Our regularly Tuesday Book Talks program at Washington Ave used to feature at least 6 author talks and book launches each year. We are excited to have four author talks coming up in March and April, thanks to a new “online Literary Salon” with 2020 Literary Legend Elisa Albert on the Second Wednesday of each month. Elisa’s program is called How Hard Could It Be? and she will be speaking monthly with amazing writers who have new or recent books. Zoom rooms for all events open at 12pm EST. (Note: For Tuesday Book Talks, the first 15 minutes is for socializing and announcements, and the lecture begins at 12:15.)
March 2: Laurie Stone (Tuesday Book Talks)
Laurie Stone, author of My Life as an Animal: Stories, discusses & reads from her memoir Everything Is Personal: Notes on Now.
Laurie Stone, American writer and critic, worked for several years as a journalist for The Village Voice (1974-1999). She is also a longtime feminist and demonstrates this in her memoir Everything is Personal: Notes on Now, consisting of a compilation of intertwined narrative, social commentary, and criticism.
“Stone is engaging, sharp, funny throughout these pages but no matter how far she ranges, she holds onto the recognition that daily life in the US is being lived under a dark cloud. She makes the stakes very clear. Her Notes on Now are completely illuminating.” – Chris Kraus
March 10: How Hard Could It Be? with Courtney Zoffness
Courtney Zoffness is an internationally award writer who joins Elisa Albert to discuss her new book of essays Spilt Milk. The work relives her childhood anxiety disorder as she watches the her firstborn endure a similar experience, her experience with unabashed sexual advances brought on by her own students, as well as the implications of her youngest son’s cop obsession, along with challenges brought on by her Jewish faith.
LINK: https://albanypubliclibrary.libcal.com/event/7328849
A Most Anticipated Book of 2021 by: LitHub, The Millions, Books Are Magic, Publishers Weekly, Paperback Paris, Alma, Refinery29
April 6: Sapphire (NLW Distinguished Author Lecture)
Sapphire, Award winning novelist and poet, author of PUSH, inspiration for the Academy Award-winning movie Precious
Sapphire joins us in a special talk in celebration of National Library Week 2021. She is the author of two bestselling novels, PUSH and The Kid. Sapphire’s work has been translated into thirteen languages and has been adapted for stage in the United States and Europe. Her poetry, fiction, and essays have appeared in The Black Scholar, The New York Times Magazine, The New York Times Book Review, The Teacher’s Voice, The New Yorker, Spin, and Bomb.
“Few literary works today are as affecting as [Sapphire’s] or have had as much impact on our society.” —Poets & Writers
April 10: How Hard Could It Be? with Shalom Auslander
Shalom Auslander, American novelist. memoirist, and essayist, joins Elisa Albert in discussing his new novel Mother For Dinner. The novel satirically and comedically chronicles the identity struggles of Seventh Seltzer, a member of the dwindling Cannibal American cultural group, and the logical and emotional conflict in honoring his narcissistic mother’s deathbed request to be eaten by her sons as part of an ancient ritual.
The novel I am most looking forward to this year. – The Spectator
Co-sponsored by Center Square Minyan.
