Events

Aleksandar Hemon has been hailed as one of the most important new voices in literature. Born in Sarajevo, Hemon moved to Chicago in 1992, where he began writing in English. He now earns comparisons to Vladimir Nabokov for his achievements in his adopted language.  Winner of the prestigious McArthur "Genius" Fellowship, Hemon is the author of four books: Love and Obstacles (2009) – a New York Times Notable Book, The Lazarus Project (2008) – A National Book Award Finalist, Nowhere Man (2004), and The Question of Bruno (2000). Hemon is the editor of Best European Fiction (2010), and is a regular contributor to The New Yorker. 

Imperfect Birds is a powerful and redemptive novel of love and family from Anne Lamott (Blue Shoe, Grace Eventually, and Operating Instructions). Rosie Ferguson is everything her mother hoped she could be. But after the family moves, there are disturbing signs that the life Rosie claims to be living is a sham, and that Elizabeth's hopes for her daughter to remain immune from the pull of the darker impulses of drugs and alcohol are dashed. An honest and heartrending novel, Imperfect Birds explores our human quest for connection and salvation as it reveals the traps that can befall all of us.

IN STOCK NOW! 

Keynote address: Ralph Wright, OSB

Discussion panel of poets: Philip Nikolayev, Ben Mazer, Margot Lurie, Joshua Kryah, and Yaoska Tijerino.Q&A open to audience.

 http://libraries.slu.edu/events/poetry/ 

St. Louis University First Annual Poetry Symposium presents poets Ralph Wright, OSB, Margot Lurie, and Joshua Kryah. Refreshments will be served. http://libraries.slu.edu/events/poetry/ 

Award-winning author and St. Louis's own Ridley Pearson presents the third book in the Kingdom Keepers series, Disney in Shadow. When Disney Imagineers installed hologram guides for the Magic Kingdom using teenage models, they had no idea the technology might backfire. But backfire it did: some nights when the kids go to sleep, they wake up in one of the Disney Parks as a hologram. With the adventures in the first books behind them, the five teens head to Epcot in search of Wayne, their mentor and head Imagineer, who has mysteriously gone missing. This event is part of Read St. Louis.

St. Louis University presents poets Yaoska Tijerino, Philip Nikolayev, and Ben Mazer. Plus, Cobra Kai Dojo: Creative Writing Group Host, a Call for Poets! Poets, aspiring artists, and anyone who wants to read from their favorite poet are invited to present and perform the spoken word. http://libraries.slu.edu/events/poetry/ 

In honor of National Poetry Month, a group of Whitman scholars from local universities will read Walt Whitman's poetry. 2010 marks the 150th anniversary of the 1860 edition of Leaves of Grass. Whitman scholars reading at the event include Jason Stacy (who wrote the introduction to the new Leaves of Grass, 1860: The 150th Anniversary Edition and author of Walt Whitman's Multitudes), Vivian R. Pollak (author of The Erotic Whitman), and Ruth L. Bohan (author of Looking into Walt Whitman). Their books will be available for purchase and signing at the event.

River Styx at Duff's presents poetry readings by Erin Keane and Karen McElmurray.

Admission is $5 at the door.

Books will be available for purchase from Left Bank Books staff at Duff's.

Left Bank Books and Veterans for Peace are please to present Rosemary Neidel-Greenlee for a discussion and book signing of A Few Good Women. Using interviews, correspondence, diaries, and archival material, A Few Good Women is the never-before-told story of the U.S. women's military corps: the women who fought for the right to defend their country by serving in the armed forces--a fight that continues today for American military women who want to serve in combat support positions. Rosemary Neidel-Greenlee served in the U.S. Navy Nurse Corps on active duty from 1962 until 1965, on reserve duty between 1989 and 1991, and worked at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Atlanta from 1981 to 2002.

Veterans for Peace will also provide a light reception following the presentation. We hope to see you there! 

St. Louis author Angie O'Gorman presents a new novel, The Book of Sins, a cautionary look at life in America after Christianity has become a wholly owned and operated subsidiary of capitalism.

William Iseminger has worked at Cahokia Mounds for newarly 38 years and is an archeologist and museum curator. He brings his experience to his new book, Cahokia Mounds: America's First City, as he tells the story of the place and its ancient culture (as well as its role in contemporary culture).

Celebrate Earth Day by joining area experts in a free program about sustainability with a focus on food. The evening includes food tastings, a cooking demonstration, and a screening of the Academy Award Nominated documentary, Food, Inc. An informal panel discussion with audience questions will follow the film. In Food, Inc., filmmaker Robert Kenner lifts the veil on our nation's food industry. Featuring interviews with such experts as Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation), Michael Pollan (The Omnivore's Dilemma) along with forward thinking social entrepreneurs like Stonyfield's Gary Hirshberg and Polyface Farms' Joel Salatin, Food, Inc. reveals surprising—and often shocking—truths about what we eat, how it's produced, who we have become as a nation.

This event is a collaboration with P.O.V., PBS' award-winning nonfiction film series: http://www.pbs.org/pov/

For more details, visit www.mrhsd.org.

THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELLED. Unforeseen circumstances have made it impossible for Mr. Copeland to make it. We'll be looking to reschedule in the near future. Our apologies for any inconvenience. 

Olivia's Story is the story of the Supreme Court decision Shelley v. Kraemer, told through one of the participants, an African-American teacher in the St. Louis schools. Jeffrey Copeland is also the author of Inman's War.

The endlessly imaginative duo who turned cupcaking into a national pastime (with Hello, Cupcake!) is back, with utterly new, eye-popping creations anyone can make. Create a racecar cupcake, a robot cupcake, or ravishing jewelry cupcakes for a birthday party. Surprise the family with Chinese takeut dinner cupcakes on April Fool's, or serve up a goofy chocolate moose. Captivate mom with a bouquet of long-stemmed-rose cupcakes, and build sand castle cupcakes with the kids. All you need are candies fromt eh corner store and cake mix and canned frosting for these "EZ" projects, faux-food creations, irresistible party centerpieces, and more! You'll end up with cupcakes so striking that you won't want to eat them--but so delicious you'll have no choice! Besides discussing and signing What's New, Cupcake? "cupcake whisperer" (Gourmet) Karen Tack and award-winning food photographer Alan Richardson will demonstrate how to make their ingenious cupcakes. Plus, there will be samples.

The Third Rail is a ferocious new thriller set in Chicago's public transit system from Michael Harvey, the author of The Chicago Way and The Fifth Floor. Harvey's tough talking, Aeschylus quoting, former Irish cop turned PI, Michael Kelly, is back in a sizzling murder mystery that pits him against a merciless sniper on the loose. Michael Harvey is a writer, journalist, and documentary producer.

Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Leonard Pitts, whose syndicated column appears in the Sunday St. Louis Post-Dispatch, is the featured speaker for the 2010 St. Louis Regional Neighborhoods. Selected columns are collected in his book, Forward from This Moment, and he is also the author of the novel, Before I Forget, and a nonfiction book, Becoming Dad: Black Men and the Journey to Fatherhood. Pitts will speak at 9:00am in the Harris-Stowe Auditorium.

Registration information is available at www.siue.edu/iur.

In Journey to the Light, George Noory, host of America's #1 late night radio show, "Coast to Coast AM," chronicles the experiences of how ordinary people changed their lives in this follow-up to Worker in the Light.

The Friends of the University City Public Library present an afternoon with author David Carkeet, who will read from his newly released mystery novel, From Away. Carkeet lived in St. Louis for over 30 years before moving to Vermont, where his latest book is set. It involves murder, mistaken identity, and has a small, local connection to his St. Louis roots. Refreshments will be served.

David Carkeet returns to St. Louis! Carkeet will be reading from his novels starring Jeremy Cook, the premier scholar turned detective at the Wabash Institute, home to a nest of supremely cranky academics.

St. Louis's oldest literary magazine celebrates 35 years of independent publishing and literary programming with its annual Art and Literary Feast. For $45 per plate, attendees will feast on fine Duff's cuisine and readings by Catie Rosemurgy, Allison Funk, and David Carkeet, and music by Phil Dunlap of Jazz St. Louis.

Email BigRiver@riverstyx.org before April 23 for ticket information.

Don Bogen, a professor at the University of Cincinnati, will present his new book of poetry, An Algebra. It is an interwoven collection where images and phrases recur in new contexts, connecting and suspending thoughts, emotions, and insights.

With hilarious, exasperated acuity, social critic Hal Niedzviecki dives into "peep culture," starting his own video blog, joining every social network that will have him, monitoring the movements of his toddler, selling his secrets on Craigslist, spying on his neighbors, trying out for reality TV shows, and stripping for the pleasure of a web audience he isn't sure exists. Part travelogue, part diary, part meditation and social history, The Peep Diaries explores a rapidly emerging digital phenomenon that is radically changing not just the entertainment landscape but also the firmaments of our culture and society.

Anna Quindlen is a #1 New York Times best-selling author and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist (for her column, "Public and Private"). Her new book, Every Last One, is a moving, suspenseful, and surprising new novel that follows a suburban family and the disastrous, unintended consequences of what seem like small, casual actions. This "Maryville Talks Books" event is free and open to the public.

Central Reform Congregation and Cote Brilliance Presbyterian Church present a discussion with three civil rights activists, as detailed in Tracy Sugarman's acclaimed book, We Had Sneakers, They Had Guns. Panelists include Charles McLaurin, Chris Hexter, and Tracy Sugarman.

In Immediacy Theatre Project's soloLab, a group of writers/peformers will tell ten-minute true stories from their own lives. Admission is pay-what-you-can.

Immediacy Theatre Project presents soloLab.

More details to come.