Barreca, Trigiani talks, ‘Rebranding of Connecticut’
Gina Barreca, best-selling author,
UConn English professor, Courant columnist, humorist and feminist, will give a free reading at Westminster School, 995 Hopmeadow St., Simsbury, on Dec. 7 at 7 p.m. in Armour Academic Center. Her appearance is part of the school’s Friday Nights at Westminster series and also will feature English teacher and poet Terence McCaffrey and junior Abby Davis.
Barreca is the author of “If You Lean In, Will Men Just Look Down Your Blouse?” “It’s Not That I’m Bitter, Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying About Visible Panty Lines and Conquered the World,” “They Used to Call Me Snow White But I Drifted: Women’s Strategic Use of Humor” and “Babes in Boyland: A Personal History of Coeducation in the Ivy League.” She writes weekly for The Courant and has appeared frequently on TV to discuss gender, power, politics and humor. westminster-school.org or 860408-3000.
On Dec. 4 at 6 p.m., the New Haven Museum, 114 Whitney Ave., New Haven, will host a panel discussion, “The Rebranding of Connecticut,” based on “Country Acres and Cul-de-Sacs: Connecticut Circle Magazine Reimagines the Nutmeg State, 1938–1952,” edited by Jay Gitlin, professor of history at Yale University. The book comprises articles and images from the publication from 1938 through 1952, and the panel will discuss how those ideas still shape perception of the state.
Panelists will be Helen Higgins, former executive director of the Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation, and Patrick Pinnell, principal of Architecture & Town Planning, LLC, an expert on the history of land use, planning and architecture. newhavenmuseum.org or 203-562-4183. by Andre Brink, about a slave with children fathered by her master’s son who strives for freedom. 860-673-9712 or avonctlibrary.info.
The Roar Reading Series presents free talks by writers on the first Monday of the month at 7 p.m. at UConn B&N Bookstore, One Royce Circle, 101 Storrs Center, Storrs. On Dec. 3, the writers will be PR Griffis, who is writing a novel about punk rock, Texas high school football, alcoholism and the Eisenhower Interstate Highway System; award-winning flash fiction author Paul Beckman; and Mary Collins, author, editor and CCSU professor. elephantrockbooks@gmail.com or 860-486-8525.
Book Club Bookstore & More, 869 Sullivan Ave., South Windsor, will host author Elsa Kurt on Dec. 5 at 6 p.m. who will offer guidance on writing, publishing and marketing a book and a resource pamphlet. The $5 fee includes charcuterie and other refreshments. BYO wine. Early in-store sign-up is recommended. 860-432-7411 or bookclubct.com. Craig Hotchkiss and Andrew Walsh, moderated by Twain scholar Kerry Driscoll. Goodwill donations are welcome.
Courtney is a curatorial consultant and author of “Joseph Hopkins Twichell: The Life and Times of Mark Twain’s Closest Friend.” Hotchkiss, former director of education at the Twain house, gives living history tours as Twichell. Walsh, of Trinity College, studies the social and religious role of Hartford’s clergy in the late 19th century. marktwainhouse.org or 860-2470998.
Carole Shmurak, a mystery writer from Farmington, will lead a free talk on Dec. 5 at 3 p.m. at Wallingford Public Library, 200 N Main St, Wallingford, for the Wallingford Mystery Group: Crime-Solving Clergy, Part 4. The book is “Sidney Chambers and the Shadow of Death” by James Runcie. 203265-6754.