Music with special guest Hannah Tinti Salem's new "happening" writers' showcase, Thursday's Theater of Words and Music, kicks off our Festival – and on a Friday, no less! Tonight, we welcome special guest Hannah Tinti, who will be joining poets Jean Monahan and Richard Wollman. Readings followed by open mic and reception with cash bar and Hors d'oeuvres.
Hannah Tinti is the author of the award-winning novel The Good Thief (Dial Press, 2008), which has been compared to works by Robert Louis Stevenson and Charles Dickens.
Jean Monahan received an MFA from the Creative Writing Division at Columbia University and is the author of three books of poetry: Hands (Anhinga Press, 1992), Believe It or Not (Orchises Press, 1999), and Mauled Illusionist, published by Orchises in January, 2006. She has won numerous awards and has been published widely in magazines, including Poetry, Atlantic Monthly, Ploughshares, The New Republic and Salamander.
Richard Wollman is a poet and sculptor who lives in Amesbury, MA and teaches literature and creative writing at Simmons College. He is the author of two collections, A Cemetery Affair and Evidence of Things Seen. Winner of the Gulf Coast Prize for Poetry, his poems also appear in Prairie Schooner, MARGIE, Crazyhorse, and New England Review.
A Soiree in Salem celebrates Nathaniel Bowditch's 226th birthday with a reception at The Salem Athenaeum followed by a lecture on Roseamund Bowditch Loring at Hamilton Hall. There will be a special viewing of The Athenaeum's exhibit UNDER THE COVERS: The Hidden Art of Endpapers from the Collection of The Salem Athenaeum 1705-1945 at the reception. For information and tickets, please contact Becky Putnam at 978-744-6343 or email at beckyput@yahoo.com.
Sidney Berger, the Ann C. Pingree Director of the Phillips Library at the Peabody Essex Museum, will speak about Nathaniel Bowditch's great-granddaughter Rosamond Bowditch Loring's contribution to the world of paper and books. A Marbled Cake reception will follow. For information and tickets, please contact Becky Putnam at 978-744-6343 or email at beckyput@yahoo.com.
Performances are Friday and Saturday at 8PM and Sunday at 2PM at the Griffen Theatre, 7 Lynde Street. An Evening of Pinter features a diverse collection of eight revue sketches and one-act plays by the late Nobel Laureate including A Kind of Alaska, New World Order and Family Voices. Tickets are $20 for Adults and $17 for Students/Seniors and can be reserved by calling 978-790-8546, or by sending an e-mail to info@salemtheatre.com. Tickets are also available for purchase 24 hours in advance at www.salemtheatre.com.
Join Mark Karlins as he reads from his new children’s book: What if your family are vaudeville stars...but you're more of an astronomer? The Fabulous Fortunatos sing, dance, and juggle brilliantly, so Lorenzo, who can't do any of these, is sure he has been born into the wrong family. In fact, he's been building a spaceship on the family's roof. One day, Albert Einstein attends the show, and he recognizes Lorenzo for what he is: a genius. The two blast off on a zany adventure, but when homesickness sneaks up on Lorenzo, he learns an important lesson -- his family misses him too, and it takes more than one type of talent to make the Fortunatos fabulous.
This endearing and humorous story celebrates the power of individuality, the importance of big imagination, and the ways we all fit in -- even when we least expect it.
See science in action, and create a new planet with Mark! Reading and presentation followed by Q&A and book signing.
Peter and Beth take you back into American history with Henry Cushing's Dilemma. Henry's father is a Loyalist and Henry's uncle and cousin are Patriots. He finds he has to choose between the two sides as he experiences the Boston Tea Party in December 1774 and Col. Leslie's Retreat in Salem in February 1775, leading up to the Battles of Lexington and Concord two months later.
Peter Van is a tour guide and retired educator. Beth Blanchard is an elementary teacher and singer. Both are local history buffs. Enjoy the performance and learn about toys and games children played with in early America. Ideal for children ages 7-12, all welcome.
Back by popular demand! Come match your wits against fellow word-freaks and try to take home the title of LitFest 2009 Scrabble Hero! Please pre-register for this free event by emailing info@salemathenaeum.net.
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Come and meet authors as well as representatives from small presses and literary magazines. Have your dreams interpreted by Dreams Made Clear, or bring your inner poet to our Magnetic Poetry Board. Participants include Quick Fiction magazine, the History Press, and fiction, non-fiction, young adult, and children’s authors.
Join us in this creative workshop, and set your imagination free! Jennifer Karin outlines the process of story-creation, and using The Dreamstarter Book, helps you create your own story. Ideal for kids from 4-14, all welcome.
In this workshop, published poets and members of the Salem Writers Group will share successful writing prompts. Participants will use the prompts to kick-start some on-site writing, and at the end of the workshop, will have written the beginnings of three or more poems! Participating Writers group poets recently presented their work at the Massachusetts Poetry Festival in Lowell, and include Kevin Carey, Jennifer Jean, Colleen Michaels, January O'Neil, and J.D. Scrimgeour.
Meet Kat Black, author of Scholastic’s new young adult sensation, The Book of Tormod: A Templar's Apprentice. Kat signs books and talks with fans of this epic historical fantasy (the first in a series) featuring young Tormod, whose adventure leads him to understand his special gifts as he aids a Templar Knight on his quest.
Thirteen-year-old Celeste Harris is no string bean, but comfy sweatpants and a daily chocolate cookie suit her just fine. Her under-the-radar lifestyle could have continued too, if her aunt hadn't entered her in the HuskyPeach Modeling Challenge. To get out of it, she's forced to launch Operation Skinny Celeste-because, after all, a thin girl can't be a fat model! What Celeste never imagined was that losing weight would help her gain a backbone . . . or that all she needed to shine was a spotlight. A hilarious debut featuring friendship, family, mean girls and even celebrity crushes, Celeste's story is a delicious treat that doesn't add a pound. Reading followed by Q&A and book siging.
Join local hero Brunonia Barry, author of the phenomenally successful novel The Lace Reader (Wiliam Morrow, 2008) for this writers' workshop. A great story is often deeply rooted in place. This workshop will explore location as character. Examine how the world of your story can unleash your creativity and reveal narrative possibilities. Please bring a page or paragraph of writing, either your own or an example that has inspired you with its sense of place.
This is a book and an author to watch! In her first novel, Asta in the Wings, Jan Elizabeth Watson captures the intensity of a childhood of alienation and dislocation through the endearing, seven-year-old narrator Asta Hewitt. Locked away in an isolated house by her mentally unstable mother, Asta and her brother, Orion, are unaware of the realities of the outside world, living in a fanciful make-believe reality of their own creation. When their mother does not return home from work one night, they are forced to take matters into their own hands and face the unknown with all of its dangers and misunderstandings. Reading followed by Q&A and book signing.
"Asta's narration is full of the wonderment and matter-of-factness of youth, and her eye-opening trip into reality is flawlessly executed by Watson."-Publishers Weekly, Starred Review "A cleverly constructed, beautifully written first novel from a gifted new writer."-Booklist, Starred Review
Giles Laroche will show and discuss the illustrations for his upcoming children's book What's Inside? Fascinating Structures Around The World. Laroche will describe how he creates his dimensional cut-paper-relief, chose the various sites for the book, and how the book evolved from initial concept to the final art. A brief demonstration of his art will follow. Viewers will have a rare opportunity to see original the original art from this book. Laroche lives and creates his art in Salem and is the illustrator of many other children's books including What Do Wheels Do All Day? and Down to the Sea in Ships.
An innovative blend of fact and fiction, November 22, 1963 chronicles the day of John F. Kennedy's assassination through the point of view of those nearest to the president and first lady. Drawing on original interviews and sources, novelist Adam Braver brilliantly constructs a historical fiction that explores the intersection of stories and memories and reveals how, together, they have come to represent and mythologize that fateful day. Reading followed by Q&A and book signing.
"Braver's novel is a piercing portrait of those who experienced the Kennedy assassination firsthand." -Steve Almond, author of My Life in Heavy Metal
"With a captivating mix of fact and fiction, Braver chronicles the events surrounding JFK's assassination to moving effect. The event is no stranger to the literary world, but Braver's recreation, owing to small and often previously off-camera details, remains hauntingly original. While the accumulation of small moments gives the book its weightiness, the stories of people peripherally associated with the assassination make the book sing; through the experiences of the Texan who sold the government Kennedy's casket, the mechanic in charge of the limousine in which Kennedy was shot and numerous others, Braver reveals the tragedy of a national story that decades later can still be acutely felt." -Publishers Weekly
Adam Braver is the author of Mr. Lincoln's Wars, Divine Sarah, and Crows Over the Wheatfield. His work has appeared in journals such as Daedalus, Ontario Review, Cimarron Review, Water-Stone Review, West Branch, and Post Road. He teaches at Roger Williams University in Bristol, Rhode Island, and is a writer-in-residence at the NY State Summer Writers Institute.
Your morning felt so polite, it's time for sparks to ignite. Join us for delightfully quick readings by authors from the Salem-based national literary journal Quick Fiction. Ranked #4 in New England by the Boston Globe, Quick Fiction is a biannual print journal that features stories under 500 words. Featured Readers include Prema Bangera, Blake Butler, Kenneth Calhoun, Christen Enos, and Brian Foley.
This open mic and social was a popular event at last year's festival! The theme of this year's open mic is "Notes: Words and Music." Come to share your own poetry, fiction, and songwriting or just to be impressed by the "notes" of your friends and neighbors!
Please join us as we pay tribute to this amazingly gifted and prolific local treasure. Boston Globe reporter Don Aucoin will moderate readings and a discussion; bring a favorite passage or story to share.
Don Aucoin is an award-winning reporter at The Boston Globe and coauthor of the New York Times best-seller Last Lion: The Fall and Rise of Ted Kennedy. Aucoin's work is also included in the book Best Newspaper Writing, 2006-2007. He first discovered Rabbit, Run at age 14, and then quickly made his way through the rest of John Updike's oeuvre -- or at least his oeuvre as of the early 1970s. Aucoin did his best to keep up with Updike's output over the ensuing four decades. He fell short, but plans to devote the next four decades to catching up.
Performances are Friday and Saturday at 8PM and Sunday at 2PM at the Griffen Theatre, 7 Lynde Street. An Evening of Pinter features a diverse collection of eight revue sketches and one-act plays by the late Nobel Laureate including A Kind of Alaska, New World Order and Family Voices. Tickets are $20 for Adults and $17 for Students/Seniors and can be reserved by calling 978-790-8546, or by sending an e-mail to info@salemtheatre.com. Tickets are also available for purchase 24 hours in advance at www.salemtheatre.com.
Join Brooks as she reads from her debut novel, Five Finger Fiction, the engaging tale of an Irish Catholic kleptomaniac with a controlling mother and a peeping Tom father! Then stay for one of Brooks’ favorite writers’ block busters, "It Was a Dark and Stormy Night"...fun for getting creative juices flowing, and not just for writers!
Brooks Sigler is a part-time English teacher at the Great Bay e-Learning Charter School in Exeter, NH. She lives with her husband, a fish, a turtle, and 2.5 cats.
Where would books be without paper? Come see how handmade paper is created, and try it out for yourself! Paper artist Donna Albino will teach techniques for making paper from found items and basic supplies. Donna has a passion for earth-friendly papermaking. She uses recycled water, trashed materials, and air drying as much as possible. Come hear about her commitment to making beautiful things in an ecologically sound way, and take home your own sheet of handmade paper.
So you've written a book (or you're pretty close to it) and now you're wondering what to do with it. Instead of sticking it in a drawer or letting it linger on your desktop, award-winning young adult authors Stacy DeKeyser and Laurie Faria Stolarz go over the steps of sending it to publishers. They'll show you how to write an effective query letter that's sure to get you noticed. They'll also answer your questions about approaching editors and agents, finally selling your book, and the marketing that comes afterwards.
Stacy DeKeyser is the author of three books for teens and tweens. Her YA novel Jump the Cracks won a Work-in-Progress Grant from SCBWI (The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators). Stacy also received a 2009 Artist Fellowship Grant from the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism for her work in fiction. Stacy speaks at schools, libraries, and conferences throughout New England. Visit www.stacydekeyser.com for more information.
Laurie Faria Stolarz is the author of the hugely popular young adult novels Blue is for Nightmares, White is for Magic, Silver is for Secrets, and Red is for Remembrance, as well as Bleed and its companion novel Project 17. Her most recent release, Deadly Little Secret, is the first book in her new Touch Series. Her work has been named on several award lists, including ALA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers. She is currently working on Deadly Little Lies, the second book in the Touch Series, as well as Black is for Beginnings, the fifth book in her Blue is for Nightmares series.
A celebration of the well-told tale, the fairy-tale tradition and "happily ever after," The Princess Bride is a delight for all ages. Come join us in the café and share in the fun!
Performances are Friday and Saturday at 8PM and Sunday at 2PM at the Griffen Theatre, 7 Lynde Street. An Evening of Pinter features a diverse collection of eight revue sketches and one-act plays by the late Nobel Laureate including A Kind of Alaska, New World Order and Family Voices. Tickets are $20 for Adults and $17 for Students/Seniors and can be reserved by calling 978-790-8546, or by sending an e-mail to info@salemtheatre.com. Tickets are also available for purchase 24 hours in advance at www.salemtheatre.com.
Join writer and blogger Cathy Huyghe for this workshop that will demonstrate ways in which to use your senses to make your writing come alive. Cathy Huyghe writes about wine online and for newspapers and magazines. Writing about wine, she thinks, is the best way to use all of your senses, including the sense of hearing! Cathy's work can be found online at 365daysofwine.com and RedWhiteBoston.com. Please bring pen and paper for writing exercises.
Join contributors to this year's volume of this best-selling, award-winning series. Susan Butterworth, Terri Trespicio, Sara Fraser, and Susan Freireich will be reading from their essays in Travelers' Tales Best Women's Travel Writing of 2008 and 2009 and discussing travel writing. Susan Freireich will read about her experiences during the civil war in El Salvador. Terri Trespicio is a senior editor at Martha Stewart's Body & Soul magazine and will read her essay about connecting with childhood fears and dreams at the Atlantis resort in the Bahamas. Susan Butterworth teaches writing at Salem State College and will read her essay "Airports & Train Stations." Sara Fraser teaches at UMass Boston and writes essay and stories. These women have traveled to the ends of the earth to discover new places, peoples, and themselves. Come hear tales of adventure, epiphany and more.
Additional Events to be Announced
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