Past Events
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Saturday, April 13, 2019 - 3:00 PM | Special Event | Members' Room | open to the public | for ages 13 and up | free of charge | registration requiredJoin the conversation with award-winning, bestselling author Renée Watson and writer/performer Ellen Hagan as they discuss their powerful new YA novel Watch Us Rise.
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Monday, April 8, 2019 - 6:30 PM | Special Event | Members' Room | open to the public | $15 per person | registration requiredIn this one-of-a-kind event, two outstanding American poets read and discuss their work. Jenny Xie is the author of the debut poetry collection Eye Level, winner of the Walt Whitman Award of the Academy of American Poets and a finalist for the National Book Award for Poetry. Gregory Pardlo's collection Digest won the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.
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Wednesday, April 3, 2019 - 11:00 AM | Reading Group | Whitridge Room | for members only | $50 for the set of three sessions or $20 per session | registration requiredIn his ambitious historical novels Barnaby Rudge and A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens ventured from his usual subject matter to ask political and social questions that still resonate today.
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Tuesday, April 2, 2019 - 6:30 PM | Lecture | Members' Room | open to the public | $15 per person | registration requiredBestselling author Lessard takes a deep dive into our surroundings—cities, countryside, and sprawl—to explore change in the meaning of place and reimagine our American landscape. Ms. Lessard discusses The Absent Hand with the president of the Foundation for Landscape Studies, author Elizabeth Barlow Rogers.
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Thursday, March 28, 2019 - 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM | Reading Group | Whitridge Room | for members only | free of charge | no registration requiredAttend a lecture, read the book, then join other event-going members for informal discussion, book-club style.
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Wednesday, March 27, 2019 - 6:00 PM | Performance | Members' Room | open to the public | $25 per person | registration requiredTo celebrate World Theatre Day, The Arctic Cycle presents a reading of Homo Sapiens, one of the plays from their 2017 collection, written by Chantal Bilodeau. This is followed by a conversation with the creative team plus guest scientists whose work is directly connected to the issues addressed in the play - Dr. Ana Luz Porzecanski and Dr. Massimo Pigliucci, with moderator Amy Brady.
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Tuesday, March 19, 2019 - 6:00 PM | The Writing Life | Members' Room | open to the public | $15 per person | registration requiredLibrary members read from their own short stories, novels, poetry, criticism, memoir, and plays. Refreshments and wine will be served.
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Monday, March 18, 2019 - 11:00 AM | Reading Group | Whitridge Room | for members only | $50 for the set of three sessions or $20 per session | registration requiredHomer’s depiction of Achilles’ shield in the Iliad is often cited as the earliest example of ekphrastic poetry - poetry that responds to visual art. This seminar will survey ekphrastic poetry and consider how poets have resourcefully engaged with visual art - painting, sculpture, architecture, photography, and other media - to address their individual agendas, impulses, and interests.
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Thursday, March 14, 2019 - 6:30 PM | Lecture | Members' Room | open to the public | $15 per person, or free for students with valid ID | registration requiredDorothy Butler Gilliam, whose 50-year career as a journalist put her in the forefront of the fight for social justice, offers insights on racial relations and the media, in conversation with journalist and author Pamela Newkirk. (Video link available here.)
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Wednesday, March 13, 2019 - 6:00 PM | Special Event | Whitridge Room | open to the public | free of charge | registration requiredIn honor of Einstein's 140th birthday, a lightheartedly scientific look at his life, legacy, and ongoing popularity with physicist and playwright Stephen Rosen.
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Monday, March 11, 2019 - 6:30 PM | Lecture | Members' Room | open to the public | $15 per person | registration requiredIn connection to the Library’s exhibition Women Get the Vote, the founding director of the Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation tells the stories of those who made women’s suffrage happen, based on her new anthology.
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Thursday, March 7, 2019 - 6:30 PM | Lecture | Members' Room | open to the public | $15 per person | advance registration requiredWhy is religion still around in the twenty-first century? Why do so many still believe? And how do various traditions still shape the way people experience everything from sexuality to politics, whether they are religious or not? In Why Religion? one of today’s most compelling thinkers on the subject looks to her own life to help address these questions.
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Saturday, March 2, 2019 - 3:00 PM | Children | Whitridge Room | for members and guests | for ages 2 and up | $10 per child | registration requiredFeaturing interactive stories, songs, and fingerplays, this lively program is filled with humor and action.
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Thursday, February 28, 2019 - 6:00 PM | The Writing Life | Whitridge Room | for members only | free of charge | registration requiredBooks Walter Bode edited have won the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award. In this seminar, he’ll help writers find the most effective words and make the best use of them – based on participants’ own writing samples.
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Wednesday, February 27, 2019 - 5:00 PM | Children | Whitridge Room | for members and guests | ages 9 and up | $15 per child | registration requiredShare poetry and snacks with poet and playwright Dave Johnson. Learn how writers turn their ideas into poems, gain the inspiration and knowledge to craft your own poetry, and share your writing with others.
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Tuesday, February 26, 2019 - 5:00 PM | Reading Group | Whitridge Room | open to the public | $50 for the set of three sessions or $20 per session | registration requiredWhenever change happens, reading fiction and nonfiction in combination – “BookBundles” – can be a great way to gain understanding and participate in a new conversation. In connection with the new exhibition Women Get the Vote: A Historic Look at the 19th Amendment, this seminar offers three BookBundle-based discussions, exploring cultural questions raised by women’s suffrage and still debated today.
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Thursday, February 21, 2019 - 6:30 PM | Lecture | Members' Room | open to the public | $15 per person | advance registration requiredCirce, daughter of the mightiest Titan and possessor of the power of witchcraft, crosses paths with many of the most famous figures in all mythology. When she finds herself pitted against one of the most terrifying and vengeful of the Olympians, she must summon all her strength to protect what she loves most.
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Tuesday, February 19, 2019 - 12:00 PM | Reading Group | Whitridge Room | for members only | $60 for the set of four sessions or $20 per session | registration requiredErwin Flaxman, PhD, leads discussion of four seminal novels by the only author to be included in the Library of America during his lifetime.
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Monday, February 11, 2019 - 6:30 PM | Special Event | Members' Room | open to the public | $20 per person | advance registration requiredPerson Place Thing is an interview show based on this idea: people are particularly engaging when they speak not directly about themselves but about something they care about. Guests talk about one person, one place, and one thing that are important to them. The result? Surprising stories from great talkers. In this live podcast recording, Person Place Thing host Randy Cohen chats with bestselling author and lifelong Library member Susan Cheever. (Link to recording available here.)
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Thursday, February 7, 2019 - 6:30 PM | Special Event | Members' Room | open to the public | $15 per person | registration requiredFrom George M. Cohan to Lin-Manuel Miranda, the rhythm of Broadway is the heartbeat of America. In this special evening, the preeminent producer of Broadway cast albums gives an insightful and hilarious insider’s view of the shows, the people, and the music.
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Wednesday, February 6, 2019 - 5:00 PM | Children | Whitridge Room | for members and guests | grades 3 and up | $20 per child | registration requiredExplore the art of bookmaking with Library Conservator Christina Amato. Participants will make their own unique blank books using traditional materials and techniques.
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Wednesday, February 6, 2019 - 11:00 AM | Reading Group | Whitridge Room | for members only | $60 for the set of four sessions or $20 per session | registration requiredFor more than a century, the dark, gloomy vision of a “dystopia” has flourished. While such books can sound depressing, the ingenuity and wit of their authors makes them fascinating. Popular seminar leader Jane Mallison guides readers throught the wreckage of four modern-classic dystopias, from 1984 to Parable of the Sower.
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Saturday, February 2, 2019 - 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM | Children | Members' Room/Children's Library/Whitridge Room | open to the public | for families | free of charge | no registration requiredA special opportunity to introduce your friends to the Library at our Children’s Library Open House: an afternoon of family fun featuring storyteller Bill Gordh with tales from around the globe!
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Tuesday, January 29, 2019 - 6:00 PM | Reception | Members' Room | for members and guests | free of charge | registration requiredLibrary members and guests are cordially invited to a celebration of this new exhibition about the women’s suffrage movement, with remarks by author Brooke Kroeger.
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Wednesday, January 23, 2019 - 6:30 PM | The Writing Life | Members' Room | open to the public | $15 per person | registration requiredThe author, playwright, and Yale Drama professor shares a shimmering exploration of love, art, mortality, and the afterlife. Letters from Max is co-authored with Max Ritvo.
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