Reminder: South End Filmmaker Alice Stone Will Return to the South End Library Tomorrow, December 6, With an Update of and Behind-the Scenes Look at her Documentary-in-Progress, “Angelo Unwritten.”
Alice Stone, whose gripping documentation of teenager Angelo’s life after having been adopted out of foster care mesmorized an overflowing room earlier this year, will return to the South End Library tomorrow night. Stone will give an update with new material gathered since March and how, as a filmmaker, she may make decisions about the presentation of the surprising twists and turns of the story of Angelo’s life. Stone is raising funds to complete the film and will make an announcement about her strategy.
The evening is part of FOSEL’s series, The South End Writes, and will begin at 6:30 PM. There will be refreshments. of new material gathered since March, and how, as a filmmaker, she may make decisions about the presentation of the surprising twists and turns of the story of Angelo’s life. Stone is raising funds to complete the film and will make an announcement about her strategy.
Children's Book Author and Journalist Victoria Griffith Will Read from "The Fabulous Flying Machines of Alberto Santos-Dumont" on Saturday Morning, December 3, at the South End Library
The South End Writes Authors' Series will feature its first reading by a children's book author Saturday, December 3, at 11:00 AM. Victoria Griffith, a South End resident and financial journalist, will introduce her new book which just won the Fall 2011 Parents Choice Award.
"The Fabulous Flying Machines of Alberto Santos-Dumont" describes how Alberto, the son of a Brazilian coffee magnate who lived in Paris while his father was undergoing medical treatment, used the balloon-inspired precursor to airplanes, the "dirigible," to run errands to and from his apartment on the Champs-Elysees. He was the first aviator to ride it around the Eiffel Tower in 1901, two years before the Wright Brothers did.
After Saturday's reading, children will be invited to make paper airplanes and bat around balloons. Refreshments are available, too.
The South End Library is located at 685 Tremont Street, between Rutland Square and West Newton Street.
Journalist/Author Johnny Diaz Will Read From His Latest, "Take the Lead," Tuesday, October 4, at 6:30 PM at the South End Library
Boston Globe writer and author Johnny Diaz will read from his fourth novel, Take the Lead, tomorrow night, October 4, at 6:30 PM. The Cuban-American media writer for the Boston Globe's Business Section weaves issues facing the latino gay community into the urban settings he is familiar with, such as Boston or Miami, where he worked for the Miami Herald before moving north. His previous novels include Boston Boys Club (2007), Miami Manhunt (2008) and Beantown Cubans (2009). He currently teaches Journalismat Emerson College. The library is located at 685 Tremont Street, between West Newton Street and Rutland Square Air Blower. The event is free, and sponsored by the Friends of the South End Library as part of its The South End Writes series.
Author Lily King Will Read From "Father of the Rain" Tomorrow, Tuesday, September 27 at the South End Library
The Friends of the South End Library are resuming their author's series, The South End Writes, with a reading tomorrow night by author Lily King from her most recent novel, Father of the Rain. Lily King, not a South End resident but with many friends in the neighborhood, grew up in Manchester, MA, and has taught English and Creative Writing at universities here and abroad. Her first novel, The Pleasing Hour, won the Barnes and Noble Discover Award and was a NY Times Notable Book. Her second, The English Teacher, won the Maine Fiction AwardWater Obstacle. Copies of King's novels are available at the SE branch, thanks to head librarian, Anne Smart. The reading starts at 6:30 PM at the South End Library. Refreshments will be available.
Whether "Back-in-Town" or "Never-Left-to-Begin-With," the Fall 2011 FOSEL Season Resumes
Hurricanes came and went this summer, and some may visit yet belatedly, but the South End Library is still standing. Its programming, and best of all, Saturday hours from 10 to 2,, have resumed. Just before Labor Day, FOSEL cleaned up and refurbished the gardens in the tree enclosures around the library. In addition, FOSEL also removed the debris left by Hurricane Irene in Library Park. One of the park's steady visitors, Orlando, spent two days assisting FOSEL bagging the trash and sweeping the pavement in and around the park. Thank you, Orlando. The South End Writes Author's Series, which last year hosted literary luminaries like Sue Miller, Henri Cole, Doug Bauer, film writer Alice Stone, and culinary authors Chris Kimball and Joanne Chang, will start afresh on Tuesday, September 27 at 6:30 PM. Award-winning fiction writer Lily King will read from the just-issued paperback version of her 2010 novel, Father of the Rain, set in a suburb on Boston's North Shore. Her previous novels include The Pleasing Hour (winner of the Barnes and Noble Discover Award), and The English Teacher (winner of the Maine Fiction Award). Father of the Rain has won the New England Book Award for Fiction and was listed as a New York Times Editor's Choice.
Boston Globe reporter Johnny Diaz will read from his fourth novel, Take the Lead, on Tuesday, October 4, 6:30 PM. Diaz's novels explore the lives of Latino gay men in urban venues such as Boston's South End and Miami, where Diaz was previously a reporter for The Miami Herald. At The Herald, he shared in the 2000 Pulitzer prize for the paper's coverage of the seizure by federal agents of Elian Gonzales, a young boy who had fled Cuba with his mother and her boyfriend, but whose father demanded his return to the island after the mother drowned during the escape. Diaz's earlier novels include Beantown Cubans, Miami Manhunt, and Boston Boys Club. Diaz wrote in an email that Take the Lead was partially inspired by an article he wrote for the Boston Globe about a physical therapy dance class for people who suffer from Parkinson's Disease. In the novel, the dance class forms the background for the main character's coming to terms with the relationship with his father, who struggles with the illness, and his love affair with the dance instructor..
The BPL's efforts to create a workable Long-Term Strategic Plan will reach an important moment on Thursday, September 15 when the BPL trustees, at their public meeting, will receive a draft of the document outlining the BPL's modernization plan from the so-called Compass Strategic Planning Committee. The meeting will be held at Copley Library at 8:30 AM. The planning committee is chaired by South End's State Representative and BPL Trustee, Byron Rushing. Other members of the committee include BPL Trustees Carol Fulp and Zamawa Arenas, BPL President Amy E. Ryan, Executive Director of Codman Academy Charter Public School Meg Campbell, Mayor Menino's Special Assistant Alice Hennessey, Mimi Jones of the Friends of Dudley Branch Library, private attorney Ronaldo Rauseo-Ricupero and Pamela Seigle, Executive Director, Courage & Renewal Northeast at Wellesley College. The committee met several times during the summer and held a few "roundtables" at branch libraries, regrettably not well advertised through neighborhood associations or similar institutions, and too often held during the summer when many library patrons and supporters are away on vacation or visiting relatives. Nevertheless, the Compass Committee invites everyone to read the draft document and comment by email . FOSEL will report on the document in a later post on this web site.
Also on the BPL Trustee Agenda is the announcement of the resignation of long-time trustee Berthe M. Gaines, creating the second open seat on the nine-member library board. The other vacancy is the result of the retirement earlier this year of author and Boston Globe columnist James Carroll.. A library advocate who in the 1980s fought branch closures, Ms. Gaines had not attended trustee meetings for more than two years or expressed any public opinions about the BPL's recent trials and tribulations. Mayor Menino appoints trustees, but, in contrast with procedures in other library communities, the mayoral nominees have thus far not been asked by the City Council to demonstrate their ability for advocacy on behalf of libraries or library patrons, or their fundraising prowess, in a public forum such as city council hearings. The danger of pro-forma confirmation of library board nominees by the City Council became evident in the last few years when proposed budget cutbacks went unchallenged, BPL foundation fundraising collapsed for lack of inspired leadership and proposed library closures endorsed by BPL trustees were only averted at the last minute after public outrage made closings politically unpalatable.
Overall South End Library programming will be posted separately, but FOSEL has agreed to sponsor two events for children in September and October. In addition, A FOSEL supporter has purchased a sewing machine for the library's craft program organized by children's librarian Margaret Gardner, who hopes to instruct young tailors and tailorettes in the art of the mechanical needle.
The FOSEL Fundraising Campaign begun earlier this year to collect money to have a handicapped-accessible door installed at the South End Library has not yet reached its goal. The FOSEL board is currently looking into next steps, and will post an update as soon as possible.
Welcome back and stay tuned....
America's Test Kitchen and Cook's Illustrated's Chris Kimball Will Talk About Food Writing at the South End Library on June 7, 6:30 PM
Chris Kimball
Longtime South End resident and culinary-publishing star Christopher Kimball (America's Test Kitchen) will talk about his personal essays in the bi-monthly Cook's Illustrated this Tuesday at the South End Library at 6:30 PM. And, yes, refreshments will be served: how could we not? For this event, Kimball will bring copies of his recent book, Fannie's Last Supper, a tale of the author's recreation of a 12-course Christmas dinner given at the end of the 19th Century in the South End by Fannie Farmer, who wrote The Boston Cooking School Cookbook. The entire meal was prepared on a wood-burning stove at Kimball's home located near where Ms. Farmer used to live.
Kimball's extraordinarily successful career in food-publishing (The Best Recipe, Grilling and Barbecue, American Classics, Restaurant Favorites at Home, among other cookbooks) has defied general wisdom numerous times since its inception in 1980. Cook's Illustrated lacks the sumptuous photography mandatorily prevalent in food publishing, but offers instead fine line drawings and watercolors of seasonal vegetables, fruits, cheeses, culinary implements and, yes, even its authors. And in an era when print publishing has seen its worst circulation numbers, Cook's Illustrated's subscriber base exploded. What can his secret be?
Perhaps in an era of formulaic publishing formats, the incongruous and unexpected brings the triumphs. Thus the personal essays Kimball pens for each bi-monthly Cook's Illustrated may seem out of place in a magazine devoted to the dreary task of testing recipes and canned-food products, but the cast of characters that has populated the columns for decades enlivens and anchors this publication's unique approach to food and life. There's Charley Bentley, the farmer who doesn't talk much but whose raised eyebrow will tell you all you need to know; and John Kurasinski, the gruff neighbor who likes to do favors but has trouble accepting them because he doesn't want to be in anyone's debt; and there we have Herbie and Onie, the two local farmhands with whom Kimball weathered the many complications of farming.
For Kimball, all roads seem to lead back to Vermont, where he grew up and owns a farm: even in a 2001 essay, recalling his 1969 trip with high-school friends across the Sahara desert to Agadez (Niger), he wonders, three decades later, after dropping off his kids at the local country store to buy candy, whether the journey and the destination are the same thing.
Kimball's visit will close the first season of FOSEL-sponsored The South End Writes author's series. It will resume in September.
Food Writers Joanne Chang and Chris Kimball on June 2 and June 7, Respectively
Joanne Chang
Smug Little Devil
South End culinary lights Joanne Chang (Myers+Chang, Flour) and Christopher Kimball (Cook's Illustrated, America's Test Kitchen, Cook's Bible) will come to the South End Library to talk about their work (culinary and authory) on Thursday, June 2 and Tuesday, June 7, respectively. Both events start at 6:30 PM and will offer refreshments (how could we not?). Their books will be available at the event. Stay tuned for more information closer to the date.
Flour Bakery's Joanne Chang Will Talk About Writing the Flour Cookbook, Thursday, June 2, at 6:30 PM at the South End Branch.
Joanne Chang
The South End's doyenne of daily delicacies, Flour Bakery's owner and baked-goods visionary Joanne Chang, will speak at the South End Library on Thursday as part of The South End Writes series. Joanne will talk about what was involved in writing the cookbook,Flour: A Baker's Collection of Spectacular Recipes, and answer any questions you might have about the writing process , her recipes, and what she would like to get into print next. Joanne will bring copies of the book, and sign them. Next week Tuesday, June 7, another South End culinary star, Christopher Kimball, of Cook's IllustratedandAmerica's Test Kitchen, will close The South End Writes author's series for the summer season. FOSEL is currently working on inviting others writers for the 2011/2012 literary year. Stay tuned..
Meg Muckenhaupt On Boston's Green Spaces and Their Changing Use From 1600s to Contemporary Times
When Meg Muckenhaupt comes to the South End Library next Tuesday, she will examine the role of public spaces throughout Boston's historic and contemporary landscape and talk about the changing roles of green space in the Boston area since the 1600s. The author of Boston's Gardens & Green Spaces was born in New Jersey and graduated from Harvard. She has written for the Boston Globe, Boston Magazine and the Boston Phoenix. She currently edits the Belmont Citizens Forum Newsletter and lives in Lexington, MA. Copies of her book will be available at the reading. A light reception will follow the talk.
Author of "Boston's Gardens & Green Spaces" to Speak at the South End Library on Tuesday, May 17, 6:30 PM
When Meg Muckenhaupt comes to the South End Library next Tuesday, she will examine the role of public spaces throughout Boston's historic and contemporary landscape and talk about the changing roles of green space in the Boston area since the 1600s. The author of Boston's Gardens & Green Spaces was born in New Jersey and graduated from Harvard. She has written for the Boston Globe, Boston Magazine and the Boston Phoenix. She currently edits the Belmont Citizens Forum Newsletter and lives in Lexington, MA. Copies of her book will be available at the reading. A light reception will follow the talk.
A China Memoir: Susan Conley Will Read from her Book, "The Foremost Good Fortune" at the SE Library Tuesday, April 26, at 6:30 PM
The South End Writes program will host Susan Conley on Tuesday night, April 26 at the South End Library where she will read from her China memoir, The Foremost Good Fortune, which describes the years she spent there recently with her husband and two young sons. She was diagnosed with breast cancer while in Beijing: the experience of battling the disease in a culture so different from ours is a focus of the book. Conley, a former South End resident, is currently living in Portland, Maine, where she founded a creative-writing lab, The Telling Room. She has been published in the New York Times, the Paris Review and Ploughshares.
Author Susan Conley to Read From Her Memoir, The Foremost Good Fortune, on April 26, at the South End Library, at 6:30 PM
The next South End Writes event at the South End Library will feature Susan Conley, who will read from her debut-memoir, "The Foremost Good Fortune" on Tuesday, April 26, at 6:30 PM. Conley, who reported from China for the New York Times about the H1N1 flu epidemic --the China Flu Blues-- in 2009, lived there with her sinologist husband, Tony, and two young sons. But, she writes, "what happens while we’re there is that one of us gets cancer. It turns out to be me."
"The Foremost Good Fortune is just about as honest a book as you'll ever read," wrote the Washington Post. "The trip Conley went on was to a far more complex place that she envisioned. This is a beautiful book about China and cancer and how to be an authentic, courageous human being."
A former South End resident and native of Maine, Conley has taught creative writing and literature at Emerson College, Simmons College and within Harvard's Teachers as Writers Program. She and her family have since returned to Portland, Maine, where she started a creative writing lab, The Telling Room. She is now working on another novel.
Poet and South End Resident Henri Cole to Read From His New Collection at the South End Library Tuesday, March 15, at 6:30 PM
The South End Writes is hosting nationally renowned poet Henri Cole, the first poet reading for the series sponsored by FOSEL. The South End resident, who teaches at Ohio State University but is here for spring recess, will read from the new paperback edition of “Pierce the Skin” on Tuesday, March 15. “Pierce the Skin” was just named a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Poetry Award. Cole has published numerous collections of poetry, including “Middle Earth,” which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry. Another collection,“Blackbird and Wolf” received the Lenore Marshall Poetry Award from the Academy of American Poets. Cole, who is the poetry editor for The New Republic, was born in Japan to an American father and French mother but was raised in Virginia.
In the summer, Cole teaches poetry workshops at the Fine Works Art Center in Provincetown.
A number of Cole's collections of poetry are available for "take-out" at the South End Library, thanks to head librarian, Anne Smart.
Reminder: Filmmaker Alice Stone Presents Her Work in an Evening of Film, Tuesday, March 1, at the South End Library, 6:30 PM
Tonight's Evening of Film Postponed to March 1 Due to Today's One-Two Punch Snow Storm
South End Library's head librarian Anne Smart and filmmaker Alice Stone have decided to cancel tonight's evening of film due to today's snow storm, which is expected to resume tonight and into tomorrow. The event, in which Stone had planned to show excerpts from her film "She Loves to Ride "and excerpts from current work, has been postponed to Tuesday March 1, at 6:30 PM. The Friends of the South End Library is looking forward to seeing you then.
South End Filmmaker Alice Stone Presents Excerpts From Her Work, Tuesday Night, February 1, at the South End Library's Evening of Film
In its continuing series, The South End Writes, FOSEL presents local scriptwriter and filmmaker Alice Stone for an evening of film on Tuesday at the South End library. Stone is a local filmmaker in residence at the Boston Center for the Arts. She created the reality television series, "Ding Dong Feng Shui," for Scout Productions ("Queer Eye for the Straight Guy"); produced and directed a documentary about women bikers called "She Lives To Ride;" and is currently working on "Angelo Unwritten," a non-fiction film about a former foster care teen making his way toward adulthood. Alice Stone began her career as an editor, assisting on numerous feature films including "The Silence of the Lambs," and the locally-filmed "The Crucible." She also edited programs for PBS and the Discovery Channel.
The Tuesday night program will include, among other things, excerpts from "She Lives to Ride," which was broadcast on PBS , and distributed theatrically to arthouse cinemas across the US and abroad. The documentary was nominated for an International Documentary Association Distinguished Achievement Award. In addition, Tuesday night's program will feature a Public Service Announcement produced by Stone for a local charity, which stars a Rutland Square resident. For the last part of the evening, Stone will present scenes from her non-fiction film in current production called "Angelo Unwritten."
The next scheduled author in The South End Writes program is nationally-renowned poet Henri Cole. He will read at the South End Library from his work on Tuesday, March 15. Cole, a South End resident, has published numerous collections of poetry, most recently "Pierce the Skin" (Farrar, Straus & Giroux). Previous work, "Middle Earth," was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry. Another collection, "Blackbird and Wolf" received the Lenore Marshall Poetry Award from the Academy of American Poets. Cole teaches at Ohio State University and is the poetry editor for The New Republic.
Reminder: Author Doug Bauer Will Read New Work From a Forthcoming Collection at the South End Library, Tuesday, January 25, at 6:30 PM
Renowned author and long-time South End resident Doug Bauer will read from a forthcoming collection at the South End Library on Tuesday night at 6:30. He is the author of a number of books, articles, essays and reviews, including a book on writing called The Stuff of Fiction. Head librarian Anne Smart has requested many of his books which are currently available to patrons at the branch. Bauer is Professor of Literature at Bennington College in Vermont. The reading is part of The South End Writes series, sponsored by FOSEL. Coming up in February's program is scriptwriter and filmmaker Alice Stone, another South End resident, who will discuss and show some of her movies next week, Tuesday, February 1, also at 6:30 PM at the South End Library. As always, FOSEL provides delicious refreshments and the event is free to all.
Hope to see you there.
"The South End Writes" Series Kicks Off the New Year With January 25th Reading by Renowned Author And South End Resident Doug Bauer
Happy New Year to you all!
FOSEL is delighted to kick off its 2011 program, "The South End Writes," with nationally recognized author Doug Bauer. The South End resident, who is currently a Professor of Literature at Bennington College, will read a personal essay from a forthcoming collection on Tuesday evening, January 25 at 6:30 PM. The event is free and includes refreshments.
FOSEL's monthly series at the South End Library began last fall with author Sue Miller, reading from her recent book The Lake Shore Limited, and continued with other local authors, including Phil Gambone (Travels in a Gay Nation: Portraits of GLBTQ Americans); Scott Pomfret (Since My Last Confession, a Gay Catholic Memoir) and Alison Barnet, who writes about the "old" South End for the South End News.
Doug Bauer’s books include the novels, Dexterity, The Very Air, and The Book of Famous Iowans, and the non-fiction books, Prairie City, Iowa and The Stuff of Fiction. He’s also edited two anthologies, Prime Times: Writers on Their Favorite Television Shows and Death by Pad Thai and Other Unforgettable Meals. A personal essay by Bauer, entitled "What We Hunger For," was included in Best Food Writing 2009, a Da Capo Press anthology.
Bauer has received grants in both fiction and non-fiction from the Massachusetts Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts, most recently in January 2010 when the NEA awarded him $25,000 in support of his ongoing work in contemporary literature. His stories and essays have appeared in Esquire, The New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic, Harper’s, Sports Illustrated, Tin House, Agni, and many other magazines. Bauer has worked as a magazine editor and for several years as a free-lance journalist before returning to academic life, earning a Doctor of Arts degree from the State University of New York, Albany. He has taught at Harvard