Authors at the Library
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
The Fairfield Public Library is hosting a variety of well known authors this fall. Sign up now to see one or all of them during these free community events.
Pete Dexter, author (Paper Trails, Paris Trout (1988 National Book Award for Fiction) and Deadwood, and screen play writer (Paris Trout (1991), Rush (1991), Michael (1996), and Mulholland Falls (1996) will speak on Saturday, October 3 at 12 noon in the Rotary Room, Main Library. Mr. Dexter will discuss his latest book Spooner. Author Susanna Moore (My Old Sweetheart, In the Cut) describes Spooner as a "….a novel of picaresque vitality--outlandish, anecdotal, profuse, funny, profound."
Dreaming in Hindi is Katherine Russell Rich's latest book. Publishers Weekly gave this book a starred review and stated: "Rich, author of The Red Devil: To Hell with Cancer-and Back, recounts in this wonderful memoir her subsequent life's journey: immersing herself in the transformative complexities of learning Hindi." Ms. Rich will speak on Monday, October 5 at 7 pm in the Memorial Room, Main Library.
On Tuesday, October 6 at 7 pm Times Literary Supplement (London) columnist Michael Greenberg, author of Beg, Borrow, Steal. A Writer's Life and best-selling Hurry Down Sunshine will speak. Foreword Magazine comments that the book is ".... a writing memoir that belongs in the company of like classics such as Grace Paley's Just as I Thought, Annie Dillard's Living by Fiction, William Gass's Fiction and the Figures of Life, and Eudora Welty's One Writer's Beginnings…What is often thought of as an intangible, cerebral activity—writing—is made palpable in this book."
Two authors are visiting who may be of a little help to you.
Individuals who are still reticent about using a computer may be inspired by author Abby Stokes, who wrote Is This Thing On? A Computer Handbook for Late Bloomers, Technophobes, and Kicking and Screaming. Written for the reader who did not grow up with personal computers, this book updates and expands on Stokes's previous title, It's Never Too Late to Love a Computer. Abby Stokes teaches courses in basic computing at both Cooper Union and New York University's School of Lifelong Learning, as well as computer skills to private and corporate clients. She has lectured on the topic across the country. Ms. Stokes splits her time between New York City and Niantic, Connecticut
The League of Women Voters and the Library are co-sponsoring author Ann Polya, who wrote Brain Fitness: Breakthrough Training for Those Who Mind on Tuesday, October 20 at 7 pm in the Rotary Room, Main Library. Brain Fitness discusses ways to improve memory, attention quality, problem solving, and counteract – and in part even reverse – the impact of aging. Ms. Polya has a Doctorate in Behavioral Sciences, trained as a psychotherapist and is an accredited Executive Coach, a Professor in post-graduate programs and an accomplished public speaker.
Author and formed business journalist Evan Schwartz, author of Finding Oz, will be speaking on Monday, October 26, at 7 pm in the Rotary Room, Main Library. Finding Oz tells the story of how 44-year old L. Frank Baum came to write the beloved American classic, The Wizard of Oz.
Elizabeth Bettina, author of It Happened in Italy, will be speaking on Tuesday, November 3 at 7 pm in the Rotary Room, Main Library. Discover the heartwarming story of how Ms. Bettina's grandparent's village of Campagna in southern Italy, helped save Jews during the Holocaust.
Julie Mughal, author of Land Without Hats, will share her experience losing her husband in the crash of flight Swissair 111 as a young woman and how it compelled her to write about her experience and those of other widows in developing countries around the world. Ms. Mughal remarks: "The Land without Hats is a collection of oral histories gathered from some of the places I visited. I've spoken with many exceptional women who continue their journeys—widows who have been faced with the struggle of re-creating their lives and raising their children following the death of their husbands from causes ranging from landmine accidents in Afghanistan, to lack of medical facilities in Haiti, to squatter town violence in the Philippines." Ms Mughal will speak on Thursday, November 12 at 7 pm in the Memorial Room, Main Library.
The Library and Fairfield University will co-host A Celebration of Book Clubs on Tuesday, November 17 at 7 pm where Hilary Jordan, author of Mudbound will speak. Publishers Weekly remarks: "Jordan's beautiful debut (winner of the 2006 Bellwether Prize for literature of social responsibility) carries echoes of As I Lay Dying, complete with shifts in narrative voice, a body needing burial, flood and more."
If you are interested in attending any of these programs please register online at www.fairfieldpubliclibrary.org or call the Library at 255-3160 or 255-7308.
