Hartford Stage, Twain House Collaborate On ‘After War’ Panel

Actress and author Illeana Douglas says it’s all Dennis Hopper’s fault.

She will give a free Book/Mark talk about her memoir, “I Blame Dennis Hopper: And Other Stories from a Life Lived In and Out of the Movies” (Flatiron Books, $25.99), on Wednesday, Jan. 13, at 7 p.m. at the Mark Twain House & Museum Center, 351 Farmington Ave., Hartford.

The book explains how her parents, influenced by a scene in the film “Easy Rider” in which Hopper champions abandoning middle-class life for an alternative lifestyle, created an unusual childhood for their daughter. Douglas, the granddaughter of actor Melvyn Douglas, also describes her acting career in films with such stars as Robert DeNiro, Nicole Kidman, and Ethan Hawke and how she became an award winning writer, director and producer.

Reservations: 860-247-0998 or martktwainhouse.org.

On Thursday, Jan. 14, at 7 p.m., the Twain House will join in a first-time collaboration with the Hartford Stage and the World Affairs Council of Connecticut to present a free conversation with three writers, David Finkel, Dan O’Brien and Emma Sky, who will discuss “After War: What Happens Next?” The moderator will be WNPR’s Lucy Nalpathanchil.

Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post journalist David Finkle, author of “The Good Soldiers” and “Thank You For Your Service”; poet and playwright Dan O’Brien, author of “War Reporter” and Hartford Stage’s production of “Body of an American,” which won the Horton Foote Prize for Outstanding New American Play; and U.K. author Emma Sky, who wrote “The Unraveling: High Hopes and Missed Opportunities in Iraq” will discuss the aftermath of U.S. involvement from Iraq to Afghanistan to Somalia, ranging from political consequences to psychological damage to soldiers.

Reservations: 860-247-0998 or marktwainhouse.org.

Croghan At Westminster

A reading by award-winning poet, novelist and artist Melissa Croghan at the Westminster School, 995 Hopmeadow St., Simsbury, on Friday, Jan. 15, at 7 p.m., continues the free Friday Nights in Gund series of readings and concerts in the Gund Reading Room of the school’s Armour Academic Center.

Croghan, who lives in Connecticut, is a poet, novelist, memoirist and multi-media artist who works on paper and canvas. Her 2012 novel “The Tracking Heart” (Nepaug Press, $14.95), is a story of crime and love about a park ranger, Callie Major, who discovers a former friend living in an illegal campsite in the woods to escape prosecution for a murder he swears he did not commit. Croghan’s 2014 poetry collection, illustrated by her artwork, is “Cliff Walk: Poems and Paintings of Mackinac and Beyond” (Antrim House, $19). She is a former editor at Boulevard, an English professor and a Poet-in-the-Schools in Connecticut.

Free parking is available in the lot adjacent to Armour Academic Center.

Information: 860-408-3053.

The ‘Downton’ Inspiration

The author of the book that inspired the PBS TV series “Downton Abbey” will give a free talk on Thursday, Jan. 14, at 2 p. m. at The Mercy Community’s McAuley Auditorium, 275 Steele Road, West Hartford.

Carol McD. Wallace, author with Gail MacColl of “To Marry an English Lord: Tales of Wealth and Marriage, Sex and Snobbery” (Workman, $15.95), will talk about the true stories that inspired the long-running and wildly popular series about the lives of a wealthy English family and its servants.

Reservations: 860-570-8301 or lgomez@mchct.org.

Poetry Here And Now

Poetry Here and Now, a free poetry and music program, will take place Saturday, Jan. 16, at 2 p.m. at Welles Turner Memorial Library, 2407 Main St., Glastonbury.

The poets taking part are Andrea Barton, Kathleen Housley, Michael Lepore, Suzanne Niedzielska, Alexandrina Sergio and Mark Sheridan. The 3 Magneatos will perform blues and Americana music, and there also will be an open mike.

Information: Alexandrina Sergio at poet.laureate @glastonbury-ct.gov. or 860-652-7719.

Book Club, Book Discussion

The Lucy Robbins Welles Library, 95 Cedar St., Newington, will host several programs sponsored by the Friends of the Library.

Its Forever YA Book Club will meet on Monday, Jan. 11, from 6 to 7 p.m. The club is not limited to young readers, but is open to anyone 14 years old or older. The library says it welcomes those “a little less Y and a bit more A” who enjoy reading books written for teens. Registration is required at 860-665-8700 or adultref@newingtonct.gov.

A Brown Bag It with a Book Discussion event will be held at the library on Thursday, Jan. 14, at noon. The book to be discussed is “The Light Between Oceans” (Scribner, $16) by M.L. Stedman. Participants may bring a brown bag lunch. Beverages and desserts will be provided.

Registration is not required. Information: 860-665-8700.

A Spiritual Journey

Manchester author Kitty Tesi will give a free reading and talk on Monday, Jan. 11, at 7 p.m. at the Whiton Branch of the Manchester Public Library, 100 North Main St., Manchester.

Tesi’s two books, “Go and Tell” and “Evidence: Coincidence or Answered Prayer?” are personal testimonies of her spiritual journey.

Information: 860-645-0821 or 860-643-6892.

Mystery Book Discussion

Carole Shmurak, of Farmington, who writes the Susan Lombardi mystery novels, will lead a free discussion on Monday, Jan. 11, at noon, at Simsbury Public Library, 725 Hopmeadow St., when the Simsbury Mystery Group: The Time Machine, Part 1, discusses “Two for the Lions” by Lindsey Davis. Information: 860-658-7663.