events @ the Library

Riverwalk Display: Altered Books by Jane R. Lubin

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Poet's Voice: Jorie Graham

Sunday, May 2, 2010
3:00 pm
McManus Room

Jorie Graham is the author of numerous collections of poetry, including her most recent, Sea Change (2008). She has also edited two anthologies, Earth Took of Earth: 100 Great Poems of the English Language (1996) and The Best American Poetry 1990. Graham's many honors include a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Fellowship and The Morton Dauwen Zabel Award from The American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. The Dream of the Unified Field: Selected Poems 1974-1994 won the 1996 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. She served as a Chancellor of The Academy of American Poets from 1997 to 2003, and she currently sits on the contributing editorial board to the literary journal Conjunctions. She is the Boylston Professor at Harvard, the first woman to be awarded this position.

Jorie Graham was born in New York City in 1950, the daughter of a journalist and a sculptor. She was raised in Rome, Italy and educated in French schools. She studied philosophy at the Sorbonne in Paris before attending New York University as an undergraduate, where she studied filmmaking. She received an MFA in poetry from the University of Iowa. The Times Literary Supplement says, “One of the most intelligent poets in the language . . . [Graham] is like no one else, neither in her rhythms nor in her insistence on opening up, scrutinizing, and even reversing our experience of time and space.”

Books by Graham.

Poet’s Voice is supported by the Horace E. Manacher Poetry Fund.

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SHE LOVES ME Film Festival: You've Got Mail

Monday, May 3, 2010
7:00 pm
McManus Room

In You've Got Mail , Sleepless in Seattle director Nora Ephron brings romance and courtship into the electronic age via e-mail and chat rooms, starring with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. (1998, 119 minutes)

SHE LOVES ME Film Festival is in conjunction with the Westport Country Playhouse's production of the play She Loves Me, with dialogue by Joe Masteroff, music by Jerry Bock, and lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, from April 20-May 8. See three classic films with different versions of the same story, a story that clearly has not lost any of its interest from the 1930s (when the original play premiered) to the early sixties (when the musical premiered) to the internet age (with You've Got Mail).

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SpokenWord: Art and Architecture of Ancient Rome

Tuesday, May 4, 2010
7:30 pm
McManus Room

Richard Brilliant, Professor of Art History and Archaeology and the Anna S. Garbedian Professor in the Humanities at Columbia University, will present the Art and Architecture of Rome. One of the leading Roman scholars in the USA, he has taught a variety of courses on Greek and Roman art, visual narrative, portraiture, and the theory of art history. He received his B.A. in Classics from Yale, LL.B. from Harvard, and M.A. and Ph.D. from Yale, as well as numerous fellowships and awards. He is the author of many articles and eleven books, the most recent My Laocoön and Un Americano a Roma. He is the recipient of teaching awards at the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia.

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AUTHORS @THE LIBRARY: Debra Galant

Wednesday May 5, 2010
Noon
McManus Room

From a ’74 Mustang to a Chevy Suburban, author Debra Galant’s Cars from a Marriage charts the important events—big and small—in one couple’s relationship by way of the automobiles that drive them throughout the course of their lives. The cars steer us from their first meeting, to their first fight, and down the line to a family funeral. Finally, it’s on a drive along the Pacific Coast Highway that Ivy and Ellis come to some serious and illuminating realizations about their lives. With insights that alternate between hilarious and profound, Galant provides a unique, unforgettable portrait of a marriage.

Debra Galant is the author of Rattled and Fear and Yoga in New Jersey. She is also the creator of the popular blog Baristanet.com.

Books will be available for purchase and signing.

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SpokenWord: Metamorphoses

Thursday, May 6, 2010
7:30 pm
McManus Room

The Theatre Artists Workshop will present a staged reading of Metamorphoses, based on the classic poem by Ovid, written and originally directed by Mary Zimmerman. The play opened on Broadway's Circle on the Square Theater in March 2002. The themes of love, the inevitability of change, and the human ability to adapt to change are timeless and resonate. Theatre Artists Workshop is a well-known troupe of professional actors, writers, and directors, founded in 1983 by state and screen actor Keir Dullea. Metamorphoses is produced by special arrangement with Bruce Ostler, Bret Adams, Ltd.

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AUTHORS @THE LIBRARY: Laurie Sandell

Monday, May 10, 2010
7:30 pm
McManus Room

Laurie Sandell, a contributing editor at Glamour, grew up idolizing her brilliant dad, enthralled with his memories of his glamorous, adventuresome past. But as an adult, she realizes that her hero may not be who he said he was. Sandell's story, The Imposter's Daughter, told in comic-strip-style drawings, is a unique, compelling tale.

Books will be available for purchase and signing.

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Community Conversation: West Point's View on Afghanistan

Tuesday, May 11, 2010
7:30 pm
McManus Room

Lieutenant Colonel Tania M. Chacho, Academy Professor and Director of the Comparative Politics Program,Department of Social Sciences, United States Military Academy, West Point, will speak on the U.S. military's mission and tactics in Afghanistan and the factors on which success is dependent.

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AUTHORS @THE LIBRARY: Anne Ford

Wednesday, May 12, 2010
10:00 am
McManus Room

Anne Ford speaks about her book A Special Mother: Getting through the Early Days of a Child's Diagnosis of Learning Disabilities and Related Disorders, co-authored with John-Richard Thompson, who will also be present. Ford is the author of the memoir Laughing Allegra, on raising her severely learning disabled daughter, and On Their Own: Creating an Independent Future for Your Adult Child with Learning Disabilities and ADHD. The great-granddaughter of Henry Ford, she served as Chairman of the National Center for Learning Disabilities from 1989 to 2001, and remains a committed advocate and frequent speaker on LD issues. Thompson is an award-winning playwright and novelist, who has collaborated with Anne Ford at NCLD.

Books will be available for purchase and signing.
Items in the Library catalog on learning disabilities.
Co-sponsored with Smart Kids with LD.

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MovieLine: It’s Complicated

Thursday, May 13, 2010
6:45 pm
McManus Room

Writer/director Nancy Meyers (What Women Want, Something’s Gotta Give, The Holiday) directs Meryl Streep, Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin in It’s Complicated, a comedy about love, divorce and everything in between. (120 minutes)

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Family Wii Day

Saturday, May 15, 2010
2:00 to 4:00 pm
All ages welcome

Come celebrate the Library's new circulating collection of Wii games with an afternoon of Wii @ the Library.

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The Usual Suspects: The Face of a Stranger

Sunday, May 16, 2010
2:00 pm
Seminar Room

Discussion of the mystery The Face of a Stranger by Anne Perry. Victorian sleuth William Monk wakes up in a hospital with no memory, and is assigned to investigate a "gentleman's" brutal murder even though he's forgotten his professional skills.

For copies of the book, phone 291-4821. New participants always welcome.

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MUSIC @THE LIBRARY: Eddie Pleasant

Sunday, May 16, 2010
2:00 pm
McManus Room

Edward Pleasant distinguishes himself as an outstanding performing artist in opera and musical theater as well as in concert, recital and recording. He has been critically acclaimed by The New York Times for his “appealing stage presence.” He will present "Sincerely, Nat: The Life and Music of Nat "King" Cole," which tells the story of the entertainer's incredible career and why this man is truly "Unforgettable." The Edward Pleasant Trio will also perform with Isaac ben Ayala on piano (also the musical arranger), James Chirillo on electric guitar, and Paul Beaudry on string bass.

Supported by the Grace K. Salmon Foundation.

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AUTHORS @THE LIBRARY: Geoffrey Becker

Monday, May 17
Noon
McManus Room

In his latest, Geoffrey Becker (2008 Flannery O'Conner Prize winner for Black Elvis) discusses Hot Springs, about a volatile young woman determined to raise the biological daughter she gave up for adoption. Publishers Weekly descibes it as "a remarkably taut narrative and a rousing testament to humanity's capacity for resilience. Nobody gets off the hook, though they do find uneasy deliverance in unexpected places."

Books will be available for purchase and signing.

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Pageturners: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

Tuesday, May 18, 2010
10:30 am and 7:30 pm
Seminar Room

Discussion of the book The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. 288 pages. As Juliet and her new correspondent exchange letters, she is drawn into the world of this man and his friends, all members of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, a unique book club formed in a unique, spur-of-the-moment way—as an alibi to protect its members from arrest by the Germans. Crazy title for a book and a mouthful, but this little book will keep you reading and wanting to plan a trip to Guernsey.

For copies of the book, phone 291-4821 or email Sue Madeo at smadeo@westportlibrary.org. New participants always welcome.

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AUTHORS @THE LIBRARY: Larry Goldstone

Wednesday, May 19, 2010
7:30 pm
McManus Room

Lawrence Goldstone discusses his new novel, The Astronomer, a suspense thriller revolving around a plot to kill Nicolaus Copernicus during the period of religious intolerance in sixteenth-century France. This is a powerful novel of love and betrayal, and a thrilling portrait of what might well have happened at a hinge point in history when science and ancient religious belief collided.

Lawrence Goldstone is the author of the acclaimed thriller The Anatomy of Deception, a 2008 New York Times Notable Crime Novel, and several works of history, including Dark Bargain, The Activist, and Out of the Flames. He lives in Westport, Connecticut.

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AUTHORS @THE LIBRARY: Daniel Asa Rose

Friday, May 21, 2010
Noon
McManus Room

Daniel Asa Rose, author of Larry's Kidney: Being the True Story of How I Found Myself in China With My Black-Sheep Cousin and His Mail-Order Bride, Skirting the Law to Get Him a Transplant ... and Save His Life, discusses his memoir chronicling his trip to Beijing to help his cousin receive an illegal kidney transplant, collect a mail-order bride, and restore East-West relations while they're at it. "A satisfying, hysterical page-turner that will captivate fans of travel writing and family narratives, with special interest for anyone who's helped a loved one through serious illness."-- Publishers Weekly

Daniel Asa Rose has won an O. Henry Prize, two PEN Fiction Awards, and an NEA Fellowship. Formerly arts and culture editor of Forward and currently an editor of the international literary magazine The Reading Room, he has written for the New Yorker, Esquire, Vanity Fair, GQ, and the New York Times Magazine, and is the author of the acclaimed memoir Hiding Places: A Father and His Sons Retrace Their Family's Escape from the Holocaust.

Daniel Asa Rose on NPR's Diane Rehm show

Books will be available for purchase and signing.

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TRENDS in TECHNOLOGY: eBooks

Saturday, May 22, 2010
11:00 am
McManus Room

Michael Miller, senior vice president for technology strategy at Ziff Brothers Investments, and Dan Costa the executive editor of PC Magazine, will discuss the technology behind eReaders; the readers themselves; the formats, downloading, and storage options; and the future of eReading.

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FILM @THE LIBRARY: Encounter Point

Sunday, May 23, 2010
2:00 pm
McManus Room

The award-winning film Encounter Point moves beyond sensational and canned images to tell the story of an Israeli settler, a Palestinian ex-prisoner, a bereaved Israeli mother, and a wounded Palestinian, who sacrifice their safety, public standing, and homes in order to press for a grassroots movement for nonviolence and peace. (2006, 85 minutes) A discussion will follow facilitated by Rev. Ed Horne, Council Co-Chair, and Winifred Keane, Program Co-Chair, of the Interfaith Council.

Co-sponsored with Interfaith Council.

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Simpsons Night @The Library

Wednesday, May 26, 2010
7:00 to 9:00 pm
McManus Room
All ages welcome

The Simpsons are going on vacation! Celebrate Memorial Day by watching classic vacation episodes of The Simpsons. Hosted by resident Simpsons' geek, Teen Services Librarian Jaina Lewis, the night will include trivia and snacks.

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BOOKED for the Evening 2010

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This year's Booked for the Evening honoree is New York Times Crossword Puzzle Editor
and Puzzlemaster Will Shortz.


The event will be held on Thursday,
May 27, 2010 at 7:00 pm.

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For details, click here.