October Author Talks & Lectures across the Boston Public Library System
Boston Public Library locations will host author talks and a range of lectures during the month of October. Highlights include:
- As part of an author panel, Florence Ladd explores the expatriate experience, the social mobility of African Americans, and the dynamics of family reunions in The Spirit of Josephine, while Matthew Pratt Guterl highlights the ambitions of the first African American superstar in Josephine Baker and the Rainbow Tribe. Thursday, October 2, at 6 p.m. in the Commonwealth Salon at the Central Library in Copley Square, located at 700 Boylston Street.
- Local historian Anthony Sammarco details the delicious saga of The Baker Chocolate Company through a slide lecture on Thursday, October 2, at 6:30 p.m. at the Brighton Branch, located at 40 Academy Hill Road.
- Literary historian and playwright Rob Velella reads from trademark and lesser-known works of Edgar Allen Poe on Thursday, October 2, at 6:30 p.m. at the West End Branch, located at 151 Cambridge Street.
- Local author Jim Vrabel speaks about his book A People’s History of the New Boston, which provides a grassroots perspective on the tumultuous 1960s and 1970s in the city on Wednesday, October 8, at 6 p.m. in the Abbey Room at the Central Library in Copley Square, located at 700 Boylston Street.
- Scott Heim reads from his murder mystery We Disappear on Tuesday, October 14, at 6:30 p.m. at the South End Branch, located at 685 Tremont Street. Part of the South End Writes series.
- Award-winning investigative reporter Michael Blanding details his book The Map Thief, which tells the true story of a map dealer turned criminal who stole more than three million dollars’ worth of antique maps from rare-book libraries. Thursday, October 16, at 6 p.m. in the Commonwealth Salon at the Central Library in Copley Square, located at 700 Boylston Street. This author talk is presented by the Norman B. Leventhal Map Center at the Boston Public Library.
- Renowned biographer Megan Marshall speaks about her Pulitzer Prize-winning book Margaret Fuller: A New American Life on Friday, October 24, at 6 p.m. at the West Roxbury Branch, located at 1961 Centre Street.
- Bryan Stevenson takes readers on an intimate journey into the broken American criminal justice system in his book Just Mercy on Monday, October 27, at 6 p.m. in the Commonwealth Salon at the Central Library in Copley Square, located at 700 Boylston Street.
- Christopher Daley recounts the saga of Italian immigrant anarchists Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti on Wednesday, October 29, at 6 p.m. at the North End Branch, located at 25 Parmenter Street.
In addition to a range of author talks and lectures, several Boston Public Library locations will host discussions in October of the Boston Book Festival’s 2014 One City One Story selection “Sublimation” by Jennifer Haigh. Visit the Boston Public Library calendar for locations and dates of these discussions. All BPL locations are distributing free copies of the story while supplies last.
About BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY
Boston Public Library has a Central Library, twenty-four branches, map center, business library, and a website filled with digital content and services. Established in 1848, the Boston Public Library has pioneered public library service in America. It was the first large free municipal library in the United States, the first public library to lend books, the first to have a branch library, and the first to have a children’s room. Each year, the Boston Public Library hosts thousands of programs and serves millions of people. All of its programs and exhibitions are free and open to the public. At the Boston Public Library, books are just the beginning. To learn more, visit www.bpl.org.
