The Sunken Garden Poetry Festival will hold its last event of the season on Wednesday, Aug. 17, with a celebration of Connecticut Young Poets Day, a reading by poet Kwame Dawes and reggae music by the Mystic Jammers, on the grounds of the Hill-Stead Museum, 35 Mountain Road, Farmington.
Gates will open at 4 p.m. and there will be an open house at the Hill-Stead Museum until 5 p.m. At 4:30 p.m., young poets will read in the Makeshift Theater and at 6 p.m., the 2016 Fresh Voices poets will read. They are: Owen Elphick, Chloe Ezzo, Leah Nashel, Jossary Padilla and Abbey Rose Popolizio. Works by these high-school age poets from Connecticut will appear in Hill-Stead’s online poetry journal, Theodate. At 6:30 p.m., the Mystic Jammers will play, and Dawes will read at 7:15 p.m.
Dawes has published 16 poetry collections, including “Duppy Conqueror,” “Wheels,” “Back of Mount Peace” and “Hope’s Hospice,” and two novels, “Bivouac” and “She’s Gone,” which won the 2008 Hurston/Wright Legacy Award for best first novel. He is also an essayist, actor, playwright and producer, and is founder and executive director of the South Carolina Poetry Initiative.
Guests must bring their own seating and can bring food and beverages or purchase them at the festival. Admission: $12 online; $15 at the gate; free for ages 18 or younger. Parking is free. Tickets and information: hillstead.org or 860-677-4787, ext. 111.
Author Luncheon
The Hickory Stick Bookshop, 2 Green Hill Road, Washington Depot, will host a Meet an Author for Lunch event with Camilla Trinchieri, author of “Seeking Alice” (Excelsior Editions/State University of New York, $19.95), at noon on Wednesday, Aug. 17. Admission is the purchase of the book at the shop and includes a catered lunch.
Set in Europe during World War II and Massachusetts in the 1950s, this romantic thriller follows the mystery of what happened to the American wife of an Italian diplomat as she and her children fled Prague and Rome, seeking safety in Switzerland.
Trinchieri was born in Prague to an Italian diplomat father and American mother. She has published seven mystery books under the pen names Trella Crespi and Camilla T. Crespi. Reservations and information: 860-868-0525 or hickorystickbookshop.com.
Picturing Diane Arbus
The author of a new biography of the brilliant and troubled photographer Diane Arbus will give a free talk on Thursday, Aug. 18, at 7 p.m. at R.J. Julia Booksellers, 768 Boston Post Road, Madison.
Arthur Lubow will discuss his book, “Diane Arbus: Portrait of a Photographer” (Ecco Press, $35). It follows her life and accomplishments as a one of the premier photographers of the 20th century, who began as a New York fashion chronicler but became internationally known for her quirky, startling and often disturbing portraits.
Lubow, who has won major awards, has been a contributing writer at The New York Times Magazine, a staff writer at The New Yorker and a contributing editor at Vanity Fair. Reservations are required: 203-245-3959 or rjjulia.com.
Connecticut Beer
Will Siss, who writes the “Beer Snob” column for the Waterbury Republican-American and is the author of “Connecticut Beer: A History of Nutmeg State Brewing” (Arcadia Publishing, $15), will give a free talk about beer brewing in the state from Colonial times through Prohibition to today’s craft beer movement, on Monday, Aug. 15, at 6:30 p.m. at Whiton Library, 100 N. Main St., Manchester.
This free event is presented by “READ — For Your Life,” Manchester Public Library’s 2016 Adult Summer Reading Program. Information: 860-645-0821.
Rossiter At Mohegan Sun
Author Nan Rossiter will speak Tuesday, Aug. 16, from noon to 1:30 p.m. at a Delicious Discussions author luncheon presented by Otis Library of Norwich and Bank Square Books of Mystic at Michael Jordan’s Steak House, Mohegan Sun Casino, 1 Mohegan Sun Blvd., Uncasville. Tickets are $40.
Rossiter will discuss her latest novel, “Firefly Summer” (Kensington,$15), a story of four sisters who survived a tragedy in the past and resolve old problems during a summer at their family home on Cape Cod. Tickets must be ordered in advance from Otis Library, 860-889-2365, ext. 127, or by emailing kmcdonald@otis.lioninc.org.
Bookstore & More
Book Club Bookstore & More, 100 Main St., in the Broad Brook section of East Windsor, will host a free talk by Dan Hayden, author of “The Game Wardens” (iUniverse, $19.95), on Friday, Aug. 19, at 5:30 p.m.
Hayden, a former Fish and Wildlife Officer who became a First Sergeant and Marine Patrol Boat Captain in northern Connecticut, has written a novel about a young game warden who discovers illegal animal poaching activity by others in the Fish and Game Department and risks his career and life to expose it. Information: 860-623-5100.
Connecticut Authors Trail
The eighth annual Connecticut Authors Trail, a series of free talks at 20 Eastern Connecticut libraries, from Mansfield to Mystic, continues with three events and will have its finale Sept. 15 at Mohegan Sun with romance writer Kristan Higgins.
On Monday, Aug. 15, at 6 p.m. at Cragin Memorial Library, 8 Linwood Ave., Colchester (860-537-5752), John Koopman III will discuss his book, “George Washington At War – 1776” (CreateSpace, $10.99). Koopman, a Revolutionary War re-enactor, has portrayed Gen. Washington since 2006 at reenactments in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, South Carolina and Virginia and in TV and film documentaries.
On Tuesday, Aug. 16 at 7 p.m. at East Lyme Public Library, 39 Society Road, Niantic, (860-739-6926), Nancy Hoehl Shapiro will discuss her book, “We Had a Ball : The Indelible Influence of Youth Sports on the Game of Life” (Mill City Press, $16.95), Shapiro, of Madison, is a university adjunct professor who researches the effect of youth sports on young athletes.
On Thursday, Aug. 18, at 6:30 p.m. at Tolland Public Library, 21 Tolland Green, Tolland (860-871-3620), Judith Dreyer, author of “At the Garden’s Gate: A Personal Guide to Self-Discovery in Growing a Sustainable Backyard Meadow, Working with Nature and the Land, Living the Wheel of Truths” (Kindle, $7.99), will speak. A Master Gardener, Dreyer has degrees in Nursing and Nutrition Science and has taught Holistic Health Studies and Nutrition Science and gives talks and writes about holistic health, edible and medicinal plants, dreams and more. Information: connecticutauthorstrail.org.
Energize Connecticut
Energize Connecticut will host a free children’s author event at the Energize Connecticut Center, 122 Universal Drive North, North Haven, on Thursday, Aug. 18, from 10:30 a.m. to noon.
Author Leticia Colon de Mejias will read her book, “Dinero the Frog Learns to Save Energy,” and the first 100 children who attend will receive a free signed copy. The book promotes energy conservation and explains how changing habits and behaviors can protect the environment. Young guests can join in a sing-along, pose for photos with the author and characters from the book and make a Dinero headband.
Colon de Mejias, a Connecticut native, is the founder and president of Energy Efficiencies Solutions (EES), which helps homeowners, renters and commercial property owners reduce energy usage and lower their carbon emissions. Her nonprofit organization, Green Eco Warrior Inc., educates children and families about sustainability and reducing impact on the planet and its resources. Information: energizect.com/month-event/2016-08 or 203-799-0460.
West End Poetry Series
West End Poetry Series: Poetry at the Metro, will present a reading by poets José Gonzalez and Cheryl Savageau at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 20, at the Metro Café, 580 Farmington Ave., Hartford. Admission is $5. Information: 860-965-8800 or poetryontheporch@gmail.com.
