Wednesday, May 3, 2017

Spotlight on Literary Events: May 2017

Lunch-time Lit
Thursday, May 4, 12:00 pm-1:30 pm
The Writer’s Center
4508 Walsh St, Chevy Chase, MD 20815

Lunch Time Lit is a new program designed to inspire professionals--as members of the community and writers. Join mentor Patty Alper for lunch and a rivetting discussion of her new book, Teach to Work, and the different ways that corporations, professionals, and retirees can have a significant impact on education. Learn to be an ambassador of talent, skill, and grit. Reservations required. Please RSVP to kristen.zory.king@writer.org.

Outwrite Presents The Future is Queer: an Evening of Science Fiction/Fantasy
Thursday, May 4, 6:30 pm-8:00 pm
East City Bookshop
645 Pennsylvania Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20003

An evening of queer speculative fiction, featuring readings from Sarah Pinsker, Craig L. Gidney, Day Al-Mohamed and Sunny Moraine, moderated by Marianne Kirby. This event is co-hosted by OutWrite, DC's LGBTQ+ book festival, and East City Bookshop.

The 37th Annual Pen/Faulkner Awards
Saturday, May 6, 7:00 pm
Folger Theatre
201 East Capitol Street, SE, Washington, DC 20003

Given since 1981 to the best works of fiction published by an American citizen in a calendar year, the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction is the United States’ largest peer-juried prize in the field. This year’s judges are Chris Abani, Chantel Acevedo, and Sigrid Nunez. The 2017 winner is Imbolo Mbue, and the finalists are Viet Dinh, Louise Erdrich, Garth Greenwell, and Sunil Yapa. 

Michael Salcman
Sunday, May 7, 2:00 pm-4:00pm
The Writer’s Center
4508 Walsh St, Chevy Chase, MD 20815

Michael Salcman, poet, neuroscientist and art critic, formerly chairman of neurosurgery at the University of Maryland and past president of the Contemporary Museum in Baltimore, reads from his new collection of poems about the Holocaust, family history and the history of Prague, A Prague Spring, Before & After, winner of the 2015 Sinclair Poetry Prize. Lynn Silverman, professor of photography at the Maryland Institute College of Art, will discuss the suite of Prague photographs she created for inclusion in the book.

Jeff VanderMeer - Borne 
Sunday, May 7, 1:00 pm
Politics & Prose
5015 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington, DC 20008

Best-known for his Southern Reach trilogy, VanderMeer is a three-time World Fantasy Award winner as well as a teacher, publisher, and frequent anthologist. His latest vision of the future finds a ruined city where people survive by scavenging. VanderMeer will be in conversation with the writer Ann VanderMeer, his wife and frequent collaborator on anthologies including Sisters of the Revolution.

Sally Mott Freeman - The Jersey Brothers
Tuesday, May 9, 7:00 pm
Politics & Prose
5015 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington, DC 20008

Freeman’s account of what three brothers did in World War II powerfully intertwines national and military history with the particular story of one American family. Freeman, a former speechwriter and currently the Board Chair of the Bethesda Writers Center, supplements archival documents with personal letters, diaries, and interviews.

Poetry Reading and Photography Exhibit Opening
Friday, May 12, 6:30 p.m.
American Art Museum
First Floor West, 8th and F Street, NW

Poets Martin Espada, Naomi Ayala, and Sami Miranda will read at the opening of Down These Mean Streets: Community and Place in Urban Photography, an exhibit that features the work of Frank Espada, Martin Espada's father.


Sunday, April 23, 2:00 pm-4:00 pm
The Writer’s Center
4508 Walsh St, Chevy Chase, MD 20815

Come share your writing at open mic! Sign-up for readers starts at 1:30 and the reading starts at 2:00.

Sunday, May 14, 5:00 pm
Politics & Prose
5015 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington, DC 20008

Congratulate A.U.’s most recent Master of Fine Arts graduates as these accomplished poets and fiction writers present their work.

Alicia Partnoy Poetry Reading
Thursday, May 18, 7:00 pm
Kensington Row Bookshop
3786 Howard Avenue, Kensington, Maryland

Visiting poet Alicia Partnoy reads from Flowering Fires/Fuegos Florales, her prize-winning volume of poems, in a program sponsored by Settlement House Books.

Saturday, May 20, 10:00am-6:00 pm
Gaithersburg City Hall Grounds

The Gaithersburg Book Festival is a celebration of the written word and its power to enrich the human experience. Funded in part by generous sponsors and supported by the City of Gaithersburg, the Festival offers programming for all ages, is free to attend and is open to everyone.

Sunday, May 21, 2:00 pm-4:00pm
The Writer’s Center
4508 Walsh St, Chevy Chase, MD 20815

The Writer's Center is pleased to host a reading by Marita Golden celebrating publication of her new novel, The Wide Circumference of Love (Arcade Publishing, 2017), which introduces us to the Tates, a close-knit African American family coming to terms with the devastating impact of early onset Alzheimer's. The reading will be followed by a reception and book signing.

No comments: