The Slightly Less Than (Mostly) Official Event Wrap-Up: New Voices

What an evening! On Wednesday, more than 100 people braved the heat to attend our New Voices Picnic. It was a fantastic event that showcased some of Ohio’s up-and-coming talent in musical and literary work.

The evening began with a performance by a string quartet of students from ProMusica Chamber Orchestra. The four Hilliard Davidson High School students opened with a piece by Mozart, followed by several duets and closed with a surprise piece by Lady Gaga! This was definitely an unexpected crowd-pleaser! Check out the video below of their performance.

Following the music, our three featured authors for the evening shared excerpts from their work and provided the “story behind the story” to give the audience an intimate look into their writing process. Amanda Flower and Lee Kravitz each read a chapter from their books, Maid of Murder and Unfinished Business, respectively, and Ellen Waddell read several short stories from her collection, She Said, Looking Forward.

Overall, despite the high temps, it was a memorable evening filled with good food, fun entertainment and new talent!

We only have one more picnic left for the year! You won’t want to miss out hearing Dispatch sports columnist, Bob Hunter share from his new book Chic on Aug. 3. Tickets are available now, click here for more information. We hope to see you there!

 

New Voices Picnic Features ProMusica Chamber Orchestra and Ohio Authors

Summer is in full swing and so is our Summer Picnic series! We hope you’ll join us on Wednesday for the third annual New Voices picnic– an evening of literary and musical pieces from some of Ohio’s up-and-coming talent.

Students with ProMusica Chamber Orchestra will perform before the readings. Pictured from left to right is Paige Sibeveih, Alina Wungsirivesh, Jason Ng.

As an added bonus, we excited to collaborate with ProMusica Chamber Orchestra who will kick off the evening with a performance by a string quartet comprised of Hilliard Davidson High School students from ProMusica’s Student Advisory Board, and participants in the Musicians in the Schools program. The students will play Presto from Mozart’s String Quartet No. 4 in C Major as well as a few short duets.

The event will also feature the following emerging Ohio authors: Amanda Flower debuting her novel Maid of Murder; Ellen Waddell presenting from her book of essays, She Said, Looking Forward; and Lee Kravitz sharing a novel based on a year of his life called Unfinished Business.

The picnic begins at 6:15 pm on the Thurber House lawn. Tours of the house are available before and after dinner. Tickets are $15 for the reading. You’re welcome to bring some snacks and beverages. For more information about the New Voices Picnic and to purchase tickets, click here or call 614-464-1032.

We hope to see you there!

The Slightly Less Than (Mostly) Official Event Wrap-up: Tess Gerritsen

Last night marked a very special occasion for Thurber House: we hosted our first ever special summer event featuring international bestselling author Tess Gerritsen. Timing could not have been more perfect, as Gerritsen’s latest novel, The Silent Girl, just hit book store shelves last week, and Rizzoli & Isles, the hit TNT show based on her books, entered its second season Monday night.

Over 150 people gathered at CCAD’s Canzani Center to hear Gerritsen speak about the inspiration for her novels, story lines and characters. Plus, she gave a quick preview of what she’s working on next – including the 10th installment of Rizzoli & Isles series.

One of the most interesting stories Gerritsen shared with the audience was how the now beloved Jane Rizzoli wasn’t even supposed to be in more than one book. She was originally thought to be a secondary character and was set to be killed in The Surgeon, the first of the Rizzoli and Isles series. But by the end of the book, Gerritsen had grown so attached to Rizzoli and couldn’t bring herself to kill her off, and so began a great crime fighting partnership, Rizzoli and Isles.

Gerritsen also spent some time discussing how she comes up with such chilling storylines … and you might be surprised to find out that they’re actually based on real-life occurrences. Stories from the Boston Globe, National Enquirer (yes, Gerritsen admitted to reading the tabloid daily!) and other major news sources have all inspired Gerritsen’s story lines. It also helps that as a child, Gerritsen spent a lot of time with her mother, who used horror movies to learn English.

Overall the night was a tremendous success, and the audience enjoyed every minute of Gerritsen’s stories. Stay tuned for some video clips coming soon!

BOGO Tickets Thurber House Hosts NYT Bestselling Author Tess Gerritsen

As you may already know, we’re gearing up for a special event with Tess Gerritsen on Tuesday, July 12. Today, we’re announcing a last-minute ticket special for those of you who haven’t purchased your tickets yet:

The $15 tickets are now available buy one, get one free. To take advantage of this special offer, call 614-464-1032 ext. 11.

Tess is the international bestselling author of the Rizzoli & Isles police detective series, also a hit show on TNT. Her brand new novel, The Silent Girl, hit bookstores just a few days ago and we are thrilled that she will be with us in Columbus to share her latest edgy, murder mystery!

Summer Special Event details:

Tuesday, July 12, 7:00 – 8:30 p.m.
Canzani Center, Columbus College of Art and Design
60 Cleveland Ave.
Columbus, OH 43215
For more information visit http://www.thurberhouse.org/tess-gerritsen.html

We hope to see you there!