The Mark Twain House & Museum, 351 Farmington Ave., Hartford, will offer talks by an author of a book about a book and a writer and producer of “The Simpsons,” as well as a chance to write in Twain’s library.
In a Nook Farm Presents collaboration with the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center, the Twain House & Museum will host author Tom Santopietro on Monday, July 23 at 6 p.m. Tickets are $10. Santopietro is a Broadway show manager and author of books about famous movies and performers, including “Why to Kill a Mockingbird Matters: What Harper Lee’s Book and the Iconic American Film Mean to Us Today.” The book explores the written and film versions of the classic story of childhood and racism in the South, including the background of the 1962 film and whether the book can be seen as racist. The 1962 film “To Kill a Mockingbird” will be shown following his talk.
A Mark My Words program with TV writer and producer Mike Reiss, called “His Life’s a Joke,” will take place Thursday, July 26, at 7 p.m. The Emmy and Peabody Award-winning Reiss will be in conversation with arts journalist Frank Rizzo. Tickets are $20.
Reiss is the author of “Springfield Confidential: Jokes, Secrets and Outright Lies from a Lifetime of Writing for The Simpsons,” about his nearly 30 years with the show and his other comedy writing for TV, films, theater and publishing projects, including children’s books.
Kim Knox Beckius, contributing editor for Yankee magazine and Connecticut-based author of six books on Northeast travel, will host a session of Writing in Mark Twain’s Library on Thursday, July 26, from 6 to 9 p.m. for up to 14 participants. The cost is $75. Guests may use pencil and paper or a fully charged laptop (no Wi-Fi available). No ink pens, food or drink are permitted.
Reservations: marktwainhouse.org or 860-247-0998.
Murder At The Ivory Tower
Love solving mysteries? Love the idea of dressing up like your favorite author? Love a good party? Then consider visiting the Storytellers Cottage, 750 Hopmeadow St., Simsbury, on Saturday, July 28, from 8 to 11 p.m. for a Murder at the Ivory Tower event, where guests, who may dress as famous authors from the past and present will attempt to learn who has been stealing manuscripts. The cost is $50, it’s BYOB, guests must be 19 or older and up to 40 people may attend.
To solve the mystery, guests will question such authors (played by actors) as Tamora Pierce, Jane Austen, Mary Shelley, Edgar Allen Poe, George R.R. Martin, J.K. Rowling (via video message), F. Scott Fitzgerald, Zelda Fitzgerald, Agatha Christie, Ernest Cline and Oscar Wilde.
Reservations: 860-877-6099 or Info@StorytellersCottage.com or StorytellersCottage.com/book-online.
Sunken Garden Poetry
The Sunken Garden Poetry Festival continues its 26th season at Hill-Stead Museum, 35 Mountain Road, Farmington, on Wednesday, July 25, with a Poetry of Our World program with Solmaz Sharif and Javier Zamora and music by Mikata Salsa and Latin Jazz Orchestra.
After a Prelude Interview with the poets at 5 p.m., Sharif will read at 6 p.m., followed by music at 6:45 p.m. and a reading by Zamora at 7:15 p.m. Zamora will lead a poetry writing workshop at noon. Workshop fees are $40 to $60.
Festival tickets are $15 online or $20 at the gate. Children under 18 are free. Parking is free. Guests should bring seating and can bring picnic food or buy food and beverages there.
Tickets and information: hillstead.org and 860-677-4787.
R.J. Julia Events
Free talks by an expert on F. Scott Fitzgerald and an environmental journalist will be offered by R.J. Julia Booksellers, 768 Boston Post Road, Madison.
On Wednesday, July 25, at 7 p.m., Richard Webb Jr. will discuss his book, “Boats Against the Current: The Honeymoon Summer of Scott and Zelda: Westport, Connecticut 1920.” The famous couple lived for five months in Westport, which had an impact on their literary work. Webb grew up in Westport and later researched the theory that it was the true setting for “the Great Gatsby.” Webb’s book is a companion book to the documentary “Gatsby in Connecticut: The Untold Story.” Webb Jr. is an author and a documentary filmmaker.
On Thursday, July 26, at 7 p.m., environmental journalist Ben Goldfarb will discuss “Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter.” It contends the fur trade that killed countless beavers distorted streams, wetlands and ideas of what a healthy landscape should be and reports efforts to restore beaver colonies to help fight drought, flooding, wildfire, extinction and climate change. Goldfarb is an award-winning journalist and a graduate of the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.
Reservations are required: 203-245-3959 or rjjulia.com.
‘Franchise On The Rise’
Award-winning Hartford Courant sportswriter Dom Amore will give a talk at Tolland Public Library, 21 Tolland Green, on Thursday, July 26, at 6:30 p.m. about his book, “A Franchise on the Rise: The First Twenty Years of the New York Yankees.”
In the team’s 115 years, the Yankees have won 27 world championships. The book recounts their first 10 years as the Highlanders, their move to Yankee Stadium and their first World Series in 1923, along with many other anecdotes and historical details.
Amore, a 20-year member of the Baseball Writers Association of America, was named Connecticut Sportswriter of the Year four times by the National Sports Media Association and has won more than 30 state, local and national journalism awards.
The Eaton-Dimock-King Authors Series talk is free, but registration is required: 860-871-3620 or online at tolland.org/library
Connecticut Authors Trail
The Tenth Annual Connecticut Authors Trail, a series of free talks by local authors presented by a group of Eastern Connecticut libraries, continues Tuesday, July 24, at 6:30 p.m. at Slater Library, 26 Main St., Jewett City. Adam Bowles, a pastor of a church in Norwich and a journalist will discuss his book, “One Square Mile,” based on conversations with 120 neighbors and visitors about breaking down walls and listening to one another. 860-376-0024.
On Wednesday, July 25, at 7 p.m. at Waterford Public Library, 49 Rope Ferry Road, Waterford, Jeff Turner will talk about his latest novel, “Lost Boys of the River Camp,” set in 1917 at a Junior Naval Reserve station in Uncasville. 860-444-5805 or waterfordct.org/library.
The trail will end Sept. 20 at Mohegan Sun Casino’s Cabaret Theatre with a party and free talk by best-selling author Amy Bloom. Free event guide “passports” distributed by the libraries will make bearers eligible for a prize at the finale. connecticutauthorstrail.org.
Poetry In The Park
Hugh Blumenfeld will give a free reading on Thursday, July 26, at 6:30 p.m., at Julia de Burgos Park, Poet’s Corner, Jackson Street and Terry Avenue, Willimantic, for the annual free Poetry in the Park series hosted by the Curbstone Foundation. Guests may sit in the stone amphitheater or bring their own seating.
Blumenfeld is a poet, singer, songwriter, musician and physician who has been the Connecticut State Troubadour and currently practices family medicine in Hartford. facebook.com/Poetry-in-the-Park or 860-287-8056.
Moods for Moderns
A seminar and a workshop called “Moods for Moderns: Diverse Voices in Contemporary Poetry” will be led by Brent Terry, on Saturday, July 28, and Aug. 4 at 10:30 a.m. at the Noah Webster Library, 20 S. Main St., West Hartford. The library will validate parking in the nearby Isham Garage.
The free programs support “West Hartford Reads! an annual townwide initiative that will present a free apperance by acclaimed American poet Billy Collins on Oct. 4, at West Hartford Town Hall Auditorium.
In the seminar, Terry, of Willimantic, will discuss several diverse contemporary poems with participants and advise them on writing and editing their own poetry, which will be read and discussed at the Aug. 4 session. Terry won the 2017 Connecticut Poetry Prize from the Connecticut Poetry Society. westhartfordlibrary.org or 860-561-6950.
Avon Local Authors Festival
Avon Free Public Library, 281 Country Club Road, Avon, will continue its fifth annual Local Author Festival of free discussions and solo talks with a panel discussion by authors of books about history on Tuesday, July 24, at 6:30 p.m., with Arthur Pope, Ira Spar M.D., Joseph Williams and Patrick Nolan. 860-673-9712 or avonctlibrary.info.
