Don’t miss the final Fall 2009 Evenings with Authors program featuring Bruce Feiler

Bruce Feiler

It’s amazing how fast this season has gone. We’ve had great authors for the Fall 2009 Evenings with Authors series and sure hope you’ve been able to catch one or two of them. On November 16, the Fall series will conclude with New York Times best-selling author, Bruce Feiler.

Author of eight books, including Walking the Bible, Abraham, and Where God was Born, as well as host of the PBS series Walking the Bible, Feiler will read from his latest book, America’s Prophet: Moses and the American Story. In America’s Prophet, he

shows how Moses has pervaded American culture and shaped the nation’s core values more than any other figure. Feiler examines how events from the Hebrew Bible still resonate throughout modern culture and politics, including how several of our presidents, including George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Ronald Regan, and Barack Obama were inspired by the story of Moses.

Feiler will speak at the Columbus Performing Arts Center on Monday, November 16 at 7:30 p.m. Order tickets online at www.thurberhouse.org, or call (614) 464-1032 ext. 11.

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

Our Winter/Spring Evenings with Authors season starts in January, and the line-up is shaping up. Keep checking our website, Facebook, and our blog for the most up-to-date information on a whole new season of sensational authors.

Cats, Hounds, and Horses- Oh My!

Rita Mae Brown

Animal lovers are sure to enjoy the next Thurber House Evenings with Authors! New York Times bestselling author Rita Mae Brown returns to Thurber House to discuss her second memoir, Animal Magnetism: My Life with Creatures Great and Small, Wednesday, October 28 at 7:30 p.m., at the Columbus Performing Arts Center.

Brown grew up with animals as her constant companions, and closest friends. “Looking back, I realized that my whole life has been lived with and through animals,” she has said. Funny and poignant, Animal Magnetism shows how these inspiring creatures, great and small, can bring out the best in us, restore us to our greater selves, and even save our lives.

Brown is the author of numerous books, including the popular Sister Jane Fox Hunting Series, and the Mrs. Murphy mystery series (co-written by her tiger cat, Sneaky Pie), her first memoir, Rita Will, and the acclaimed Ruby Fruit Jungle.

Brown will speak at the Columbus Performing Arts Center, Wednesday, October 28^th at 7:30 p.m. Order tickets online at www.thurberhouse.org, or call (614) 464-1032 ext. 11.

Evenings with Authors: Julia Glass

Julia Glass

Fall has finally come to Columbus. As the weather continues to cool outside, come and enjoy Thurber House’s Evenings with Authors. We’ll introduce you to some great authors and good new books to curl up with on these blustery fall days.

Thursday, October 15^th, Thurber House presents Julia Glass, reading from her new work of fiction, I See You Everywhere. Glass gained national recognition for her debut novel, the National Book Award winner for fiction, Three Junes. Glass has also written the novel, The Whole World Over.

I See You Everywhere is a beautifully written story that explores the relationship of two sisters over the course of 25 years. This semi-autobiographical story mimics the relationship that Glass had with her sister, as well as pondering the question: “Ever wonder how sisters, when they aren’t best friends, make particularly vicious enemies?”

The format for the evening’s event is special with Margaret Quamme, frequent book reviewer for The Columbus Dispatch, moderating and hosting.

Glass will speak at the Columbus School for Girls, Thursday, October 15^th at 7:30 p.m. Order tickets online at www.thurberhouse.org, or call (614) 464-1032 ext. 11.

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

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.

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

Dinners with Authors Open to All!

As many of you know, our Evenings with Authors are the perfect alternative to a traditional book group meeting. For this season, we’ve decided to open the dinners up to anyone interested, limited to 25, whether or not you’re a member of a book group. This is an opportunity to talk with the authors about their work in a more intimate setting; to get reserved seating at the event; to get your book signed ahead of time; and have a great meal. Price for dinner is $40 and includes the reading. For more information or to purchase dinner tickets, please call Anne Touvell at Thurber House, 614-464-1032 ext. 10.

Thurber House Announces the Fall 2009 Evenings With Authors

Fall is approaching fast, bringing cool weather, colorful trees and Thurber House’s latest line-up of Evenings with Authors!

Sue Miller returns, after being snowed out in January, and will kick off our season on Monday, September 14, reading from The Senator’s Wife.

The Evenings with Authors schedule is as follows:

• Monday, September 14: Sue Miller, The Senator’s Wife, at the Columbus Museum of Art
• Thursday, September 24: Kaylie Jones, Lies My Mother Never Told Me, at the Columbus Performing Arts Center
• Thursday, October 15: Julia Glass, I See you Everywhere, at the Columbus School for Girls
• Wednesday, October 28: Rita Mae Brown, Animal Magnetism: My Life with Creatures Great and Small, at the Columbus Performing Arts Center
• Monday, November 16: America’s Prophet: Moses and the American Story, at the Columbus Performing Arts Center

All Evenings start at 7:30 p.m. Tickets purchased in advance are $18 general admission, $15 students and senior citizens. Season Subscriptions and Mini-Series (3 dates of your choice) are also available Tickets can be purchased either online at www.thurberhouse.org, or calling (614) 464-1032. Tickets will be available at the door, $20 general admission, $18 students and senior citizens.

Thurber House is also presenting a Bonus Event in conjunction with the Evenings with Authors Fall Season. The Bonus Event is a cocktail and hors d’oeuvres reception and reading featuring OSU professors, Erin McGraw, The Seamstress of Hollywood, and her husband, Andrew Hudgins, Shut Up, You’re Fine: Instructive Poetry for Very, Very Bad Children. The event will be held on Thursday, October 1 at Thurber Center, and costs $30 for general admission to the reception and reading. But if you buy a full Season Subscription to the Evenings with Authors, this terrific Bonus Event is FREE!

Check out our website and the blog for more information about each event.

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Sue Miller

Kaylie Jones

Julia Glass

Rita Mae Brown

Bruce Feiler

Erin McGraw

Andrew Hudgins