Write Stuff: Authors At RJ Julia; Talk On Southern Belles At Twain House

R.J. Julia Booksellers, 768 Boston Post Road, Madison, will present free talks by authors of fiction, memoir and poetry.

On May 21 at 10:30 a.m., Shoshana Banana will talk about her fact-based but fictionalized children’s book, “Levi and Aya” (Picture It in My Head Books, $9.99). This illustrated book is about German Jewish immigrant Levi Strauss, the blue jeans manufacturer, who built a family business in the multicultural boom town of San Francisco, and his close relationship with Aya, a Japanese woman.

Also on May 21 at 2 p.m. at Mercy By The Sea, 167 Neck Road, Madison, Andrew Forsthoefel will discuss his memoir, “Walking to Listen: 4,000 Miles Across America, One Story at a Time” (Bloomsbury USA, $28), followed by a self-guided walking meditation at Mercy By The Sea’s labyrinth. At 23, Forsthoefel left Pennsylvania for a cross-country journey on which he recorded talks with people he met. He is now a writer, radio producer and public speaker.

On May 21 at 2 p.m. at the bookstore, the Connecticut Coalition of Poets Laureate will present a free talk about “Laureates of Connecticut: An Anthology of Contemporary Poetry” (Grayson, $20), featuring Ginny Lowe Connors, a prize-winning former poet laureate of West Hartford, and Charles Margolis, the poet laureate of South Windsor and a former teacher.

On May 23 at 7 p.m. at the bookstore, Sarah Prager, author of “Queer, There, and Everywhere: 23 People Who Changed the World” (HarperCollins, $17.99), will discuss her book, the first LGBTQ history book of its kind for young adults. It tells the stories of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer individuals who made world history. Prager is an activist, public speaker, writer and founder and director of Quist, a free mobile app that presents queer history in an interactive way.

On May 24 at 7 p.m. at the bookstore, Laura McBride author of “‘Round Midnight'” (Touchstone, $25.99) will give a free talk about her novel that explores the lives of four women over six decades in Las Vegas who each have a life-changing moment in the Midnight Room in a casino nightclub.

All R.J. Julia events require registration: 203-245-3959 or rjjulia.com.

Twain’s Southern Belle

Author Miki Pfeffer will give a free talk, “A Southern Belle in the Land of Twain,” about Grace King, a writer of sentimental tales about the South, the Civil War and its aftermath and racial ironies, on May 23 at 5:30 p.m. at the Mark Twain House & Museum.

Her talk will follow a reception and Mark Twain House historian Steve Courtney will be the moderator. Reservations and information: 860-247-0998 or marktwainhouse.org.

Climate Change

Felicity Harley, author of “The Burning Years” (Double Dragon, $15.99), a novel about the future effects of climate change on humanity, and former executive director of the World Affairs Council, and Ben Martin, a local climate change activist, will give a free talk about the book and current community climate action on May 23 at Connecticut Public Broadcasting lobby, 1049 Asylum Ave., Hartford. A reception at 6 p.m. will precede their conversation at 6:30 p.m. The event is presented by The World Affairs Council of Connecticut. Information: 860-241-6118 or ctwac.org.

Great American Places

Historian Brent D. Glass, author of “50 Great American Places: Essential Historic Sites Across the U.S.” (Simon & Schuster, $16), will give a free talk at the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center, 77 Forest St., Hartford, on May 24 at 7 p.m. The talk is presented by the Center and Mark Twain House and Museum, which are profiled in the chapter “Nook Farm Neighbors: Stowe and Twain.” Reservations: HarrietBeecherStowe.org or 860-522-9258, ext. 317.

Poetry As Memoir

Poet and memoirist Bessy Reyna will lead a workshop about capturing the moments of everyday life in writing on May 24 from 10 to noon at the Goodwin branch of the Hartford Public Library, 260 New Britain Ave., Hartford. No previous writing experience is necessary. Pre-registration is required: 860-695-7480.

Author Talk At Twain House

Mary Collins, a professor of narrative nonfiction at Central Connecticut State University, will talk about her new book “At the Broken Places: A Mother and Trans Son Pick Up the Pieces” (Beacon Press) 7 p.m May 25 at The Mark Twain House & Museum, 351 Farmington Ave, Hartford. Collins son and co-author Donald Collins will join her for the Q&A, reading and book signing. The book delves into their often conflicting feelings about Donald transitioning, in his teens, to being a transgender man.

Connecticut Valley Tobacco

Book Club Bookstore & More, 869 Sullivan Ave., South Windsor, will host a free talk on May 24 at 6 p.m. by Brianna Dunlap, author of “Connecticut Valley Tobacco” (Arcadia, $21.99).

Dunlap’s book, illustrated with photos by Windsor native Dr. Leonard Hellerman, explores tobacco growing and the people who toiled at it, from East Haddam to Brattleboro, Vt. 860-432-7411, bookclubct.com.

Poetry with Art

Connecticut River Poets and creative writing students from Old Saybrook High School will present a Poetry with Art reading on May 21 at 3 p.m. at the Florence Griswold Museum, 96 Lyme St., Old Lyme. The poems will be read next to the art pieces that inspired them from the exhibit, “Matilda Browne: Idylls of Farm and Garden.” There also will be clarinet duets by David Cohen and Old Saybrook High School senior Kiwan Dionne-Jee. The event is free with the museum’s admission fee, which is $10 for adults, $9 for seniors, $8 for students and free for those 12 or younger. David J. Rau at 860-434-5542 or flogris.org.

Bank Square Books

Bank Square Books, 53 W. Main St., Mystic, will present two free talks by authors.

On May 24 at 6:30 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 81 E. Town St., Norwich, the bookstore and the Norwich Historical Society will host historian and bestselling author Nathaniel Philbrick, who will discuss his book, “Valiant Ambition” (Penguin, $18), about the relationship between George Washington and Benedict Arnold.

Philbrick is the best-selling author of “In the Heart of the Sea,” which won a National Book Award; “Mayflower, a Pulitzer Prize finalist and “Bunker Hill,” winner of the New England Book Award, among others.

On May 25 at 6 p.m. at the bookstore, there will be a free Memorial Day author talk with local writers Ruth Crocker, Rona Mann and Kirsten Holmstedt. banksquarebooks.com or 860-536-3795.

Goodwin In Suffield

Kent Memorial Library, 61 Ffyler Place, Suffield, will host a free talk by local author R.C. Goodwin on May 24 at 7 p.m.

Goodwin, a psychiatrist who spent many years working in prisons, sets his dark but often humorous debut short story collection, “The Stephen Hawking Death Row Fan Club” (Langdon Street Press, $15.93) in a maximum security prison with inmates on death row. suffield-library.org, or 860-668-3896 or at the library.