A SPECIAL BONUS EVENT FROM THURBER HOUSE!

As a special addition to the 2009 Fall Evenings with Authors, Thurber House is presenting a bonus event with two highly acclaimed Columbus writers, both professors with OSU’s graduate creative writing program: Erin McGraw and her husband, Andrew Hudgins.

Erin McGraw

Erin will be reading from her newest novel, The Seamstress of Hollywood Boulevard, which is based on her grandmother’s incredible life. It’s the turn of the 20th century, and Nell Plat is 17, unhappily married, and the mother of two baby girls. Trapped in Kansas, she wants more and she does the unthinkable: she runs away to the wonderland of Los Angeles and its brand new motion picture industry. Nell becomes seamstress to the socialites and costumer to Hollywood in the Roaring Twenties. The book glitters and shines with vivid characters and an unforgettable sense of time and place.

A nominee for both the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry and the National Book Award, Andrew Hudgins will read from two books of poetry. One is Shut Up, You’re Fine: Instructive Poetry for Very, Very Bad Children which is naughty, hilarious and vintage Hudgins. As a special treat for this event, he will always read from American Rendering: New and Selected Poems, which will be published in 2010.

Andrew Hudgins

This very special bonus event to celebrate these two Columbus literary treasures will begin at 5:30 with a cocktail reception that includes wine and hors d’oeuvre, followed by the individual readings that will begin at 7:00. The event is being held at Thurber Center at 91 Jefferson Avenue, next door to Thurber House.

The event is $30 for the reception and readings. Seating is limited so reservations are necessary, and must be made by Monday, September 28, no later than 4 p.m. For tickets, go to: www.thurberhouse.org or call (614) 464-1032, ext 11.

The Fall 2009 Writers’ Cafe at the Columbus Zoo has been CANCELED!

It must be a reflection of the economic times or maybe it’s just a reflection of our busy lives. Thurber House has canceled the Writers’ Café event scheduled for Sunday, September 27 at the Columbus Zoo. The reason you may ask – we didn’t receive enough registrations to make it worthwhile to hold the event.

The Writers’ Café seemed to have all the right things going for it – a great location, (the best zoo in the nation), great activities with award winning authors, a reasonable price, and the joy of spending quality one-on-one time with your child or grandchild sharing the love of creative writing.  Our guess is that many people did what my neighbor did, wait until the deadline (or later) to hand in their registration.

There are a plethora of activities that beg for parents and children’s time and September has to be one of the busiest months of the year, right up there with December, March and May.  Still you would think that in the vast population of Central Ohio, we could find 100 people that would joyfully sign up for this event.  Sadly it isn’t so.

The next time you see a brochure for a Thurber House educational program or event, I challenge you to be the first one to sign up.  Please don’t let this happen again!

Pat Shannon
Director of Children’s Programming

And the Winners Are…

The 2009 Columbus Literary Award winners have been announced! Sponsored by the Greater Columbus Arts Council and administered by Thurber House, the biennial Columbus Literary Awards recognize the most outstanding literary works produced by Franklin County writers in the genres of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry.

The 2009 winners are:

• POETRY: David Culwell. Culwell received the 2008 Thomas Merton Price for Poetry of the Sacred. He has published several poems and works of fiction.
• FICTION: Jaime Lee Moyer. Though her poetry has been nominated for the Rhysling Award the past three years, Moyer won the Columbus Literary Award for her work, Delia’s Shadow.
• NONFICTION: Stephanie Harrison. Editor of the anthology Adaptations: From Short Story to Big Screen, Harrison has published several articles and short works of fiction in many journals, including Poets & Writers magazine.

All three winners will be celebrated at a reception and reading of their works on Wednesday, October 14, at 5:30 p.m. at Thurber Center, next door to Thurber House. The event is free, but reservations must be made by Monday, October 12. To RSVP, call Anne Touvell, (614) 464-1032 x10.

For more about the Columbus Literary Awards, visit www.thurberhouse.org

Don’t Miss the Writers’ Café at the Columbus Zoo!

What better way to spend a Sunday afternoon than writing fantastical stories inspired by gorillas, snakes, monkeys, and more at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, the top rated zoo in the country?

Join Thurber House at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium for the 5^th Writers’ Café on Sunday, September 27^th.  The Writers’ Café is for kids in 4^th ­– 6^th grade, and their favorite adult, for an afternoon of exploring, writing, and an open mic session.

The deadline for registrations is approaching faster than a cheetah. Go to www.thurberhouse.com, print off the registration form, and mail, fax, or drop them off by Monday, September 21! We hope to see you there!

Kaylie Jones Reveals Family Lies

Kaylie Jones

Thurber House’s Fall 2009 Evenings with Authors series started the season with a bang. Sue Miller spoke at the Columbus Museum of Art and our guests filled the auditorium. What a great start to the season!

Our next author is Kaylie Jones, author of several novels, including the critically acclaimed A Soldier’s Daughter Never Cries. Jones will read from her new work, Lies My Mother Never Told Me. This is a gripping memoir about growing up as the daughter of literary royalty­—her father was James Jones, author of several American classics including From Here to Eternity and The Thin Red Line. Being surrounded by influential authors, including James Baldwin, William Styron, Mary McCarthy and Kurt Vonnegut, is only part of Jones’ story. Lies My Mother Never Told Me provides a riveting account about being a part of a family of alcoholics who refused to admit their problem, and the repercussions the disease had on Jones’ life.

Jones will speak at The Columbus Performing Arts Center, Thursday, September 24^th at 7:30 p.m. Order tickets online at www.thurberhouse.org, or call (614) 464-1032 ext. 11.

A special dinner with Kaylie is also available before the event. For more information, call (614) 464-1032 ext. 10.

For more on Kaylie Jones, visit her website at kayliejones.com

Young Writers’ Studio Starts Wednesday!

Do you love stories, poetry, fantasy, comics, graphic novels or just have fun playing with words? Then Thurber House’s Young Writers’ Studio is THE place for you.  You’ll meet other young writers and artists, learn from experienced teachers and create new pieces from inspiring prompts and engaging writing exercises. This fall we’re going to explore the do’s and don’ts of novel writing, how to create substantive tension, situations and complications in fiction, and play a few creative games from THE WRITER’S TOOLBOX.  We’ll also have a visit from a local author to discuss craft and the writing life.

Young Writers’ Studio is for 9th through 12th grade students and our fall session starts on Wednesday, September 16 at 6:30pm at Thurber House.  All levels of writers are welcome. We typically spend the first hour workshopping writing brought in by young writers.  Then we take a snack break and round out the second hour writing.

Don’t worry about grades, but just getting better at writing in a very supportive and fun atmosphere!

Closed for Labor Day!

Thurber House will be closed, Friday, September 4, through Monday, September 7, for Labor Day. Sorry for the inconvenience.