Writers Weekend; Authors On Pratt Street
The Mark Twain House & Museum’s 2018 Writers Weekend will be held Saturday and Sept. 30, at the Twain Museum, 351 Farmington Ave., and Immanuel Congregational Church, 10 Woodland St., in Hartford.
The weekend will include talks by best-selling authors Gary Shteyngart and Jodi Picoult, as well as workshops, panel discussions, author talks and book signings. Presenters will include Matthew Dicks,
Gina Barreca, Bessy Reyna, Dana Rau, CD Bell, Frank Rizzo, Jacques Lamarre, Chris Knopf, Kim Knox Beckius, Amity Gaige, Christine Beck, Susan Campbell, Susan Davis, Kate Rushin, Stacy DeKeyser, Terry Wolfisch Cole, Patrice Fitzgerald, Ethan Rutherford, Susan Schoenberger and Marie Shanahan.
The weekend cost is $250 for the workshops and discussions and the Saturday, 7 p.m. keynote address at the Twain Museum by Shteyngart and a copy of his novel, “Lake Success,” and Picoult’s Sept. 30 talk Sunday at 7 p.m. at the church and a copy of her “A Spark Of Light.” Tickets are $30 for Shteyngart’s Mark My Words talk alone; $45 for Picoult’s talk alone.
Shteyngart will discuss his novel about a hedge fund manager whose professional and personal lives are imploding with Julia Pistell, former director of Writing Programs at the Twain House. Born in Leningrad in 1972, he came to the U.S. in 1979. His critically praised books include “Little
Failure,” “Absurdistan,” “Super Sad True Love Story” and “The Russian Debutante’s Handbook.”
Picoult, who has published 25 books, will be joined by best-selling author Ann Leary to discuss Picoult’s latest, about a hostage crisis at a women’s reproductive health center. Audience members can have professionally shot photos taken with Picoult.
Reservations and information: marktwainhoouse.org.
Authors On Pratt Street
Pratt Street in downtown Hartford will be closed to host 50 local authors from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Friday at a free outdoor street fair sponsored by the Hartford Business District and Barnes & Noble UConn Hartford Bookstore.
Mystery authors who are members of Sisters in Crime New England will sign books. They include Coralie Jensen, Susan Shelton, Ursula Wang, Steve Liskow, Katy Lee, Robin Ray, Sharon Yang, Mark Dressler, Kathy Orzech, Kari Lemor, Connie Johnson Hambley, Jane Haertel, Maureen Boyle, Marian Lanouette, Dale Phillips and Peggy Gaffney. 860-263-2270 or Laurie.bompart@uconn.edu.
R.J. Julia Events
A multigenerational mystery and the origins of literary modernism will be discussed at free events at R.J. Julia Booksellers, 768 Boston Post Road, Madison. Reservations are required: 203-245-3959 or rjjulia.com.
On Wednesday at 7 p.m., novelist Fiona Davis will discuss “The Masterpiece,” about a defunct, forgotten art school once housed in New York’s Grand Central Station and how it affects two women who lived 50 years apart. Davis is a best-selling author who lives in New York City.
On Thursday at 7 p.m., Bill Goldstein will discuss his nonfiction account of the emergence of literary modernism in 1932, “The World Broke in Two: Virginia Woolf, T. S. Eliot, D. H. Lawrence, E. M. Forster, and the Year That Changed Literature.” The book explores how their lives and work intersected as they were achieving greatness. Goldstein, founding editor of the books site of The New York Times online, reviews books and interviews authors for NBC’s “Weekend Today in New York.”
At Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore, 413 Main St., Middletown, on Thursday at 6:30 p.m., Joyce Maynard will talk about her memoir, “The Best of Us,” about the true love she found late in life and the loss of her husband to cancer after barely three years of marriage. Maynard has published 16 books, including novels and memoir, as well as essays and columns.
Information: 860-685-3939 or books@wesleyan.edu.
Thomas Hooker Lecture
On Friday at 6 p.m. at First Church of Christ Congregational, 12 S. Main St., West Hartford, author Katherine Dimancescu will give a free talk, “17th Century Voices: Allowing Pilgrims, Puritans, and Other New England Settlers to Speak for Themselves.” Her book, “Denizens: A Narrative of Captain George Denison and his New England Contemporaries,” is based on her research into ancient manuscripts and records to learn about her ancestors’ lives in the early part of the Connecticut Colony. Her talk is presented by the Ancient Burying Ground Association of Hartford. theancientburyingground.org.
Bank Square Books
Bank Square Books, 53 W Main St., Mystic, will host book signings and a free talk.
Today from 1 to 3 p.m., Leigh Brown and Victoria Corliss will sign copies of their romantic novel, “The Pendulum’s Truth.” On Saturday from 1 to 3 p.m., local author Tracy Popolizio will sign copies of her historical novel, “Tapestry of Lies.” On Monday at 6:30 p.m., best-selling author Delia Owens will discuss “Where the Crawdads Sing,” about nature, coming of age and a possible murder. 860-536-3795 or banksquarebooks.com.
Historical Fiction Panel
A Winning Authors program at The Cabaret Theatre at Mohegan Sun, 1 Mohegan Sun Boulevard, Uncasville, will present a discussion with historical fiction authors on Thursday from 7 to 9 p.m.
Authors Fiona Davis (“The Masterpiece”); Melodie Winawer (“The Scribe of Siena”); James R. Benn (“Solemn Graves; and Marie Benedict, (“The Other Einstein”) will be in conversation with Emily Fine and Chris Wolak of The Book Cougars. Tickets range from $5 to $28.66. 860-536-3795 or banksquarebooks.com.
Benn At UConn Hartford
On Saturday at 2 p.m. at B&N UConn Hartford Bookstore, 18 Front St., Hartford, James Benn will sign copies of the latest in his Billy Boyle World War II mystery series, “Solemn Graves.” 860-263-2270 or Laurie.bompart@uconn.edu.
Stanton At UConn B&N
Author Mike Stanton will give a free talk about “Unbeaten: Rocky Marciano’s Fight for Perfection in a Crooked World,” his biography of the heavyweight champion on Monday at 5:30 p.m. at UConn Barnes & Noble, 1 Royce Circle, Storrs.
Stanton is an associate professor of journalism at UConn and headed the Providence Journal’s investigative team, which won a Pulitzer Prize. 860-486-8525
More books listings may be found at ctnow.com/events under the Lectures and Literature category. Email information at least two weeks before the publication date to cgoldberg41@gmail.com