Lit Boston: What's Happening in December?
In the December 2022 edition of "Best of Boston," we bring you our top Boston lit events this month, taking place virtually and in-person. See below for our list of local literary happenings.
Dalkey Archive Press: Then, Now, & Next
Thursday, December 1st at 6:00pm (EST) | Event Fee: $0
An Online Event by Porter Square Books
A celebration of Dalkey Archive Press, featuring authors Ben Slotky and Curtis White, plus backlist recommendations from indie booksellers, including PSB's own Josh Cook! Learn more.
Novel Incubator Open House & Info Session
Thursday, December 1st at 6:00pm (EST) | Event Fee: $0
An In-Person Event by GrubStreet
Interested in taking your novel to the next level? Join us for an informal Q&A session on our Novel Incubator program. Instructor Michelle Hoover will answer any questions you have about the Novel Incubator program. Learn more.
Rob Delaney at First Church Cambridge Presenting A Heart That Works
Thursday, December 1st at 7:00pm (EST) | Event Fee: $30
An In-Person Event by Harvard Book Store
Harvard Book Store welcomes ROB DELANEY, BAFTA-winning cocreator and costar of the critically acclaimed Amazon Prime comedy Catastrophe, for a discussion of his highly anticipated new memoir, A Heart That Works. He will be joined in conversation by comedian and actor EUGENE MIRMAN. Learn more.
ALRIGHT produced by Porsha Olayiwola and Cierra Michele Peters
Thursday, December 1st at 7:30pm (EST) | Event Fee: $0
An In-Person Event by Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture
ALRIGHT, led by Poet Laureate Porsha Olayiwola and creative and curator Cierra Peters, is an interactive arts experience and show that engages a conversation around the Black Diaspora and climate change. Inspired by Kendrick Lamar’s lyrics, “We gone be alright”, this art experience uses an Afro-futurist pedagogy to frame the role Black individuals have in writing and claiming a future we want to and can live in by their own design. Learn more.
Monday, December 5th at 7:00pm (EST) | Event Fee: $0
An In-Person Event by Porter Square Books
Please join us for the new Porter Square Books Book Club, led by bookseller Wendy! We'll meet on the third Monday of every month at 7pm at Porter Square Books in Cambridge (25 White St. Cambridge, MA 02140). Learn more.
Virtual Event: Heather Radke Presents Butts: A Backstory
Monday, December 5th at 7:00pm (EST) | Event Fee: $0
An Online Event by Harvard Book Store
Harvard Book Store's Virtual Event Series welcomes HEATHER RADKE—essayist, journalist, and contributing editor and reporter at Radiolab—for a discussion of her new book Butts: A Backstory. She will be joined in conversation by LULU MILLER—cohost of Radiolab and Peabody Award–winning science journalist. Learn more.
Spring 2023 Virtual Open House & Info Session
Tuesday, December 6th at 5:30pm (EST) | Event Fee: $0
An Online Event by GrubStreet
Love to write but don't have anywhere to get feedback on your work? Want to meet fellow writers and work under the guidance of published authors? GrubStreet is here to help! On Tuesday, December 6th from 5:30pm-6:30pm, we will be hosting a Virtual Open House to talk about upcoming Spring 2023 classes, GrubStreet's membership program, GrubStreet's Boston Writers of Color Group, and more! Learn more.
Tuesday, December 6th at 6:30pm (EST) | Event Fee: $5 - $25
An In-Person Event by WBUR and Brookline Booksmith
One of the greatest casualties of the pandemic was the decimation of the public school system. WBUR education reporter Carrie Jung will sit down with NPR education correspondent Anya Kamenetz to discuss her new book, The Stolen Year: How COVID Changed Children's Lives and Where We Go from Here. Learn more.
Tuesday, December 6th at 6:30pm (EST) | Event Fee: $0
An In-Person Event by Harvard Book Store
Harvard Book Store welcomes PETER GURALNICK—Grammy-winning music writer—for a discussion of his new book The Birth of Rock 'n' Roll:The Illustrated Story of Sun Records and the 70 Recordings That Changed the World. He will be joined in conversation by author and musician BILL JANOVITZ. Learn more.
Tuesday, December 6th at 8:00pm (EST)
An In-Person Event by the Boch Center and Brookline Booksmith
Performing new unpublished pieces, poems from home body and greatest hits from her iconic books milk and honey and the sun and her flowers - join Rupi on her World Tour as we reconnect with each other and most importantly, ourselves. Learn more.
Henriette Lazaridis at Harvard Book Store Presenting Terra Nova: A Novel
Tuesday, December 6th at 7:00pm (EST) | Event Fee: $0
An In-Person Event by Harvard Book Store
Harvard Book Store welcomes HENRIETTE LAZARIDIS—Boston Globe bestselling author of The Clover House—for a discussion of her new book Terra Nova: A Novel. She will be joined in conversation by award-winning local author MARJAN KAMALI. Learn more.
Stephanie Burt at Harvard Book Store Presenting We Are Mermaids: Poems
Wednesday, December 7th at 6:00pm (EST) | Event Fee: $0
An In-Person Event by Harvard Book Store
Harvard Book Store welcomes STEPHANIE BURT—professor of English at Harvard University and coeditor at the Nation—for a discussion of her new book of poetry We Are Mermaids. She will be joined in conversation by LAURA KASISCHKE. Learn more.
Live at Brookline Booksmith! Nathan Tavares: A Fractured Infinity
Wednesday, December 7th at 6:30pm (EST) | Event Fee: $0 - $26
An In-Person Event by Brookline Booksmith
In person at Brookline Booksmith! Celebrate the release of A Fractured Infinity with author Nathan Tavares, in conversation with David Farrow. Learn more.
Poetry Nights at Hale—December 2022
Wednesday, December 7th at 6:30pm (EST) | Event Fee: $0
An In-Person Event by Hale Educations, Inc.
Maureen McElroy will be our featured poet. Whether you choose to share your own poetry, story, or simply appreciate the work of others, this is sure to be an exciting night of spoken word. The event starts with an open mic and concludes with the featured poet. Poetry Nights at Hale are ideal for ages 16+ but younger poets and listeners are welcome if they're accompanied by parents or guardians. Light refreshments will be available. Parking and the event are at Hale's Trading Post. Learn more.
Olivia Baes and Emma Ramadan with Elisa Gabbert
Wednesday, December 7th at 8:00pm (EST) | Event Fee: $0
An Online Event by Brookline Booksmith, Community Bookstore, and Third Place Books
Join the Transnational Literature Series at Brookline Booksmith, Community Bookstore, and Third Place Books for a virtual event with translators Olivia Baes and Emma Ramadan to discuss and celebrate the release of their new translation of The Easy Life by Marguerite Duras. They will be in conversation with poet, essayist, and critic Elisa Gabbert. Learn more.
Thursday, December 8th at 7:00pm (EST) | Event Fee: $0
An In-Person Event by Harvard Book Store
Harvard Book Store welcomes award-winning author ELLEN CASSEDY—founder of the 9 to 5 Organization of Women Office Workers in Boston that inspired the Hollywood box office hit and the famed Dolly Parton song—for a discussion of her book Working 9 to 5: A Women's Movement, a Labor Union, and the Iconic Movie. Learn more.
Bora Chung and Anton Hur with E. J. Koh
Thursday, December 8th at 7:00pm (EST) | Event Fee: $0 - $27.99
An Online Event by Brookline Booksmith
Join the Transnational Literature Series at Brookline Booksmith for a virtual event with author Bora Chung and translator Anton Hur to discuss and celebrate the release of their new collection of stories, Cursed Bunny. They will be in conversation with writer E.J. Koh. Learn more.
Friday, December 9th at 5:30pm (EST) | Event Fee: $0
An In-Person Event by GrubStreet
Looking to add some creativity to your day? Want to meet other local writers and get started on some new writing? Join us for our next Seaport Free Writes session on Friday, December 9th, from 5:30pm-6:30pm. You’ll meet fellow writers and get your creative juices flowing with some fresh writing exercises. Learn more.
T. Max at Harvard Book Store Presenting Finale: Late Conversations with Stephen Sondheim
Friday, December 9th at 7:00pm (EST) | Event Fee: $0
An In-Person Event by Harvard Book Store
Harvard Book Store welcomes D. T. Max—staff writer at The New Yorker and author of national bestseller Every Love Story Is a Ghost Story—for a discussion of his new book Finale: Late Conversations with Stephen Sondheim. Learn more.
Young Adult Writers Program (YAWP): Contain Yourself: Fun with Flash
Saturday, December 10th at 12:00pm (EST) | Event Fee: $0
An In-Person Event by GrubStreet
Do you enjoy the challenge of pouring meaning into small containers? If you crave the heat of expressing big thoughts using 100 to 1,000 words, the lightning strike of flash, a short form of fiction or nonfiction, is for you. In this class we’ll first draw inspiration from pieces published in River Teeth and Creative Nonfiction’s Sunday Short Reads series. We’ll brainstorm topics. Then we’ll write flash in class using optional prompts to generate several pieces. We’ll discuss them as a group, and you’ll receive tips for revising your work and submitting it for publication. What a whirl to paint a complete world in just a few words. For writers age 13 - 18 ONLY. Learn more.
Young Adult Writers Program (YAWP): Writing a Short Film
Saturday, December 10th at 12:00pm (EST) | Event Fee: $0
An In-Person Event by GrubStreet
Short films are a great way for filmmakers to cut their teeth, experiment and showcase their abilities, and the first (and most important) step to making any film is writing a great screenplay. In this workshop, students will watch and analyze several short films and then write one of their own. We’ll discuss scene construction and story structure, and share a scene in class for on-the-spot feedback. We’ll talk about how to write around what you have access to with an eye toward writing something you can make yourself, and discuss how to use free resources to get the film made. Feel free to bring a tablet or laptop to access free screenplay software that will handle a lot of the formatting work for you, but old-fashioned paper will also work just fine. For writers age 13 - 18 ONLY. Learn more.
Young Adult Writers Program (YAWP): Hey Look, a Poem! A Day of Found Forms
Saturday, December 10th at 12:00pm (EST) | Event Fee: $0
An Online Event by GrubStreet
Have you ever wanted to write a poem but not known where to start? Has writer’s block ever prevented you from generating new pieces? What if, in these moments, you could turn to your Twitter feed, your favorite novel, or a newspaper clipping to create a poem? What if the words didn’t always have to come from you? In this class, we’ll explore found poetic forms, meaning forms of poetry that come from an external source. We’ll play with centos, blackout and erasure poems, collage poems, and more, and learn how we can assemble language in new ways to create works that really surprise us. We’ll create poems we never could’ve dreamt up on our own and talk about how the source material we pick can have provocative meaning. Can a blackout poem based on a political speech be a form of activism? Can a poem collaged from your family’s group text thread provide an intimate look into your culture? We’ll look at works by poets who play with found forms, such as Jennifer S. Cheng, Kate Baer, Austin Kleon, and Eloisa Amezcua. For students aged 13-18 ONLY! Learn more.
Monday, December 12th at 6:30pm (EST) | Event Fee: $5 - $25
An In-Person Event by WBUR and Brookline Booksmith
Women have always shouldered most of the parenting duties, from playdates to teacher conferences to family dinners. Jessica Grose, author of the New York Times parenting newsletter, is here to say enough is enough. In her new book, Screaming on the Inside: The Unsustainability of American Motherhood, she explains how we got to this moment, why the current state of expectations on mothers is wholly unsustainable and how we can move towards something better. Learn more.
Monday, December 12th at 7:00pm (EST) | Event Fee: $0
An In-Person Event by Harvard Book Store
Harvard Book Store welcomes WILLIAM GIRALDI—author and Master Lecturer at Boston University—and S. E. BOYD—a creation of veteran journalists Kevin Alexander, Joe Keohane, and editor Alessandra Lusardi—to discuss their new novels About Face and The Lemon. Learn more.
VIRTUAL: Belmont Books Bookclub - Small Things Like These
Monday, December 12th at 7:00pm (EST) | Event Fee: $0
An Online Event by Belmont Books
Our book club meets once a month on Mondays from 7:00 - 8:00 p.m. Right now, all meetings are held on Zoom. All are welcome for casual discussions of fiction and nonfiction books. Occasionally, a meeting will feature a visit from a local author whose book we are reading. Please email [email protected] to register. Learn more.
Public Library of Brookline: Sacha Lamb
Tuesday, December 13th at 7:00pm (EST) | Event Fee: $5 - $25
An In-Person Event by the Public Library of Brookline and Brookline Booksmith
Join us for an author talk with Sacha Lamb in celebration of their novel When the Angels Left the Old Country. This event will include a Q&A and book signing, and copies of When the Angels Left the Old Country will be available for purchase courtesy of Brookline Booksmith. Learn more.
WBUR CitySpace: David Sinclair
Wednesday, December 14th at 6:30pm (EST) | Event Fee: $5 - $25
An In-Person Event by WBUR and Brookline Booksmith
In his New York Times best-selling book, Lifespan: Why We Age – and Why We Don't Have To. Sinclair provocatively suggests that aging doesn’t have to be inevitable. In the second part of our miniseries on longevity, join On Point host Meghna Chakrabarti for a conversation with Sinclair focused on his research and the latest on living a long life. Learn more.
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