Tuesday, March 8, 2016

Spotlight on Literary Events: March 2016



Wednesday, March 9, 2016, 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Busboys and Poets
2021 14th St, NW
Washington, D.C. 20009

Shaka Senghor will discuss his memoir Writing My Wrongs: Life, Death, and Redemption in an American Prison.  After serving 19 years in prison, 7 of which were in solitary confinement, Senghor chronicled his years behind bars in his groundbreaking memoir, illustrating his revelations, heartbreaks, and search for atonement from a life half spent confined. Senghor is a mentor for at-risk youth through the MIT Media Lab and Atonement Project, and is the director of Strategy and Innovation, whose mission is to cut down the prison population by 2025. The reading is free but space is limited.

Friday, March 11, 2016, 5:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.
Folger Shakespeare Library
201 East Capitol Street, SE
Washington, D.C. 20003

Enjoy a humorous reading by Eric Hissom of the play Thyramus and Pisbee, directed by Gus Heagerty, and enacted with Adam Wesly Brown, Tom Story, and Rachel Zempelli. The reading will last approximately 90 minutes followed by a discussion. The reading is free for the public.

Friday, March 11, 2016, 7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Upshur Street Books
827 Upshur St NW,
Washington, D.C. 20011

Encounter a harrowing tale of a dark family history with journalist and writer Karen Branan. In her book, The Family Tree, Branan uncovers the lynching of four innocent black people by a white mob in 1912, sanctioned by the sheriff, Branan’s great-grandfather. The book took nearly 20 years of research, combing through letters, diaries, surviving eye-witness testimonies, and archives from libraries across the United States. Branan will be reading and signing for her book at Upshur Street Books. No ticket purchase required.

Sunday, March 13, 7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Upshur Street Books
The Third Floor, 4200 9th St NW,
Washington, D.C. 20011

Hosted by Upshur Street Books, Barrelhouse Presents returns for their monthly reading series. Barrelhouse is a literary magazine dedicated to presenting the latest in innovative fiction with a focus towards pop culture. This month’s readers include Claire Donato, writer of Burial and the poetry collection, The Second Body; Daniel Schoonebeek, author of American Barricade and Trébuchet, a 2015 National Poetry Series winner; Ian Hatcher, a text/sound artist who as performed throughout the U.S. and Europe; and Robert Ostrom, author of The Youngest Butcher in Illinois and Cross the Bridge Quietly. No ticket purchase required.

Wednesday March 16th, 2016, 6:30 p.m.
Kramerbooks & Afterwards Cafe
1517 Connecticut Avenue, NW,
Washington, D.C. 20036

Svrluga looks into baseball’s longest season, what players call “The grind,” and analyzes not only the action on the field but also the mechanics behind the scene. He paints a dynamic portrait of the 2014 Washington Nationals from the player line-up, management, and family life. Full of energy and insight, reading The Grind is anything but. No ticket purchase required but seating may be limited.

Wednesday, March 16, 2016, 6:30 p.m.
Alice Deal Middle School
3815 Fort Drive NW
Washington, D.C. 20016

Celebrate the 10th anniversary of the modern classic, The Book Thief, for a reading with the author at Alice Deal Middle School. The novel, which chronicles the life of a little girl in World War II Germany and her family’s efforts to hide a Jewish man, is being released for its ten-year anniversary with original sketches from author Zusak’s notebook and more. The anniversary edition is available for purchase at politics and prose. Recommended for audience 15 and up. The event is free but may have limited space available.

Friday, March 18th, 2016, 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
George Washington University Gelman Library,
Suite 702, 2130 H Street, NW,
Washington, D.C., 20052

Revel in D.C. history by joining A Splendid Wake for their fourth annual gathering celebrating poets in the Washington, D.C. area. Associated with the Gelman Library at George Washington University, Splendid Wake’s mission is to archive all poets from the Washington D.C. since 1900.  The event will feature a panel moderated by Barbara Goldberg, and panelists Roman Kostovski, Nancy Naomi Carlson discussing the responsibility behind literary translations. Guests Grace Cavalier, poet and host of the radio broadcast program The Poets and The Poem, will play audio recordings of other poets and writers throughout the past century, and Francisco Aragón and Dan Vera from Letras Latinas in D.C. will read from their work and discuss their organization. The event is free and open to the public.

Friday—Sunday, March 18 – 20, 2016
Folger Shakespeare Library
201 East Capitol Street, SE
Washington, D.C. 20003

The sound of music is alive and well at the Folger Theatre. From new techniques and instruments, the rise of printed music, and the growing influence of music from as far as Spain, Italy, and France, Shakespeare’s era was a flurry of music. Join in the revival as David Douglass, Daniel Meyers, and Mary Springfels play the music from Shakespeare’s most famous plays. Tickets are $25-$40.
Artistic Director Robert Einstein is presenting a seminar on early music of the era, wine reception included. Tickets are $20 each.

Saturday, March 19, 2016, 10:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m.
The Writer’s Center
4508 Walsh Street,
Bethesda, MD 20815

From E.M Forester’s famous Aspects of the Novels and Edith Wharton’s The Writing of Fiction, writers have been discussing their craft for as long as pen has been put to paper.  This one-day workshop with Nicole Miller will help you sift through the large amount of material and uncover the most helpful guides for modern writers. Warm-up exercises and general bibliographies will be provided as homework along with tailored resources for participants. $50 for nonmembers, $43 for members.

March 21, 2015–March 19, 2016
Library of Congress
101 Independence Ave, SE
Washington, D.C. 20540

Relive American history through the illustrated eyes of some of journalism’s wittiest and keenest pens. The 20th century saw a golden era of political cartoons, chronicling the events such as the Red Scare, Cold War, World War II, and the Vietnam War. The Library of Congress’ yearlong exhibit ends this month, honoring cartoonist Herbert L. Block, more commonly known as Herblock, and his contemporaries. The event is free for the public.

Monday, March 21, 2016, 8:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Busboys and Poets
2021 14th St, NW
Washington, D.C. 20009

Let The Coven book club cast a spell over you. In collaboration with Zami, Busboys and Poet’s gender and sexuality series with the LGBTQ community, The Coven is a “witchy group for queer women in D.C.,” which runs a monthly reading series. This month’s book choice is the rocking memoir Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl by Carrie Brownstein. The two-hour event will be split into a mingling opportunity for the first hour and a discussion about the book for the second. No ticket purchase required.

Friday, March 25, 12:00 p.m.
Library of Congress
101 Independence Ave, SE
Washington, D.C. 20540

The Library of Congress invites you to a birthday bash for famed writer Flannery O’Connor, who would be 91-years-old. Honor her by joining novelists Bonnie Jo Campbell and Emily Mitchell in reading and discussion of her work and legacy. The event is free for the public.

Thursday, March 24, 2016 7:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.
The Writer’s Center
4508 Walsh Street,
Bethesda, MD 20815

It’s a double celebration! During its 40th anniversary, The Writer’s Center honors Jim Lehrer, Honorary Board member of The Writer’s Center and longtime host of the “News Hour on PBS” with a Lifetime Achievement Award in Journalism. Lehrer’s body of work includes 20 novels, 2 memoirs, 3 plays, and a non-fiction work about the presidential debates. Tickets are $15 for nonmembers, $10 for members.

Tuesday, March 29, 2016, 6:30 p.m.
Kramerbooks & Afterwards Cafe
1517 Connecticut Avenue, NW,
Washington, D.C. 20036

NPR book critic Glen Weldon has all the dirt on the caped crusader, so don’t miss this special reading of his tell-all book. Or more to the point, Weldon has done an in-depth investigation, historicizing the many incarnations of Batman and what he represents about our times, cultural zeitgeist, and psyche. With wit and humor, Weldon delivers insight into the cultural chimera of Batman up to the present moment (at least until the next movie). No ticket purchase is required.

Wednesday, March 30, 2016 at 7:00 p.m.
Politics and Prose
5015 Connecticut Ave NW,
Washington, D.C., 20008

Peggy Orenstein is a landmark name in the field of sexuality and development studies of young girls, as her work Cinderella Ate My Daughter and Schoolgirls are still read more than two decades later. Her work has appeared in Salon, Parenting, and The New York Times Magazine. In her latest work, Girls and Sex: Navigating the Complicated New Landscape, Orenstein alerts parents to the fact that teenage girls are growing up in a cultural moment obsessed with sex, porn, and undefined boundaries of consent. Judith Warner, writer of Perfect Madness and We’ve Got Issues, will join the conversation with Orenstein. The reading is free.

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