Thursday, May 1st
Harvard Square Literary Walking Tour. 12:00PM, Harvard Lit Fest
Whether you prefer Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park or H.W. Longfellow's The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere, something you love to read came out of Cambridge. Come discover which of your favorite writers attended Harvard, who of the literati grew up there, and how our Fair City has contributed to American literature from the very first book printed in British North America in the 1600s to the recent Harry Potter parties of the early 2000s. Cambridge Historical Tour guides, clad in signature Victorian outfits, will tell you stories of authors' antics, quote their best work, and show you why literature in this country would never be the same without the incredible contributions that have emerged from the oldest college town in the country. The meeting spot is in front of the Harvard Coop at 1400 Mass Ave. Lit Week pleasantly coincides with Harvard University's Lit Fest, which takes place April 29th-May1st.
The Critic and the Crowd: Reviews and the Future of Literary Communities, 12:00 PM, Harvard Lit Fest
Parul Sehgal of The New York Times Book Review, C. Max Magee of The Millions, Christina Thompson of Harvard Review, and Jeff Howe, author of Crowdsourcing and founder of The Atlantic’s Twitter book group #1book140 discuss the state of the book review in 2014, the roles of critic and crowd in building community, and how to join the conversation as a publishing reviewer.Lit Week pleasantly coincides with Harvard University's Lit Fest, which takes place April 29th-May1st.
Meet & Mingle with Literary Journal Editors, 5:00-7:00pm, The Field in Central Square.
Come meet the folks working behind the scenes to publish great fiction, non-fiction and poetry. Boston is home to a plethora of literary journals, large and small, and editors will be on hand to talk about submitting, subscribing, and engaging with the local literary scene. Free and open to the public. Publications include: AGNI, The Drum, Consequence, Novella-T, Inman Review, Solstice: A Magazine of Diverse Voices, Salamander, ROAR, Provocateur, Talking Writing, Breakwater Review, Boston Poetry Magazine, Draft, unCivil, Anomalous Press and more!
A Storied Affair
6:00-10:00 PM
Storyville
Books + Jazz + Dancing = Party.
Put on your dancing shoes, swill delicious cocktails, and galavant with Boston’s many writers and musicians at A Storied Affair. We'll gab and drink casually, and then later in the evening the event will morph into a crazy dance party, DJ’d by local artists. Free and open to the public. All are welcome. Hosted by Grub Street, Boston’s independent creative writing center, and Future Boston.
Jamie Quatro, author of I Want to Show You More, and Elizabeth Graver, author of To the End of the Point 7:00pm Newtonville Books
Elizabeth Graver’s The End of the Point illuminates the powerful legacy of family and place, exploring what we are born into, what we pass down, preserve, cast off or willingly set free. An unforgettable portrait of one family’s journey through the second half of the twentieth century, the novel artfully probes the hairline fractures hidden beneath the surface of our lives and traces the fragile and enduring bonds that connect us.
Set around Lookout Mountain on the border of Georgia and Tennessee, Jamie Quatro’s hypnotically revealing stories range from the traditional to the fabulist as they expose lives torn between spirituality and sexuality in the New American South. These fifteen linked tales confront readers with fractured marriages, mercurial temptations, and dark theological complexities, and establish a sultry and enticingly cool new voice in American fiction. Here is a link to additional information about this reading.
Anne Fadiman for Marina Keegan, The Opposite of Loneliness, 7:00pm, Brookline Booksmith.
At the age of 22, Yale graduate Marina Keegan died in a car crash. Her career, just beginning, was to be a stratospheric one, with a job at The New Yorker and infinite literary potential. In honor of Marina, her family, friends, and classmates put together The Opposite of Loneliness, a collection of Marina’s essays that captures the hope, uncertainty, and possibility of her generation. Presented by Anne Fadiman, this event will be an inspiration to all of those looking to make an impact on the world. She will be joined by Keegan's friends Luke Vargas and Ratna Gill.
Moonlighting: A Queer Open Mic and Reading Series, 7:30-9:30pm, Fazenda Coffee Roasters.
The Boston Poetry Slam's Moonlighting series encourages LGBTQ poets and writers to embrace their differences with confidence and to create without fear. While the reading is open to all, its focus will be on poets of the LGBTQ community, both from the greater Boston area and around the world. Moonlighting takes its name from a quote by Allen Ginsberg: "Concentrate on what you want to say to yourself and your friends. Follow your inner moonlight; don’t hide the madness. You say what you want to say when you don’t care who’s listening." The open mic begins at 7:30 p.m., followed by a featured reading from NYC-based poet Corrina Bain. Suggested donation of $3 and audience of all ages is welcome to attend.