If you are interested in participating please drop an email to me at podgajny@portland.lib.me.us.
Showing posts with label Authors. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Authors. Show all posts
Monday, October 18, 2010
Batter Up
I am unapologetically a sports fan and am now in the process of a quickening immersion in the MLB playoffs now that my Phillies are in the National League Championship Series. Sport is a great thing and at its most basic level (on the playground, track or on the field), I sometimes think it is one of the last uncomplicated pleasures. It is also a great and unending source of material for writers of kids’ books, game instruction, history and novels (think The Natural and Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner). It is great stuff to talk about, to argue about and to learn from; much of it is also timeless and reflective of larger societal trends.
So beginning Tuesday, November 9 from 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM, I will host the first meeting of a monthly sports book (reading not betting) group at the Community Room at the Reiche Community Center. We will cover all kinds of sports over the course of monthly meetings. In homage to the end of baseball season we will begin with Roger Kahn’s Boys of Summer a book that is by turns factual, comic, tragic and inspiring. You’ll learn something about baseball but also about a New York City that up until the late 50’s hosted both the Dodgers and Giants along with the Yankees. Baseball players lived very different lives then and were more accessible and human from the view of a fan.
If you are interested in participating please drop an email to me at podgajny@portland.lib.me.us.
If you are interested in participating please drop an email to me at podgajny@portland.lib.me.us.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Onward and Upward Maine Writers and Publishers
I have been fortunate to have worked with the Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance for almost 25 years including when it called Brunswick home. As Director of the Curtis Memorial Library, we were neighbors and I watched the struggle of the organization to grow and evolve … to find the right way to express its mission of supporting the creative literary activity of our state.
So it was with great pleasure that PPL hosted a part of the 35th anniversary of MWPA last Thursday in the Rines Auditorium. The toasts were rightfully many and it was as it should have been. Past Executive Directors, Board members and authors were everywhere. The occasion also marked the end of Shonna Milliken Humphrey’s tenure as Executive Director and the beginning of Joshua Bodwell’s directorship.
MWPA has been a great partner of libraries and of Portland Public in particular. Over the next few months we look forward to developing new approaches to supporting the cultural life of our state and city through program partnerships that celebrate authors, the literary arts and the simple and necessary joy of reading.
Congratulations MWPA!
So it was with great pleasure that PPL hosted a part of the 35th anniversary of MWPA last Thursday in the Rines Auditorium. The toasts were rightfully many and it was as it should have been. Past Executive Directors, Board members and authors were everywhere. The occasion also marked the end of Shonna Milliken Humphrey’s tenure as Executive Director and the beginning of Joshua Bodwell’s directorship.
MWPA has been a great partner of libraries and of Portland Public in particular. Over the next few months we look forward to developing new approaches to supporting the cultural life of our state and city through program partnerships that celebrate authors, the literary arts and the simple and necessary joy of reading.
Congratulations MWPA!
Friday, August 28, 2009
Let's Talk About It with Maine Humanities Council
The Maine Humanities Council (MHC) is a great partner of Maine’s public libraries. In our case, the Council has hosted pod cast recordings of many PPL programs at the MHC Humanities on Demand site. The Council has also supported the purchase of equipment to enhance the new program space set to open in the April 2010. One on the most widely known MHC programs is the Let’s Talk About It series. It has been held countless times over many years at public libraries all over the state. PPL has hosted discussions on the Middle East, contemporary American Indian writers and women’s stories from cultures around the world.
This fall, we will hold a series of Let’s talk About It book discussions on five Japanese novels entitled “Family and Self: Readings in 20th Century Japanese Fiction. These 20th-century novels show the importance of the place of family in Japan, the importation of certain Western ideas, and the strain modernization placed upon tradition. How do Japanese novelists depict the family, as a nurturing institution or hierarchical unit? How do they chronicle changes over time? Are Japanese families different from families in the West? What happens to people outside the family unit?
Facilitated by Pat Parker, the discussions are held at the Main Library on Monument Square from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. on the following Tuesdays:
The Waiting Years by Fumiko Enchi -- Sept. 8
The Makioka Sisters by Junichirô Tanizaki -- Sept. 29
The Setting Sun by Osamu Dazai -- Oct. 13
A Personal Matter by Kenzaburô Ôe -- Oct. 27
Goodbye Tsugumi by Banana Yoshimoto -- Nov. 10
The discussion series is free and open to the public and books are available for loan from the Library. However, space is limited so registration is required. To register or for more information, please contact the Library at 871-1700x725 or reference@portland.lib.me.us.
Pat Parker, the series facilitator, has a Ph.D. from New York University and taught American literature at Salem State College, Salem, Massachusetts for many years. She has also taught American literature and English as a second language in Korea for one year and in Japan for over ten years. She has traveled extensively in Asia. In Japan she became interested in Japanese literature, especially novels by women, and began studying and writing about them. She retired in 2004 and moved to Maine. She lives in Falmouth with her (American) husband who also taught over 20 years in Japan.
This fall, we will hold a series of Let’s talk About It book discussions on five Japanese novels entitled “Family and Self: Readings in 20th Century Japanese Fiction. These 20th-century novels show the importance of the place of family in Japan, the importation of certain Western ideas, and the strain modernization placed upon tradition. How do Japanese novelists depict the family, as a nurturing institution or hierarchical unit? How do they chronicle changes over time? Are Japanese families different from families in the West? What happens to people outside the family unit?
Facilitated by Pat Parker, the discussions are held at the Main Library on Monument Square from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. on the following Tuesdays:
The Waiting Years by Fumiko Enchi -- Sept. 8
The Makioka Sisters by Junichirô Tanizaki -- Sept. 29
The Setting Sun by Osamu Dazai -- Oct. 13
A Personal Matter by Kenzaburô Ôe -- Oct. 27
Goodbye Tsugumi by Banana Yoshimoto -- Nov. 10
The discussion series is free and open to the public and books are available for loan from the Library. However, space is limited so registration is required. To register or for more information, please contact the Library at 871-1700x725 or reference@portland.lib.me.us.
Pat Parker, the series facilitator, has a Ph.D. from New York University and taught American literature at Salem State College, Salem, Massachusetts for many years. She has also taught American literature and English as a second language in Korea for one year and in Japan for over ten years. She has traveled extensively in Asia. In Japan she became interested in Japanese literature, especially novels by women, and began studying and writing about them. She retired in 2004 and moved to Maine. She lives in Falmouth with her (American) husband who also taught over 20 years in Japan.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Richard Russo returns with some "Magic"
Join us Wednesday, August 5th at First Parish Church for a Reading and Book Signing with Richard Russo, author of That Old Cape Magic
We are so pleased to announce that Maine author Richard Russo is working with Portland Public Library again to offer a reading and signing celebrating the release of his new novel, That Old Cape Magic (release date August 4th). The event will take place at First Parish UU Church (425 Congress Street in Portland) at 7pm. It is free and open to the public, although donations are always greatly appreciated.
When Rick worked with us in October 2007 on an event helping to launch Bridge of Sighs, about 500 people came to hear him read from and speak about his new book. If you were one of the lucky audience members, you know what an entertaining and thoughtful speaker he is. If you missed it, please join us this time for an exceptional evening!
More about Richard Russo’s new book from the publisher…
That Old Cape Magic is a novel of deep introspection and every family feeling imaginable, with a middle-aged man confronting his parents and their failed marriage, his own troubled one, his daughter’s new life and, finally, what it was he thought he wanted and what in fact he has. The storytelling is flawless throughout, moments of great comedy and even hilarity alternating with others of rueful understanding and heart-stopping sadness, and its ending is at once surprising, uplifting and unlike anything this Pulitzer Prize winner has ever written.
Following Bridge of Sighs—a national best seller hailed by The Boston Globe as “an astounding achievement” and “a masterpiece”—Richard Russo gives us the story of a marriage, and of all the other ties that bind, from parents and in-laws to children and the promises of youth.
Griffin has been tooling around for nearly a year with his father’s ashes in the trunk, but his mother is very much alive and not shy about calling on his cell phone. She does so as he drives down to Cape Cod, where he and his wife, Joy, will celebrate the marriage of their daughter Laura’s best friend. For Griffin this is akin to driving into the past, since he took his childhood summer vacations here, his parents’ respite from the hated Midwest. And the Cape is where he and Joy honeymooned, in the course of which they drafted the Great Truro Accord, a plan for their lives together that’s now thirty years old and has largely come true. He’d left screenwriting and Los Angeles behind for the sort of New England college his snobby academic parents had always aspired to in vain; they’d moved into an old house full of character; and they’d started a family. Check, check and check.
But be careful what you pray for, especially if you manage to achieve it. By the end of this perfectly lovely weekend, the past has so thoroughly swamped the present that the future suddenly hangs in the balance. And when, a year later, a far more important wedding takes place, their beloved Laura’s, on the coast of Maine, Griffin’s chauffeuring two urns of ashes as he contends once more with Joy and her large, unruly family, and both he and she have brought dates along. How in the world could this have happened?
Want to reserve a copy of That Old Cape Magic from PPL? Click on http://catalog.portland.lib.me.us/search/t?SEARCH=that+old+cape+magic to add your name to the list. You will need your Portland Public Library card number to place a hold.
We are so pleased to announce that Maine author Richard Russo is working with Portland Public Library again to offer a reading and signing celebrating the release of his new novel, That Old Cape Magic (release date August 4th). The event will take place at First Parish UU Church (425 Congress Street in Portland) at 7pm. It is free and open to the public, although donations are always greatly appreciated.
When Rick worked with us in October 2007 on an event helping to launch Bridge of Sighs, about 500 people came to hear him read from and speak about his new book. If you were one of the lucky audience members, you know what an entertaining and thoughtful speaker he is. If you missed it, please join us this time for an exceptional evening!
More about Richard Russo’s new book from the publisher…
That Old Cape Magic is a novel of deep introspection and every family feeling imaginable, with a middle-aged man confronting his parents and their failed marriage, his own troubled one, his daughter’s new life and, finally, what it was he thought he wanted and what in fact he has. The storytelling is flawless throughout, moments of great comedy and even hilarity alternating with others of rueful understanding and heart-stopping sadness, and its ending is at once surprising, uplifting and unlike anything this Pulitzer Prize winner has ever written.
Following Bridge of Sighs—a national best seller hailed by The Boston Globe as “an astounding achievement” and “a masterpiece”—Richard Russo gives us the story of a marriage, and of all the other ties that bind, from parents and in-laws to children and the promises of youth.
Griffin has been tooling around for nearly a year with his father’s ashes in the trunk, but his mother is very much alive and not shy about calling on his cell phone. She does so as he drives down to Cape Cod, where he and his wife, Joy, will celebrate the marriage of their daughter Laura’s best friend. For Griffin this is akin to driving into the past, since he took his childhood summer vacations here, his parents’ respite from the hated Midwest. And the Cape is where he and Joy honeymooned, in the course of which they drafted the Great Truro Accord, a plan for their lives together that’s now thirty years old and has largely come true. He’d left screenwriting and Los Angeles behind for the sort of New England college his snobby academic parents had always aspired to in vain; they’d moved into an old house full of character; and they’d started a family. Check, check and check.
But be careful what you pray for, especially if you manage to achieve it. By the end of this perfectly lovely weekend, the past has so thoroughly swamped the present that the future suddenly hangs in the balance. And when, a year later, a far more important wedding takes place, their beloved Laura’s, on the coast of Maine, Griffin’s chauffeuring two urns of ashes as he contends once more with Joy and her large, unruly family, and both he and she have brought dates along. How in the world could this have happened?
Want to reserve a copy of That Old Cape Magic from PPL? Click on http://catalog.portland.lib.me.us/search/t?SEARCH=that+old+cape+magic to add your name to the list. You will need your Portland Public Library card number to place a hold.
Monday, November 19, 2007
Podcasting @ PPL
A recent edition of the ‘Maine Sunday Telegram,’ mentioned that the Humanities on Demand podcast from the Maine Humanities Council is online now. You can access it directly at http://mainehumanities.org/podcasts/
Seven recordings to start have been released: three interviews from the MHC 30th Anniversary CD, ‘Maine Writers Speak’ (Cathie Pelletier, Richard Russo, and Monica Wood), three readings from the Portland Public Library’s Brown Bag lecture series (poet Elizabeth Edwards, novelist Eric B. Martin, and writer Meredith Hall), and a poetry reading by Wesley McNair from the Maine Humanities Council archive.
We are proud to be a collaborator in this effort. During the past year we have been cooperating with the Council, many authors have agreed to allow for recording of their lectures for future Humanities on Demand podcasting participation. Look for many more Brown Bag Lectures in the future being available for download.
Seven recordings to start have been released: three interviews from the MHC 30th Anniversary CD, ‘Maine Writers Speak’ (Cathie Pelletier, Richard Russo, and Monica Wood), three readings from the Portland Public Library’s Brown Bag lecture series (poet Elizabeth Edwards, novelist Eric B. Martin, and writer Meredith Hall), and a poetry reading by Wesley McNair from the Maine Humanities Council archive.
We are proud to be a collaborator in this effort. During the past year we have been cooperating with the Council, many authors have agreed to allow for recording of their lectures for future Humanities on Demand podcasting participation. Look for many more Brown Bag Lectures in the future being available for download.
Friday, October 19, 2007
It’s a Thing of Beauty!
No matter how interesting your job is, I think we all run the risk at times of being so focused on tasks that we forget the wonder being expressed all around us in our little corner of the world. I am leaving shortly for meetings at OCLC (Online Computer Library Center) in Dublin, Ohio. OCLC is ‘big” – an international library collaborative which has built WorldCat, a database of 1 billion (yup, billion) library holdings in many languages and countries. This is the basic product that allows PPL and other libraries to execute interlibrary loans and catalogue material efficiently. So my focus this week has been to get lots of tasks completed so that next week is reasonably smooth for my colleagues here at work before I depart for something BIG.
I took a deep breath this morning before starting the tasks and looked back at a week in the life of the PPL system and yes, it is a thing of beauty.
The fact that last night Portland’s own highly respected punk music band The Leftovers graced the Rines Room at our Monument Sq. location for a 45-minute set was cool enough on its own merits. But contrasted to this morning’s programs: Series for Seniors: An Overview of Important Issues “Enrichment Opportunities”; a Maine Humanities Council Let’s Talk About It Program on the Middle East (Behind the Headlines: An Introduction to the Middle East); and Tales for Twos (for two year-olds), all of which followed early in the week offerings of Preschool Story Time, Finger Fun for Babies, a panel discussion on the future of Congress Street and Pat LaMarche (2004 Green Party VP candidate) speaking about her new book on homelessness in America "Left Out in America".
It - this week anyway - ends tomorrow, Saturday, October 20th, with children's author Cathryn Falwell launching her new book with Shape Caper's, a fun program for children from 11 AM to 2 PM, as well as the Third Saturday Book Discussion of Dave Eggers "What is the What". Then we start again next week.
The programmatic landscape of the PPL system couldn't have reflected better the breadth of creativity we offer in reaching every age in our great town. It’s nice to breathe it in!
I took a deep breath this morning before starting the tasks and looked back at a week in the life of the PPL system and yes, it is a thing of beauty.
The fact that last night Portland’s own highly respected punk music band The Leftovers graced the Rines Room at our Monument Sq. location for a 45-minute set was cool enough on its own merits. But contrasted to this morning’s programs: Series for Seniors: An Overview of Important Issues “Enrichment Opportunities”; a Maine Humanities Council Let’s Talk About It Program on the Middle East (Behind the Headlines: An Introduction to the Middle East); and Tales for Twos (for two year-olds), all of which followed early in the week offerings of Preschool Story Time, Finger Fun for Babies, a panel discussion on the future of Congress Street and Pat LaMarche (2004 Green Party VP candidate) speaking about her new book on homelessness in America "Left Out in America". It - this week anyway - ends tomorrow, Saturday, October 20th, with children's author Cathryn Falwell launching her new book with Shape Caper's, a fun program for children from 11 AM to 2 PM, as well as the Third Saturday Book Discussion of Dave Eggers "What is the What". Then we start again next week.
The programmatic landscape of the PPL system couldn't have reflected better the breadth of creativity we offer in reaching every age in our great town. It’s nice to breathe it in!
Friday, August 31, 2007
2 Great Authors in 1 Great Week!
The first week in October will be something special at PPL.
Every once in a while, extraordinary programs come along that we are lucky enough to be able to share with the public. This fall, we’ll be having two internationally renowned authors present programs.
First, Pulitzer Prize winner Richard Russo will be joining us for the inaugural stop on the tour for his new book, Bridge of Sighs. Russo will speak on Tuesday, October 2nd at 7pm at the First Parish Church at 425 Congress Street in Portland. He will be reading from his new book and signing copies after the reading. Books will be available from Longfellow Books at the event. If you’d like a more “intimate” meeting with the author, there will be a reception before the reading. The event at 1st Parish Church is free and open to the public, but seats will fill up fast so make sure to arrive early. Tickets to the reception are $35 each or 2 for $60. You can also support our Annual Fund by becoming an Event Sponsor for $250, which includes 4 tickets to the reception, preferred seating at the public 
portion of the event, recognition on the Library’s website and at the event, as well as other benefits. If you’d like to attend the reception or have any questions, please contact our Development and Programming office by phone at 871-1700 ext. 759 or by e-mail at progdev@portland.lib.me.us for more information. You can also check out our website at www.portlandlibrary.com
Three days later on Friday, October 5, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author Sue Monk Kidd (The Secret Life of Bees, The Mermaid Chair, Firstlight) makes a rare New England appearance—in fact, we’re the only New England appearance on her tour. She will read from her newest collection of essays, Firstlight, answer questions from the audience, and sign books. She’s also happy to have her photo taken with fans after the book signing is complete. Books will be on sale at the event by Borders, who’s co-sponsoring the event. 
Tickets to this exciting evening only $12 each, and are available through PortTix (842-0800; www.PortTix.com; 20 Myrtle Street Portland, ME 04101). The event will take place at Merrill Auditorium. Again if you’d like more information or have any questions, please contact our Development and Programming office or check out our website at www.portlandlibrary.com.
Proceeds from both events will benefit Portland Public Library’s 2007-2008 Annual Fund for new books, materials and technologies. We hope you will join us for both of these wonderful authors and help support the Library!
Every once in a while, extraordinary programs come along that we are lucky enough to be able to share with the public. This fall, we’ll be having two internationally renowned authors present programs.
First, Pulitzer Prize winner Richard Russo will be joining us for the inaugural stop on the tour for his new book, Bridge of Sighs. Russo will speak on Tuesday, October 2nd at 7pm at the First Parish Church at 425 Congress Street in Portland. He will be reading from his new book and signing copies after the reading. Books will be available from Longfellow Books at the event. If you’d like a more “intimate” meeting with the author, there will be a reception before the reading. The event at 1st Parish Church is free and open to the public, but seats will fill up fast so make sure to arrive early. Tickets to the reception are $35 each or 2 for $60. You can also support our Annual Fund by becoming an Event Sponsor for $250, which includes 4 tickets to the reception, preferred seating at the public 
portion of the event, recognition on the Library’s website and at the event, as well as other benefits. If you’d like to attend the reception or have any questions, please contact our Development and Programming office by phone at 871-1700 ext. 759 or by e-mail at progdev@portland.lib.me.us for more information. You can also check out our website at www.portlandlibrary.com
Three days later on Friday, October 5, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author Sue Monk Kidd (The Secret Life of Bees, The Mermaid Chair, Firstlight) makes a rare New England appearance—in fact, we’re the only New England appearance on her tour. She will read from her newest collection of essays, Firstlight, answer questions from the audience, and sign books. She’s also happy to have her photo taken with fans after the book signing is complete. Books will be on sale at the event by Borders, who’s co-sponsoring the event. 
Tickets to this exciting evening only $12 each, and are available through PortTix (842-0800; www.PortTix.com; 20 Myrtle Street Portland, ME 04101). The event will take place at Merrill Auditorium. Again if you’d like more information or have any questions, please contact our Development and Programming office or check out our website at www.portlandlibrary.com. Proceeds from both events will benefit Portland Public Library’s 2007-2008 Annual Fund for new books, materials and technologies. We hope you will join us for both of these wonderful authors and help support the Library!
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