;
his books are published in more than 25 languages.
Dufresne has
written two short story collections, "The Way that Water Enters
Stone" and "Johnny Too Bad," and the novels "Louisiana
Power & Light" and "Love Warps the Mind a Little," both New
York Times Notable Books, along with "Deep in the Shade of Paradise,"
"Requiem, Mass.," "No Regrets, Coyote" and "I Don't
Like Where This is Going." He has written two books
on writing fiction. His stories have twice been named Best American Mystery
Stories.
Margot Livesey wrote a collection of stories and
eight novels, including "Eva Moves the Furniture" and "The
Flight of Gemma Hardy." A native of Scotland, she lives in Cambridge and
is on the faculty of the Iowa Writers' Workshop. A novel, "Mercury,"
was published in September 2016. This past summer, Tin House published her
"The Hidden Machinery: Essays on Writing."Elizabeth Searle has written five novels, most recently, "We Got Him," involving the Boston Marathon bombing manhunt. Previous books include "Girl Held in Home," "A Four-Sided Bed" (being developed as a feature film), "Celebrities in Disgrace," which became a short film, and "My Body to You." A stage work, "Tonya & Nancy: The Rock Opera," has been produced in Boston and other major cities. Her writing has been published in over a dozen anthologies.
Annie Weatherwax, winner of the Robert Olen Butler Prize for
Fiction, has published stories in The Sun Magazine, The Southern Review and
elsewhere. A graduate of Rhode Island School of Design, she previously sculpted
superheroes and cartoon characters for Nickelodeon, DC Comics and Pixar. She
has written about the link between visual art and language for publications
such as Publishers Weekly, The New
York Times and Ploughshares.
Her debut novel, "All We Had"
(later a motion picture), was published by Scribner and was a finalist for the
Massachusetts Book Award.
Cost
of the benefit event is $100. Register on the library website, www.mywpi.org.
***
Book festivals in Concord and Boston:
The Boston book Festival
is Oct. 28 at sites surrounding Copley Square; most events are free. Dozens of
authors and literary personalities appear in panels, talks and workshops
(there's also a daylong event for teen readers featuring Lemony Snicket and
Jennifer De Leon). Participants include Claire Messud, Celeste Ng, Ha Jin,
Dennis Lehane, Brunonia Barry, Geraldine Brooks, Garnette Cadogan, Tom Ashbrook,
Maureen Dowd, Chris Van Dusen, Regie Gibson, Daniel Jose Older and dozens more.
Details are at https://bostonbookfest.org.
Concord's
Festival of Authors takes place over 17 days, mid-October into November, with
talks, readings and discussions featuring Ann Hood, Gish Jen and Margot
Livesey, and topics including a "Lecture for Young Readers,"
"Master Class for Writers," "The Story of the NFL,"
Memoirists on Writing the Hard Stories," a Mystery Night, and "Breakfast
with the Authors." For times and details, check online at
www.concordfestivalofauthors.com.
Area book groups:
Worcester Public
Library has launched a new book club—the Popular Reads Café—for readers fond of
popular books. Anyone is welcome to drop by at 3 p.m., Oct. 10 and Nov. 14, in
the Banx Room, for discussion of popular nonfiction and fiction. Local authors
are being invited in, and discussion includes news of the latest books from
favorite authors. It's free, and Friends of the Library provides refreshments.
Merriam-Gilbert
Public Library in W. Brookfield will hold a book group discussion of Michael
Ondaatje's "The Cat's Tale," at 7 p.m., Oct. 10.
The Intrepid Readers Book Group at Douglas Library will discuss Michael Tougias’ "The Blizzard of ‘78" on Tuesday, Oct. 10, at 6:30 p.m. New England was knocked to its knees by the February storm—often referred to regionally as the worst storm of the century. Tougias' history includes photographs and chronicles the storm's progression from Cape Cod to Rhode Island, Connecticut and Massachusetts. It explains how people survived the storm by spending more than 48 hours in their cars, and how coastal homes were torn from their foundations and smashed to smithereens by the vicious surf. Call the Library 508-476-2695 for a copy of the book. New members welcome.
Contemporary book Club will meet at
Barnes & Noble, Lincoln Street, Worcester, at 6 p.m. Oct. 18, to discuss
David McCullough's historical account of aviation pioneers, "The Wright
Brothers."
O'Connor's Books, Brews & Banter
will meet at 6:30 p.m., Oct 25, to discuss "Being Mortal: Medicine and
What Matters in the End" by Atul Gawande. Meeting is at the restaurant,
1160 West Boylston St., Worcester.
Lancaster's Thayer Public Library
Adult Book Group will meet at 6:30 p.m., Oct. 31, to discuss "His Bloody
Project: Documents Relating to the case of Roderick Macrae," a novel.
In Grafton, the Daytimers Book Club
will meet at 1:30, Oct. 17, to discuss "The Seventh Plague" by James
Rollins. The Mystery Book Club meets at 7:30, Oct. 17, to discuss "Ghost
Times Two" by Carolyn Hart.
Correction: The Silent Book Club
chapter in Portland, Maine, mentioned in March, is not affiliated with
Longfellow Books.
Send club selections and other comments to
ann.frantz@gmail.com.
