And who is this?

Victoria in the Thurber sculpture garden

Hi! My name’s Victoria and no, I don’t have a secret (unless it’s my undying love for Chinese food which, let’s face it, is public knowledge by now).  I’m a junior at Columbus School for Girls who is spending the week interning at Thurber House. When it came time to pick my first choice, Thurber seemed like the only logical option because, well, I love to write.  Thurber House is a place where I can not only write but also have fun and be myself too – why wouldn’t I want to intern here?

Other than that, I’m just your average seventeen year old – one part confused, another part overwhelmed, and two parts recklessly eager to try everything and anything. With that in mind, it’s not surprising that I have a big list of things I enjoy. I like reading, writing, trying new things, football, card games, old movies, driving, horoscopes, Mahjong, beaches, daydreaming, sleeping, ticket stubs, watching entire seasons of TV in one day, coffee, getting lost, and black pens.

I like to write because when I was younger, I wanted to be an astronaut. And a doctor. As well as a lawyer, a secret agent, a firefighter, a teacher, a police officer, a movie star, a coffee shop owner, a pilot, a chemist, a mailman, and a pirate. It took me a while to realize that meant I should be a writer, the only job that lets me be all those things and more. Ideally, I’d like to become a writer for Film/TV because A) I love to write and B) it would be pretty awesome to win an Oscar/Emmy.

And that’s basically me in two hundred and seventy-one words. I’m really happy to have the opportunity to intern here at Thurber House and I know this week will be a great one!

Staff Note: Victoria is here through Columbus School for Girls’ Junior May Experience. Students completing their junior year give their top three choices of internship experiences and they are paired with a participating organization for 4-9 days in May. We are really excited to have Victoria with us! Check back on our blog and Facebook posts to see what she’s up to this week.

Here’s the line-up for the Summer Literary Picnic season!

We are so excited to announce the 28th season of Summer Literary Picnics, featuring readings from five authors with Ohio connections. The picnics are held on the Thurber House lawn at 77 Jefferson Avenue and you can purchase a boxed dinner from us, or bring your own. Here’s the line-up for 2013:

Wednesday, June 12: Alexis Wilson

Alexis Wilson is known to many as the wife of musician Byron Stripling, but her memoir, Not So Black and White, shows that she is much more than wife and mother. She shares the story of her father, a Tony-award winning choreographer, and her mother, a talented ballet star. This book is a fascinating look at the life of an exceptional woman.

Wednesday, June 26: Julia Keller

Pulizer Prize-winning journalist Julia Keller has written her first novel, a mystery called A Killing in the Hills. In the book, prosecuting attorney Bell Elkins investigates the gruesome murder of three elderly men in a diner. The book takes place against the backdrop of poverty-stricken West Virginia, and Keller plans to make this the first book in a new series.

Wednesday, July 10: Sharon Short

Sharon Short’s column, “Sanity Check,” appeared in the Dayton Daily News for over ten years. She is now the director of the Antioch Writers’ Workshop in Yellow Springs, and her first novel, My One Square Inch of Alaska, was just published. It follows the story of two siblings and their dog as they escape their small Ohio town and travel to Alaska.

Wednesday, July 24: John Kachuba

If you are interested in paranormal investigations, be sure to check out John Kachuba’s Ghosthunting Ohio: On the Road Again. In the book, there are 25 ghostly spots to visit in the Buckeye State, from the home of President  James A. Garfield to Columbus’s own Thurber House. Kachuba is the author of several entries in the “Haunted Road Trip” series.

Wednesday, August 7: Charlene Fix

Poet and professor Charlene Fix takes a look at one of the Marx brothers in her book, Harpo Marx as Trickster. In history, folklore, and myth, tricksters have held a special place in people’s lives and hearts. Through photos and words, Fix examines Harpo’s trickster personality in each Marx Brothers film, demonstrating his affinity for mischief and magic.

Here’s how the Literary Picnics work:

• 5:30 p.m. – Our Young Docents offer guided tours of Thurber House.
• 5:30 – 6:50 p.m. – If you pre-ordered a boxed dinner from us, you may pick it up anytime within this timeframe. If you would like to order dinner, please make your reservation by 4:00 p.m. on the Monday before the picnic.
• 7:00 p.m. – The reading begins. Thurber House remains open after the reading for touring, book buying, and book signing.

Please bring your own lawn chairs or blankets. You are also welcome to bring alcoholic beverages.

Click here for more information (including menus), and to purchase tickets to any and all of our upcoming picnics!

Children’s Writer-in-Residence: Where are they now?

For the past 12 years we have been proud to bring a children’s author to live at Thurber House, share space with the ghost, and hit the ground running on whatever story they are writing.

Alan Gratz, our 2011 Children’s Writer-in Residence, has some really great things happening right now. Just out this March, Prisoner B-3087, is already making an impact. Based on the true story of Jack Gruener, Prisoner B-3087 tells the story of a boy who survived ten different concentration camps. The novel gives a younger age group an unapologetic picture of what life was so unfortunately like for many people during World War II.

Along with the success of Prisoner, comes a project that we are happy to have been a part of. In the spring of 2014, Gratz will be releasing the book he worked on during his residency at Thurber House! Luckily, the ghost didn’t give him too much trouble and he was able to really get some work done; Thurber House even gets a shout out in the acknowledgements! Titled, Mangleborn, this novel is the first of his highly anticipated middle grade fantasy trilogy, The League of Seven. The series is set in an alternate America, where seven super-powered children fight to stop the mad scientist, Thomas Edison, from summoning giant monsters–until they learn that one of the League may be the biggest monster of all.

We are so happy to see that the work Alan did during his residency is coming to fruition! Congratulations Alan!

Are you a children’s author? Check out more information about our Children’s Writer-in-Residence program!

Teen Poetry Highlight: The Final Installment

As a last hurrah to National Poetry Month, we would like to share one final (anonymous) poem derived from the talent in our Young Writers’ Studio. So without further ado…

[Untitled]

The smoke screened illusion
hazing vision and judgments
in this religion of smoke and spit.
Worshipping wholly unholy celestial bodies

Electric prayers received
in the daring haze of four A.M. sermons;
prayers made with thumbs
substituting amen with a semicolon and a closing parenthesis.

A part time god with a lowercase ‘g’,
only present by desire
not by necessity,
draws from you the four letter hallelujah
praising the vessel for the euphoria it brings.

Words repeated mean so little,
but say so much.
They are shelled out to reignite a dying flame.
The words lose passion, becoming perfunctory.
They say dead wood creates the best flame,
but it burns away the fastest.

The veil may blind the lady Justice,
but the smoke renders her judgment obsolete.
And when the rolled paper wings burn out,
like Icarus, the Disciple falls.

The screen is pulled back
and the bond is severed.
The illness from a corrupted belief
metastasizing in the heart
causing an infection.

And all that’s left is the ash on the broken altar
over which she was bent;
the virgin Mary who lost her title.

___________
Again, thanks so much to our great teen writers. Here at Thurber House, we feel that we had a successful celebration of National Poetry Month, and we definitely owe a portion of that to our teens, whose talent gives us another reason to love poetry.

If you’re working on something, keep chipping away at it one stanza at a time. National Poetry Month lives on in the hearts of every passionate poet out there!

Teen Poetry Highlight: Part Two

The wait is over! We are happy to share with you another great piece of writing from one of our teens at Young Writers’ Studio.

In case you missed our previous post, we asked our teens to submit a poem they wrote and help us celebrate National Poetry Month by allowing us to share it with the Thurber world. A HUGE thank you to Meaghan Summers for submitting this piece!

BLOOD
If blood is thicker than water,
If its color stains the seas,
For brothers, what’s better
Than to slice a drop to thee?

If blood be a raging temper,
stay put in the veins.
But if blood isn’t a pretender,
may the waves act the same.

If blood won’t raise its sword,
Or say a single word,
Then what fortune do they desire
When it’s spilled from flames of fire?

If blood knows not about
Terrors of time and crime,
When corpses turn out,
What becomes this little rhyme?

Terrors of time and crime,
When corpses turn out,
What becomes this little rhyme?

_________

Meaghan Summers has been going to YWS for a good 2 years now and has loved every minute of it! She mainly writes poetry but she also tries to write beginnings of novels or short stories in the science fiction or dystopian genres. She is attending Wittenberg University in the fall to pursue a career in writing.

Don’t forget to keep celebrating National Poetry Month! We have one more poem to post so check back in a few days!

Teen Poetry Highlight: Part One

In thinking about how we could continue to share our love of writing during National Poetry Month, we felt that the sharing of poetry was an important component to a well-rounded celebration. So, we decided to tap one of favorite writing resources: Young Writers’ Studio.

We asked our teens to submit a poem for us to share with the Thurber world. They did not disappoint. However, because we enjoy a little suspense here at Thurber House, we’re only going to share one poem with you today. Check back throughout April to read the rest!

Crash in Reverse by Tova Seltzer

You and I
Were like a car crash played in reverse
We were wrecked from the beginning
And our collision put us back together
Our metal parts crumpled out smooth
The scattered shards of glass were blasted off the ground
And melted back into our window frames
The light spiraled down from who knows where
And jumped back inside our headlight bulbs
And by the time we’d stumbled off the way we came
Somehow we were good as new

—————
Tova Seltzer is a junior at the Wellington School. She loves to read and write fiction and poetry. She’s passionate about animal rights, Florence and the Machine, and delicious food. In her spare time, she co-heads her school’s Gay-Straight Alliance, participates in theater, and plays tennis, along with way too many other things. She’s been going to Thurber House summer camps, and now Young Writers’ Studio, for as long as she can remember.

Get your tickets today!

Our May 21 Evenings with Authors event with Tracy Chevalier is sold out, but don’t forget to mark your calendar for the last two events in the Winter/Spring 2013 season!

Known for his novels about the Civil War, author Jeff Shaara will be joining us on Monday June 3^rd to discuss his newly released novel. Coming out on May 21^st, A Chain of Thunder, the second book of his most recent series, tells the story of the campaign and siege of Vicksburg.

Steve Berry, former attorney turned novelist, comes to Columbus on Monday, June 17 to share insight to his novel that will be released just 6 days before the event. The King’s Deception, featuring Berry’s popular character Cotton Malone and his 15 year old son, dives into more tales of lies, spies, and secret societies.  

Tickets are available on our website, or by calling 614-464-1032 x11. 
These events take place at the Columbus Museum of Art and begin at 7:30 p.m. You can purchase tickets $20 (with special deals for seniors and students).

If you’re looking for a more up close and personal experience with Jeff Shaara or Steve Berry, you can join us for The Author’s Table Dinner where you can share a meal and take the opportunity to talk about their work in a more intimate setting. Tickets for this (which includes dinner and the reading) are $45. For more information about The Author’s Table, please call Anne at 614-464-1032 x.10.