Friday, November 6, 2015

Spotlight on Literary Events: November 6-12



Garry Kasparov - Winter Is Coming: Why Vladimir Putin and the Enemies of the Free World Must Be Stopped
Friday, November 6th at 7 pm
Politics & Prose Bookstore and Coffeehouse
5015 Connecticut Ave. NW
Washington, D.C. 20008

Since retiring from professional chess after ranking for twenty years as the world’s top player, Kasparov has led the pro-democracy movement in Russia (including running for president in 2008) and since 2012 has been chairman of the Human Rights Foundation. He is also the author of How Life Imitates Chess. His new book is an urgent call to action in which he challenges the free world to recognize Putin as not just a repressive leader in Russia, but as a threat to global stability, one that can only be contained by a wide range of economic and diplomatic measures from abroad. Free admission.


Author Dinner with Lauren Stein
Friday, November 6th at 7 pm
Upshur Street Books                          
827 Upshur St NW
Washington, D.C. 20011

Enjoy delicious food and drink while Lauren Stein shares her creative cooking philosophy. Learn how she developed her veggie-centric, art-filled cookbook. The three-course meal will be prepared by the Petworth Citizen chef and based on the recipes in Stein's cookbook. $60 + $4.29 fee (includes a signed copy of the book and tickets to the event).

Live! From Busboys Talent Showcase Open Mic hosted by Beny Blaq
Friday, November 6th from 11 pm to 1 am
Busboys and Poets (14th & V location)
2021 14th St, NW
Washington, D.C. 20009

Live! From Busboys is an open mic talent showcase that offers a platform for all performers, not just poets. Whether you are a musician, comedian, dancer, actor, magician, or any other type of performer, we want to see what you got! $5 cover.

John Burgess - Temple in the Clouds: Faith and Conflict at Preah Vihear
Saturday, November 7th at 1 pm
Politics & Prose Bookstore and Coffeehouse
5015 Connecticut Ave. NW
Washington, D.C. 20008

Less well-known than Angkor Wat, the Preah Vihear Temple, also built in the 9th century, occupies a 1,722-foot cliff in the Dângrêk Mountains of Cambodia. For this detailed narrative of Preah Vihear’s history, Burgess has gathered and made sense of sources from the U.S., France, and Thailand. He pays special attention to the long and still-contested World Court case that, in 1962, awarded the Temple to Cambodia over Thailand. Burgess is a former Washington Post correspondent and author of Stories in Stone (a portrait of Angkor Wat through its inscriptions). Free admission.

Daniel De Visé - Andy and Don: The Making of a Friendship and a Classic American TV Show
Saturday, November 7th at 3:30 pm
Politics & Prose Bookstore and Coffeehouse
5015 Connecticut Ave. NW
Washington, D.C. 20008
http://www.politics-prose.com/event/book/daniel-de-vis-andy-and-don-making-of-friendship-and-classic-american-tv-show

De Visé’s distinguished and wide-ranging career includes work for The Washington Post, The Miami Herald, and other newspapers. His investigative reporting has twice led to the release of wrongly convicted men from life imprisonment. He shared a 2001 Pulitzer Prize for deadline reporting. With Su Meck he co-authored a memoir, I Forgot to Remember. With his new book, he becomes a biographer and cultural critic, charting the long friendship, on screen and off, between Don Knotts and Andy Griffith. While their real-life relationship was more complicated than its folksy Mayberry version, the pair’s mutual regard was genuine, and de Visé (Knotts’s brother-in-law) has interviewed many of their co-workers, acquaintances, and relatives, to uncover a wealth of fresh anecdotes about the actors and the climate of 1950s television. Free admission.

Youth Open Mic
Saturday, November 7th from 4 pm to 6 pm
Busboys and Poets (Shirlington location)
4251 South Campbell Avenue
Arlington, VA 22206

Youth-focused and youth-led, Youth Open Mic is a monthly series featuring student poets, singers, musicians, and actors from the D.C./Maryland/Virginia area. Middle school and high school students are encouraged to share their art in this supportive, progressive, artistic atmosphere. $5 Cover.

D.C. Youth Poet Laureate Competition
Saturday, November 7th from 5 pm to 7 pm
Busboys and Poets (14th & V location)
2021 14th St, NW
Washington, D.C. 20009

The Washington, D.C. youth poet laureate program aims to identify young writers and leaders who are committed to civic and community engagement, poetry and performance, human relations, diversity and education across the metro area. This performance will consist of twelve poets from the DMV. They were selected from hundreds of submissions.
Adults: $10; youth: $5.


David Hare - The Blue Touch Paper: A Memoir
Saturday, November 7th at 6 pm
Politics & Prose Bookstore and Coffeehouse
5015 Connecticut Ave. NW
Washington, D.C. 20008

In this rich and evocative memoir, David Hare, one of today’s premier playwrights, looks back over his coming-of-age as an artist in 1960s and ‘70s Britain. Marking his theatrical start from his meeting with Alfred Hitchcock at Oxford, Hare recounts his work with the innovative Portable Theatre, his experience with filmmaking, which includes directing as well as screenwriting, and the many actors, producers, and stars he has worked with, among them Laurence Olivier, Julie Christie, and Tennessee Williams. Free admission.

Amos Kamil - Great is the Truth: Secrecy, Scandal, and the Quest for Justice at the Horace Mann School
Sunday, November 8th at 1 pm
Politics & Prose Bookstore and Coffeehouse
5015 Connecticut Ave. NW
Washington, D.C. 20008

Together with writer Sean Elder, investigative reporter Amos Kamil details the full extent of the Horace Mann School sexual abuse case, which he first brought to light in his June 2012 New York Times Magazine cover story. Kamil is himself a 1982 graduate of the prestigious Riverdale private academy, and he has interviewed a wide range of students and alumni, documenting the long-term consequences of the abuse. Kamil will be in conversation with Marc Fisher, a senior editor at The Washington Post, and author of After the Wall and Something in the Air. Free admission.
                                                                                                                      
Poetry and Prose Open Mic
Sunday, November 8th from 2 pm to 4 pm
The Writer's Center
4508 Walsh Street
Bethesda, MD 20815

Don’t be shy! From poetry to novel excerpts to flash fiction, you’re invited to read any short piece. Sign-up for readers begins at 1:30 and the reading starts at 2 p.m. A reception follows the reading. Free admission.

Third Annual Picture Book Panel: Too Good To Miss - Picture Books for Older Readers
Sunday, November 8th at 5 pm
Politics & Prose Bookstore and Coffeehouse
5015 Connecticut Ave. NW
Washington, D.C. 20008

A host of luminaries will tackle the subject of illustrated works and all the ways they can engage, enrich, and assist readers through the elementary years and beyond. Adult Event. Free admission.

Poetry Reading hosted by Danielle Evenou
Sunday, November 8th at 6 pm
Upshur Street Books
827 Upshur St NW
Washington, D.C. 20011

Join us for a unique, fascinating, and affecting presentation from four incredible poets: Amy Berkowitz, Paul Ebenkamp, Tyler Vile, and M. Mack. Free admission.


Leah Bendavid-Val - Facing Change: Documenting America

Sunday, November 8th at 6:30 pm
Busboys and Poets (14th & V location)
2021 14th St, NW
Washington, D.C. 20009

As part of FotoD.C., Leah Bendavid-Val will present the important work of Facing Change. Founded in 2009 by Pulitzer Prize-winning photographers Anthony Suau and Lucian Perkins, Facing Change is a collective dedicated to reviving the kind of socially conscious photography accomplished under the Farm Security Administration in the 1930s and ‘40s. Bendavid-Val is an experienced curator, former director of photography publishing for National Geographic Books, and the author of Siberia and Song Without Words (a collection of photos by Sophia Tolstoy). Free admission.

Writing the Holocaust

Monday, November 9th from 12 pm to 1 pm
Library of Congress
James Madison Building (Pickford Theater – Third Floor)
101 Independence Ave SE
Washington, D.C. 20540

Michlean Amir, of the United States Memorial Holocaust Museum, and authors Anthony Pitch and Nancy Geise discuss "Writing the Holocaust."

Roger Lowenstein - America's Bank: The Epic Struggle to Create the Federal Reserve
Monday, November 9th at 7 pm
Politics & Prose Bookstore and Coffeehouse
5015 Connecticut Ave. NW
Washington, D.C. 20008

In this history of the creation of the Federal Reserve in 1913, Lowenstein looks at one of the crucial steps that led to the country’s becoming a global economic power. After a financial crisis changed the popular sentiment against a centralized, government-controlled monetary system, a group of bankers and politicians worked to transform what suddenly seemed a “primitive” system; as Lowenstein ably shows, the discussions of financial and political issues a century ago anticipated those of recent years. Lowenstein is a long-time financial reporter for The Wall Street Journal and the author of The End of Wall Street, Buffett, and Origins of the Crash. Free admission.

Orhan Pamuk - A Strangeness in My Mind
Monday, November 9th at 7 pm
Sixth and I Historic Synagogue
600 I St NW
Washington, D.C. 20001

Awarded the 2006 Nobel Prize for Literature, Orhan Pamuk has written acclaimed novels including My Name Is Red and The Museum of Innocence, as well as essays, criticism, and the classic memoir, Istanbul. In his eighth work of fiction, A Strangeness in My Mind, the Turkish novelist and master storyteller tells the tale of an Istanbul street vendor and the love of his life. The book combines a story of an idealized, unattainable love with a coming-of-age, paralleling the many political and cultural changes going on in the world around the vendor. Orhan Pamuk will be in conversation with Elliot Ackerman, author of the bestselling novel Green on Blue and the forthcoming novel Dark at the Crossing, set in southern Turkey. 1 Ticket: $16; 1 Book and 1 Ticket: $30; $28 for P & P members; 1 Book and 2 Tickets: $40; $38 for P & P members. 

Nine on the Ninth
Monday, November 9th from 9 pm to 11 pm
Busboys and Poets (14th & V location)
2021 14th St, NW
Washington, D.C. 20009

The Nine on the Ninth is a now legendary monthly poetry series that debuted in October 2005. It's a feature-driven format, which means the feature opens the show and the open mic follows. Immediately following the feature we hold a short interview and audience Q&A with the artist that we call the BluePrint Sessions, before we finally slip into the limited open mic to close out the event. Thus you get a full show and have your appetite for people and poetry satisfied.
$5 Admission.

Monday Night Open Mic
Monday, November 9th from 9 pm to 11 pm
Busboys and Poets (Brookland location)
625 Monroe St. NE
Washington, D.C. 20017

For two hours, audiences can expect a diverse chorus of voices and a vast array of professional spoken word performers, open mic rookies, musicians, and a different host every week. Expect to be moved, expect a packed house, expect the unexpected, but above all come with an open mind and ear. The host is Joseph LMS Green, a DMV-based poet who has been writing, performing, and hosting for more than ten years. $5 cover. 

Erin Hagar – Julia Child: An Extraordinary Life in Words and Pictures
Tuesday, November 10th at 10:30 am
Politics & Prose Bookstore and Coffeehouse
5015 Connecticut Ave. NW
Washington, D.C. 20008

Julia Child had a talent for adventure: growing up, she and her best friend busied themselves with activities such as hurling mud pies at cars from the roof of her family’s garage. Later, the highly educated Child worked in Sri Lanka during World War II, fell in love, and—most of all—learned to cook. Erin Hagar’s account of her odyssey is punctuated by short, wordless sequences of illustrations by Joanna Gorham that tell their own stories. Ages 8–12. Free admission.
Forrest Pritchard – Growing Tomorrow
Tuesday, November 10th 6:30 pm
Kramerbooks
1517 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20036

A beautiful, photo- and story-driven showcase of America’s pioneering eco-friendly farmers with 50+ recipes! Interest in local, sustainable food is at an all-time high. Farmers’ market and CSA devotees, backyard homesteaders and community gardeners all want to know more—much more—about how our food is raised. Now, seventh-generation farmer and author Forrest Pritchard introduces us to 18 heroes of the sustainable food movement. Pritchard will be in conversation with Michael Martinez, producer for The Kojo Nnamdi Show. Free admission.
 
Jeff Alworth - The Beer Bible
Tuesday, November 10th at 6:30 pm
Busboys and Poets (Brookland location)
625 Monroe St. NE
Washington, D.C. 20017

Craft beer is a global movement and Jeff Alworth, of Portland, Oregon, lives and works at the center of it. The author of The Beer Tasting Toolkit, a contributor to Draft magazine, All About Beer, and other journals, Alworth, whose blog Beervana, is a trove of information on brews, pubs, and ways to “achieve the transcendent union of malt and hops,” has organized this manual by the different styles of beer. He gives a comprehensive profile of each, from its history to its ingredients, characteristics, and substyles—not to mention tasting notes, brewing methods, anecdotes, and a list of recommended beers. Ideal for both the novice and the beer geek, this is a book to read, reference, and above all use. Free admission.

Rita Dove and Mark Ludwig - Liberation: New Works on Freedom from Internationally Renowned Poets
Tuesday, November 10th at 6:30 pm
Busboys and Poets (14th & V location)
2021 14th St, NW
Washington, D.C. 20009

To commemorate the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Nazi concentration camps, the Terezin Music Foundation, headed by Mark Ludwig, invited poets to write on liberation. The result is an extraordinary anthology. Covering a range of philosophical, historical, and personal experiences, these 84 poems speak from compassion, pain, anger and, ultimately, love. Ludwig, a member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, also commissioned original music for many of these works; join Rita Dove, former Poet Laureate and Liberation contributor, Ludwig, along with musicians for an evening of readings, performance, and meditation on the meaning of freedom. Free admission.

Dr. Steve Schein - A New Psychology for Sustainability Leadership
Tuesday, November 10th from 6:30 pm to 8 pm
Busboys and Poets (5th and K location)
1025 5th St NW
Washington, D.C. 20001

Join Dr. Steve Schein as he explores how an understanding of ecological worldviews can enhance your effectiveness as a sustainability change agent, increase your resiliency in the face of resistance, and lead transformational large-scale change. Free admission.
 
Antony Beevor - Ardennes 1944: The Battle of the Bulge
Tuesday, November 10th at 7 pm
Politics & Prose Bookstore and Coffeehouse
5015 Connecticut Ave. NW
Washington, D.C. 20008

From Crete 1941 to Stalingrad, The Battle for Spain, Paris After the Liberation, D-Day, and others, Beevor has become the indispensable historian of the Second World War. He’s won the major awards available to military historians, including the 2014 Pritzker Military Museum & Library Literature Award for Lifetime Achievement in Military Writing. Now he recreates the Battle of the Bulge, fought during a grueling Belgian winter. Perhaps the most ferocious and desperate fight on the Western Front, it decisively sealed the end of Hitler’s Reich. Free admission.

Phyllis Reynolds Naylor - A Shiloh Christmas
Tuesday, November 10th at 7:30 pm
Takoma Park Library
101 Philadelphia Ave
Takoma Park, MD 20912

In the conclusion to Phyllis Reynolds Naylor’s Shiloh quartet, Marty and the rest of his town are struggling to deal with the effects of a long drought. When a new pastor arrives and places the blame for the lack of rain on the shoulder of “sinners” like Shiloh’s abusive former owner Judd Travers, Marty and his family are challenged to put their compassion and understanding into action—even, and maybe especially, with the people who disagree with them. Ages 9–12. Free admission.

Tuesday Night Open Mic Hosted by Pages
Tuesday, November 10th from 9 pm to 11 pm
Busboys and Poets (14th & V location)
2021 14th St, NW
Washington, D.C. 20009

For two hours, audiences can expect a diverse chorus of voices and a vast array of professional spoken word performers, open mic rookies, musicians, and a different host every week. Expect to be moved, expect a packed house, expect the unexpected, but above all come with an open mind and ear. Tonight’s Open Mic will be hosted by Pages Matam, who is a multidimensional national touring artist residing in the D.C. Metropolitan area, but originally from Cameroon, Africa. $5 cover.

Tuesday Night Open Mic hosted by Orville Walker
Tuesday, November 10th from 9 pm to 11 pm
Busboys and Poets (Takoma location)
235 Carroll St. NW
Washington, D.C. 20012

For two hours, audiences can expect a diverse chorus of voices and a vast array of professional spoken word performers, open mic rookies, musicians, and a different host every week. Expect to be moved, expect a packed house, expect the unexpected, but above all come with an open mind and ear. Tonight’s Open Mic is hosted by Orville Walker, born in Landover, MD, who grew up in Jamaica. $5 cover.

Deepa Iyer - We Too Sing America: South Asian, Arab, Muslim, and Sikh Immigrants Shape Our Multiracial Future
Wednesday, November 11th at 6:30 pm
Busboys and Poets (Brookland location)
625 Monroe St. NE
Washington, D.C. 20017

Deepa Iyer, a lawyer focusing on immigrant and civil rights issues, was the activist-in-residence in the Asian American Studies Program at the University of Maryland in 2014. She’s also served as executive director of South Asian Americans Leading Together, where she helped organize the National Coalition of South Asian Organizations. In her first book, she draws on her extensive social justice experience to discuss post-9/11 racism in the U.S. Looking at hate crimes ranging from killings to protests against Islamic centers to state-encouraged racial profiling, surveillance, and registration programs, Iyer asks whether hate crimes should be treated as domestic terrorism. She also looks at the valuable work of groups like Black Lives Matter in countering the hostility to people of color. Free admission.

Maira Kalman - Beloved Dog
Wednesday, November 11th at 6:30 pm
Busboys and Poets (14th & V location)
2021 14th St, NW
Washington, D.C. 20009

Maira Kalman’s distinctive artwork has graced untold numbers of The New Yorker, and she’s illustrated books ranging from Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style to Michael Pollan’s Food Rules. Her own books are favorites of both young and adult readers and include Smartypants and The Principles of Uncertainty. Now she goes to the dogs for inspiration, and her witty, colorful drawings convey both fictional canines and real-life pets in all their wide-eyed, long-tongued, and wet-nosed glory. Kalman will be in conversation with Jane Mayer, a staff writer for The New Yorker and an inveterate dog lover. Free admission.

Ethan Hawke - Rules For a Knight
Wednesday, November 11th at 7 pm
Sixth and I Historic Synagogue
600 I St NW
Washington, D.C. 20001

Ethan Hawke is an Academy Award-nominated actor (star of Dead Poets Society and Boyhood) and the co-founder and artistic director of the New York-based Malaparte Theater Company. He draws on fables, chivalric codes, and a wide range of Eastern and Western philosophical and literary traditions for his third novel, Rules for a Knight. Set in 1483 on the eve of battle, the narrative takes the form of a letter written by Sir Thomas Lemuel Hawke to his four children; fearing he won’t survive, he leaves twenty virtues to see them through in his stead. Hawke will be in conversation with Margaret Talbot, staff writer at The New Yorker since 2003 and author of The Entertainer: Movies, Magic and My Father's Twentieth Century. Note that this program does not include a book signing; all books will be pre-signed by the author. 1 Ticket: $18; 1 Book and 1 Ticket: $30; $28 for P & P members; 1 Book and 2 Tickets: $45; $43 for P & P members. 

Wednesday, November 11th at 7 pm
Politics & Prose Bookstore and Coffeehouse
5015 Connecticut Ave. NW
Washington, D.C. 20008
http://www.politics-prose.com/event/book/matt-ridley-evolution-of-everything-how-new-ideas-emerge

In previous books, including The Rational Optimist and The Red Queen, Matt Ridley has applied the tenets of evolution to argue that human achievement is a product not of individual actions but of “collective intelligence evolving by trial and error.” Continuing this theme in his seventh book, Ridley canvasses examples from science, economics, and history to show that innovation and progress are not brought about deliberately by design but happen through a variety of unplanned circumstances. Ridley is a British journalist, businessman, and Conservative member of the House of Lords. Free admission.

Wednesday Open Mic Poetry hosted by Elizabeth Acevedo
Wednesday, November 11th from 9 pm to 11 pm
Busboys and Poets (5th and K location)
1025 5th St NW
Washington, D.C. 20001

For two hours, audiences can expect a diverse chorus of voices and a vast array of professional spoken word performers, open mic rookies, musicians, and a different host every week. Expect to be moved, expect a packed house, expect the unexpected, but above all come with an open mind and ear. Tonight’s Open Mic is hosted by Elizabeth Acevedo. She was born and raised in New York City, and her poetry is infused with her Dominican parents’ bolero music and her native city’s tough grit. $5 cover.

Ted Koppel - Lights Out: A Cyberattack, a Nation Unprepared, Surviving the Aftermath
Thursday, November 12th at 7 pm
Sixth and I Historic Synagogue
600 I St NW
Washington, D.C. 20001

During nearly four decades with ABC News, the last two as Nightline anchor, Ted Koppel has been a bureau chief and served variously as a foreign, domestic, and war correspondent. He’s won numerous Emmy Awards in the process. In his new book, Lights Out, he argues the country is unprepared and perhaps vulnerable to a cyberattack on the power grid. As he lays out the consequences of such an attack, he also recommends steps to protect ourselves. Koppel will be in conversation with Robert Siegel, senior host of NPR's award-winning newsmagazine All Things Considered. 1 Ticket: $16; 1 Book and 1 Ticket: $30; $28 for P & P members; 1 Book and 2 Tickets: $40; $38 for P & P members. 

John Sedgwick - War of Two: Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr, and he Duel That Stunned the Nation
Thursday, November 12th at 7 pm
Politics & Prose Bookstore and Coffeehouse
5015 Connecticut Ave. NW
Washington, D.C. 20008

John Sedgwick is an accomplished novelist, journalist, and author of the acclaimed family memoir, In My Blood. In his new book, he continues his investigation into the lives of his ancestors, becoming a historian and biographer. Recreating the 1804 duel between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr, Sedgwick rejects the usual explanation that Burr’s remarks at dinner provoked Hamilton, proposing instead that Hamilton had evidence of Burr’s subversive acts against the young United States, evidence he laid out in a letter to the former speaker of the house, one Theodore Sedgwick. Free admission.

Stifled Verse, Free Verse: An Evening of Poetry and Solidarity
Thursday, November 12th from 8 pm to 10 pm
Busboys and Poets (5th and K location)
1025 5th St NW
Washington, D.C. 20001
http://busboysandpoets.com/events/event/stifled-verse-free-verse-an-evening-of-poetry-and-solidarity

Join Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB) and Split This Rock for a night of poetry in protest of restrictions on free and artistic expression in the Middle East and North Africa. The evening honors imprisoned Qatari poet Mohammed al-Ajami, who is currently serving a 15-year prison sentence for the contents of his poetry. Attendees will have an opportunity to sign a petition for his release. Featured poets are: Rasha Abdulhadi, Sarah Browning, Zein El-Amine, Amin Drew Law, and Joseph Ross. Free admission.

Thursday Night Open Mic hosted by 2Deep
Thursday, November 12th from 9 pm to 11 pm
Busboys and Poets (Hyattsville location)
5331 Baltimore Ave
Hyattsville, MD 20781
http://busboysandpoets.com/events/event/thursday-night-open-mic-hosted-by-two-deep7780
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For two hours, audiences can expect a diverse chorus of voices and a vast array of professional spoken word performers, open mic rookies, musicians, and a different host every week. Expect to be moved, expect a packed house, expect the unexpected, but above all come with an open mind and ear. Today’s host will be 2Deep, who has made a name for herself in the poetry community since 2006. $5 suggested donation (cash only).

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