Sunday, July 2 at 8 p.m.
Busboys and Poets 14th & V
2021 14th St NW Washington, DC, 20009
A Busboys and Poetry event! *SPARKLE* Open Mic Poetry is a
queer-friendly and focused reading series that has featured an array of
LGBT-dedicated poets.
Hosted by Regie Cabico and Danielle Evennou. *SPARKLE* is held on the
1st Sunday of every month. $5 Cover. On the day of the event, tickets can be purchased online
starting at midnight and in the restaurant starting at 10 a.m. at the bookstore
store (cash only). No refunds. Ticket purchase limit of 4 per person. Tickets
will be sold at the door if available. Guests must have their wristbands
(tickets) on upon entering the event.
Monday, July 3 at 1 p.m.
William G. McGowan Theater, Washington, DC
700 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20408
In a July 5, 1852, speech to a group of abolitionists, Frederick
Douglass reminded them that for slaves and former slaves, the Declaration of
Independence represented the unfulfilled promise of liberty for all. Phil
Darius Wallace will give a dramatic reading of excerpts from the speech,
followed by a discussion with Nathan Johnson, Supervisory Park Ranger at the
Frederick Douglass National Historic Site, and History Professor Robert S.
Levine, author of The Lives of Frederick
Douglass.
Wednesday, July 5 at 7 p.m.
Politics and Prose
5015 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington, DC 20008
Starting with Don’t Let’s Go to
the Dogs Tonight and continuing with Cocktail
Hour under the Tree of Forgetfulness, Fuller has kept readers riveted with
stories of her unconventional family and early years in Africa. With her first
novel, the accomplished memoirist draws on the history of her adopted home, the
American West, to focus on the lives of two Native American men. Cousins, the pair
grows up on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, but then their
paths diverge. While one rebels against the unjust treatment of Native Americans
and ends up in prison, the other lives quietly on the Reservation, teaching his
sons Lakota ways. Thirty years later, the two men meet again, with explosive
results.
Friday, July 7, at 10:30 a.m.
Boeing Learning Center, Washington, DC
700 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20408
Do you love reading, learning new things, and writing? Do you want to
learn more about what it is like to do research and write stories? Join the
National Archives and some of your favorite authors and illustrators for a free
summer writing festival!
Sunday, July 9 at 2 p.m.
The Writer's Center
4508 Walsh St, Bethesda, Maryland 20815
Dorothy Seyler will read from and discuss The Obelisk and the Englishman: The Pioneering Discoveries of
Egyptologist William Bankes, her nonfiction account of the life of William
John Bankes, a 19th-century pioneer in the field of Egyptology.
Bankes, a gay man, faced persecution during his life, but traveled extensively
and made major contributions to the understanding of Egyptian history and early
civilization. Seyler will be joined by David Stewart, who reads from The Babe Ruth Deception, his recent
mystery novel blending fact and fiction in an era when the national pastime was
rocked by scandal.
Tuesday, July 11 at 7 p.m.
Politics and Prose
5015 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington, DC 20008
Goodman’s eighth novel is a deft interweaving of different worlds, realities,
and quests. At the heart of the book is Nina, a young high school teacher
struggling to connect with her students, especially the talented but distracted
Aidan. An avid virtual reality game player, Aidan is easily manipulated by the
forces of a new game called Arkadia and crosses several lines. Can Nina, the
daughter of Arkadia’s founder, bring him back to the ordinary reality of high
school? Meanwhile, she falls in love with an artist and introduces him to her
father, who hires him to draw for the game. As she did in The Cookbook Collector and Intuition,
Goodman vividly conveys the dynamics of specific workplaces and shows how identity
is deeply bound up with the work people do.
Tue, July 11 at 7 p.m.
DC Arts Center,
2438 18th St NW, Washington, DC 20009
The author and writer for “The Wire” reads from his new short story
collection, Basilio Boullosa Stars in the Fountain of Highlandtown, followed
by a Q&A. Presented by Molotov Theatre Group.
Wednesday, July 12 at 6:30 p.m.
Busboys and Poets 14th & V
2021 14th St NW Washington, DC, 20009
Butler is a law professor at Georgetown University, a legal analyst for
CNN and MSNBC, and frequent writer and speaker about issues related to racism
and criminal justice. As a former federal prosecutor, he has special insight
into these matters, understanding not only how the system works, but also how
it can most effectively be challenged. Butler’s bold call-to-action starts with
the need to abolish the principle known as The Chokehold, which is the popular
assumption that all black men are dangerous, and must therefore be subject to
rigorous policing. Butler has radical ideas for changing this and other racial
biases, and he also looks at how black communities can use their own strengths
to keep their neighborhoods safe rather than bringing in more police. Butler
will be in conversation with Kojo Nnamdi.
Tuesday, July 18th 6:30p.m.
Kramerbooks & Afterwords Bookstore
1517 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20036
Americans have a lot to be happy about. Entertainment is always at the
tip of our fingers. Companies tempt employees with junk food and video games.
We have apps that enable us to order pizza or have our laundry picked up with
the tap of a button. In short, our culture is obsessed with the good life. Yet,
we’re more dissatisfied than ever. In The
Power of Meaning, Emily Esfahani Smith argues that we’ve been chasing the
wrong thing. It’s not happiness that makes life worth living—it’s meaning.
Drawing on the latest cognitive science research, as well as insights from
literature and philosophy, and her own prodigious reporting, Smith shows that
by developing a “meaning mind-set,” we can all achieve a deeper satisfaction.
Thursday, July 20 at 7 p.m.
Politics and Prose
5015 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington, DC 20008
This timely and important collection of essays by writers including
Bryan Stevenson, Sherrilyn Ifill, and Jeremy Travis, examines the role of
racism in the country’s criminal justice system and reports on the recent
killings of black men and boys by police. Edited by Angela J. Davis, a
long-time civil rights activist, advocate for prison inmates, professor of law
at American University’s Washington College of Law, and author of Arbitrary
Justice, the book discusses issues such as racial profiling, implicit bias, the
disproportionate imprisonment of black men, mass incarceration, and the failure
of the Supreme Court and other official bodies to reform the system.
Tuesday, July 25 at 6:30 p.m.
Goethe-Institute
1990 K St NW #03, Washington, DC 20006
Broken Glass Park centers on a teenage girl living under extraordinary
circumstances—her family migrates to Germany, where a pattern of violence ends
with the murder of her mother at the hands of her stepfather. The novel, which
follows 17-year-old Sascha Naimann as she defines her independence and
relationship with men in this coming-of-age story, questions major aspects of
society such as the role of the media and the replication of violence.
Saturday, July 29, 12 p.m. to 3 p.m.
Kluge Center, 01 floor, TJB - Thomas Jefferson Building
101 Independence Ave SE, Washington, DC 20540
The Asian American Literary Festival is part of a three-day public
festival celebrating Asian American poets and fiction writers at the Library of
Congress, George Washington University, and various Smithsonian Institution
locations.
Sunday, July 30 at 2 p.m.
The Writer's Center
4508 Walsh St, Bethesda, Maryland 20815
Writer’s Center workshop participant David Goodrich reads from A Hole in the Wind: A Climate Scientist’s
Bicycle Journey across the United States. The book took shape in workshops
at the Center. A submission was published in The Potomac Review, and eventually
his manuscript was accepted for publication. The travel theme for the afternoon will
include a reading by novelist and workshop leader Aaron Hamburger, author of
Faith for Beginners, a novel in which an American family visits Israel.
