The Tenth Annual Connecticut Authors Trail, a series of free talks by local authors presented by a group of Eastern Connecticut libraries, will begin Tuesday, July 10, with a free talk at 6:30 p.m. at Calvert Library, 5 Tyler Drive, Franklin, by Harmony Verna, a TV scripts and magazine writer whose latest book is “Beneath the Apple Leaves.” It is a historical novel about an immigrant family facing a harsh life on a Pennsylvania farm. (860-642-6207 or calvertlibrary.org.)
The trail will end Sept. 20 at Mohegan Sun Casino’s Cabaret Theatre with a free event featuring a talk by best-selling author Amy Bloom. Free event guide “passports” will be distributed at the libraries and stamped to make the bearer eligible for a prize at the finale.
On Wednesday, July 11, 6:30 p.m. at Quinebaug Valley Community College, 742 Upper Maple St., Danielson, José B. González, author of “When Love Was Reels,” a collection of poems about his life in El Salvador and the U.S., will speak. (2017). He is the founder and editor of LatinoStories.com. (860-932-4000 or qvcc.edu/library).
On Thursday, July 12, at 6:30 p.m. at Willington Public Library, 7 Ruby Road, Willington, Alice Allan, author of “Evangeline Ballou,” a biography of the great-granddaughter of Samuel Eldredge, who was born in Willington in 1775, will speak. Allan, also a descendant of Eldredge, is a retired accountant. (860-429-3854 or willingtonpubliclibrary.org.
On Friday, July 13, at 6:30 p.m. at Guilford Smith Memorial Library, 17 Main St., South Windham, Jo Gillspie, who writes fiction about American Colonial history, will discuss “The Devil Wears Red,” Book III of her Tewkesbury Chronicles, about privateers and patriots at the Connecticut shore during the Revolutionary War. (860-423-5159 or guilfordsmith.blog.)
General information: connecticutauthorstrail.org.
Smith At Sunken Garden
U.S. Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith will appear Wednesday, July 11, as the Sunken Garden Poetry Festival continues its 26th season on the grounds of Hill-Stead Museum, a National Historic Landmark at 35 Mountain Rd., Farmington.
Smith, the 22nd U.S. poet laureate, has published the memoir “Ordinary Light” and three poetry collections. “Life on Mars” won the 2012 Pulitzer Prize.
A Prelude interview with Smith will be at 5 p.m. Poet Chaun Ballard will read at 6 p.m. At 6:30 p.m. there will be music by Tang Sauce & DJ Stealth, and Smith will read at 7 p.m. She also will lead a poetry workshop at 2 p.m.
Festival tickets are $15 online and $20 at the gate. Children under age 18 are admitted free. Parking is free. Guests should bring seating and can bring food and beverages or buy them at the festival. Workshop fees are $40 to $60.
Tickets and information: hillstead.org and 860-677-4787.
Beatriz Williams Events
A book release party for the novel “The Summer Wives,” by Beatriz Williams, Connecticut author of best-selling novels with historical themes and romantic plots. will be held Tuesday, July 10, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Mystic Museum of Art, 9 Water St., Mystic, presented by Bank Square Books and the museum. Tickets are $10 without purchase of a book or $7 with advance purchase of a book and include a reception with food, cocktails, music and door prizes.
The novel is a post-World War II story about love, class, power and redemption involving residents of fictional Winthrop Island off the New England coast, where wealthy homeowners interact with the Portuguese workers who maintain their mansions.
Information or tickets: 860-536-3795 or banksquarebooks.com.
Williams also will appear at R.J. Julia Booksellers in Madison, on Wednesday, July 11.
R.J. Julia Events
On Wednesday, July 11, at 7 p.m., two novelists will give free talks about their latest books at R.J. Julia Booksellers, 768 Boston Post Road, Madison. Cristina Alger, author of the thriller, “The Banker’s Wife,” and Beatriz Williams, author of “The Summer Wives,” will speak.
“The Banker’s Wife” begins with a plane crash and disappearance of a powerful banker, whose young widow is left to learn his secrets and evade his enemies. A society journalist also is seeking the truth about the banker and his secret life. Alger also published “The Darlings” and “This Was Not the Plan” and has worked as a financial analyst and a corporate attorney. Williams’ new novel, “The Summer Wives,” is a post-World War II story about love, class, power and redemption set on an island off the New England coast.
On Thursday, July 12, at 7 p.m., Tom Santopietro, author of “Why to Kill a Mockingbird Matters: What Harper Lee’s Book and the Iconic American Film Mean to Us Today,” will give a talk. The book explores the written and film versions of the classic story of childhood and racism in the South. Santopietro recounts the background story of the 1962 film and explores charges that the book can be seen as racist. He is the author of many books about famous movies and performers.
Reservations are required: 203-245-3959 or rjjulia.com.
“Mid-Life Insanity”
Andy Weil, of Bloomfield, a poet, humorist and musician, will present a “Poetry with a Touch of Mid-Life Insanity” program of verse and stories about American life and growing older at Hall Memorial Library’s Coffeehouse, 93 Main St, Ellington, on Friday, July 13, at 7 p.m. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m.
Weil uses drums, props, dialects and impressions to augment his poems on topics ranging from Bob’s Discount Furniture to people who hoard toilet paper.
Reservations: 860-870-3160.
Winning Authors
Best-selling mother and daughter authors, Lisa Scottoline and Francesca Serritella, will appear at a Winning Authors event on Monday, July 9, from 7 to 9 p.m. at Mohegan Sun, 1 Mohegan Sun Blvd., Uncasville.
They will take questions about their latest collaboration, “I See Life Through Rosé-Colored Glasses: True Stories and Confessions,” in The Cabaret Theatre and will sign copies at 8 p.m. in The Shops concourse. Tickets are $30.
Reservations and information: 860-536-3795 or banksquarebooks.com
Bank Square Books
On Sunday, July 8, from 1 to 3 p.m. at Bank Square Books, 53 W. Main St., Mystic, local author Matthew Goldman, known as the Constant Waterman, will sign copies of “At the Midpoint of Eternity,” about growing up in rural Connecticut, living and boating in the southeastern part of the state and reflections on writing, working, loving and illustrating.
On Thursday, July 12, at 6:30 p.m. at the bookstore, Irish writer Caoilinn Hughes will give a free talk about her debut novel, “Orchid and the Wasp,” about a tough-minded woman who leaves Ireland for London and New York City to pursue her ambitions. Hughes’ poetry collection “Gathering Evidence” won the Irish Times Shine/Strong Award and she is a fellow of the James Merrill Foundation, the Bogliasco Foundation and the Tin House Workshop.
Information: 860-536-3795 or banksquarebooks.com.
Avon Local Author Festival
Avon Free Public Library, 281 Country Club Road, Avon, will continue its fifth annual Local Author Festival of free panel discussions and solo talks by authors.
On Tuesday, July 10, at 6:30 p.m., it will offer a Children’s Author Panel with Shannon K. Mazurick, Gaetano J. Amato, Donna LeBlanc, Jessica Haight, Stephanie Robinson and Stephanie C. Fox.
Information: 860-673-9712 or avonctlibrary.info/for-adults.
