Sandra Bernhard, host of the Sirius XM Radio show “Sandyland,” is known for her abrasive stand-up comedy and appearances in TV shows such as “Roseanne” and “2 Broke Girls,” as well as in movies, but Bernhard also is an author of three books: the autobiography “Confessions of a Pretty Lady,” the semi-autobiographical “May I Kiss You on the Lips, Miss Sandra?” and the essay collection “Love, Love and Love.” She will speak Wednesday, May 18, at 7:30 p.m., following a VIP reception at 6 p.m., at the Mark Twain House & Museum, 351 Farmington Ave., Hartford. Tickets: $40; $75 for VIP seating and reception. Reservations: 860-247-0998 or marktwainhouse.com.
The Twain House will present a free Book/Mark program with Josh King on Thursday, May 19, at 7 p.m. He will discuss his book, “Off Script: An Advance Man’s Guide to White House Stagecraft, Campaign Spectacle, and Political Suicide” (St. Martin’s Press, $27.99). King has worked as an advance man, planning TV appearances and photo-ready moments, for politicians and other public figures, and his book explores some catastrophic gaffes and the current appetite for embarrassing the powerful. Reservations: 860-247-0098 or marktwainhouse.com.
The Real Downton Abbey
Tickets are available now for talks at Hill-Stead Museum, 35 Main St., Farmington, by the 8th Countess of Carnarvon, the author who lives at Highclere Castle in England, the main filming location for the Emmy Award-winning PBS TV series, “Downton Abbey.”
Lady Fiona Carnarvon will tell family stories that helped inspire some of the show’s characters. She has published four books on her family’s history, including one on the inspiration for Cora Crawley, “Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey: The Lost Legacy of Highclere,” and “Lady Catherine, the Earl and the Real Downton Abbey,” about the American woman who married into the family in 1920s.
Tickets are $150 for her May 25 talk at 2 p.m.; $225 or $500 for the May 26 Grand Tour Benefit Dinner Auction at 6 p.m. and $100 for her May 27 talk at 10 a.m. Information: hillstead.org.
Authors At R.J. Julia
A Swedish novelist and writers about food, comedy and money will speak at programs presented by R.J. Julia Booksellers of Madison.
Autumn Giles will discuss her book, “Beyond Canning: New Techniques, Ingredients, and Flavors to Preserve, Pickle, and Ferment Like Never Before” (Voyageur Press, $21.99), on Tuesday, May 17, at 7 p.m. at Field House Farm, 605 Green Hill Road in Madison. The book is a guide to making creative preserved foods and also includes 70 recipes. Giles is a food writer, recipe developer and photographer who blogs at autumnmakesanddoes.com.
Fredrick Backman, author of several bestselling novels in Sweden, will give a luncheon presentation about his latest novel, “Britt-Marie Was Here” (Atria Books, $26) on Wednesday, May 18, at noon at R.J. Julia, 768 Boston Post Road, Madison. Backman is the author of “My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry” and “A Man Called Ove.” His new novel is a gently comic tale of a fussy busybody with a cheating husband and a warm heart who finds love in an unlikely place. Guests may bring lunch or order a gourmet sandwich meal for $15 from RJ Cafe and Bistro.
Comedian and musician Dave Hill will talk about how he and his widowed dad grew closer and he got his life together, as chronicled in “Dave Hill Doesn’t Live Here Anymore” (Blue Rider Press, $27), on Wednesday, May 18, at 7 p.m. at R.J. Julia. Hill is a contributor to public radio’s “This American Life,” has written for The New York Times, Salon, GQ, and other publications, and plays guitar and sings in his rock band, Valley Lodge, whose “Go” is HBO’s “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” theme song.
Two of the three authors of “What They Do with Your Money: How the Financial System Fails Us and How to Fix It” by Stephen Davis, Jon Lukomnik and David Pitt-Watson (Yale University Press, $32.50) will give a free talk on Thursday, May 19, at 7 p.m., at R.J. Julia Davis and Lukomnik will discuss the financial advice industry and what investors need to know to ensure that they are getting their money’s worth. Davis is a senior fellow at Harvard Law School’s program on corporate governance and Lukomnik is executive director of the Investor Responsibility Research Center. Tickets to the Backman luncheon and reservations for all events: 203-245-3959 and rjjulia.com.
Weatherwax In Glastonbury
Glastonbury native Annie Weatherwax will give a free talk Sunday, May 15, at 2 p.m. at the Riverfront Community Center, 300 Welles St., Glastonbury, in a program sponsored by the Welles Turner Memorial Library Second Century Fund.
Weatherwax’s first novel, “All We Had” (Scribner, $16), is an Oprah’s Editor’s Pick and a finalist for the 2015 Massachusetts Book Award. It was adapted as a film starring Katie Holmes that premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival.
Weatherwax is a sculptor and painter as well as an author. She won the Robert Olen Butler Prize for fiction in 2009 and has written for The New York Times, Publishers Weekly and Ploughshares. Information: 860-652-7719 and wtmlib.com.
Poetry And Art
Glastonbury Poet Laureate Alexandrina Sergio will give a poetry performance on Saturday, May 21, from 1 to 3 p.m., at an art show and reception for a month-long exhibition of 20 paintings inspired by her poetry at Welles Turner Memorial Library, 2407 Main Street, Glastonbury. Information: info@glastonburyarts.org, 860-659-1196.
Poetry On The Porch
The Poetry On the Porch programs presented by the West End Poetry Series will return Saturday, May 21, at 5 p.m. at 150 Kenyon St., Hartford, with readings by Robert Cording and Pit Pinegar. Guests are asked to bring a lawn chair and a beverage and can buy snacks to raise money to combat Parkinson’s disease. Information: 860-965-8800 and poetryontheporch@gmail.com.
O’Shaughnessy At Hickory Stick
The Hickory Stick Bookshop, 2 Green Hill Road, Washington, will host a free talk by Connecticut author Tracey O’Shaughnessy on Sunday, May 15, at 2 p.m. O’Shaughnessy, associate features editor of the Republican-American in Waterbury, writes a column about family life, religion, society and culture. Her new book, “Put the Kettle On and Other Cultural Disconnections” (Equa Press, $15), is a collection of essays. Information: 860-868-0525 or hickorystickbookshop.com.
WordForge Reading Series
Poets Martha Collins and Bessy Reyna will give a free WordForge Reading Series program, followed by an open mike, on Tuesday, May 17, at 7 p.m., at The Studio @ Billings Forge, 563 Broad St., Hartford.
Collins has published eight poetry collections, most recently “Admit One: An American Scrapbook” (University of Pittsburgh Press, $15.95), and four volumes of co-translated Vietnamese poetry. “Admit One” explores scientific racism from the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair through the eugenics movement of the 1920s.
Reyna has published two bilingual books of poetry, “The Battlefield of Your Body” and “Memoirs of the Unfaithful Lover/ Memorias de la amante infiel,” and has been widely anthologized. She is arts-and-culture editor for the Hispanic newspaper Identidad Latina and a contributing columnist for CTLatinoNews.com. Information: 860-508-2810 or wfreadings.blogspot.com.
McCreight At Book Club
Book Club Bookstore, 100 Main St., in the Broad Brook section of East Windsor, will present bestselling author Kimberly McCreight in conversation with journalist and author Kara Sundlun on Saturday, May 21, from 1 to 2:30 p.m.
McCreight, whose books include “Reconstructing Amelia” and “Where They Found Her” will discuss her new YA book, “The Outliers” (Harper Collins, 18.99), the first in a planned trilogy. Reservations are required: 860-623-5100 or bookclubct.com.
‘Grapes of Wrath’
John Steinbeck’s classic Depression-era novel, “The Grapes of Wrath,” is the Big Read book this spring at Hartford Public Library. Poet and teacher Kate Rushin will lead two free discussions on Thursday, May 19, at 5 p.m. about the book, which won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction and inspired the film starring Henry Fonda. Rushin will speak at the Albany Branch library, 1250 Albany Ave., Hartford, and via Skype at the Camp Field Branch library, 30 Campfield Ave. Hartford. Information: hplct.org or 860-695-6300.
Poetry Writing Workshop
An Introduction to Poetry Writing workshop led by award-winning poet JoAnne Bauer, will be held on three Thursday evenings beginning May 19 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. and continuing May 26 and June 2, at Windsor Art Center studios, 40 Mechanic St., Windsor. The cost is $100. Information: 860-508-3186 or windsorartcenter.org.
Mystery Writing Discussion
Connecticut authors Steve Liskow, Marian Lanouette and Carole Shmurak will take part in a free panel discussion on “Using What You Know (Or What You’d Like to Know) To Write a Mystery” on Wednesday, May 18, at 6:30 p.m. at New Milford Public Library, 24 Main St., New Milford. Registration: 860-355-1191, ext. 2 or newmilfordlibrary.org/working/program.html
‘Gonzo Girl’
Cheryl Della Pietra, a graduate of Guilford High School who was once “gonzo” journalist Hunter S. Thompson’s assistant, will discuss her debut novel, “Gonzo Girl” (Touchstone Books, $24.99), at Blackstone Memorial Library’s Local Author Expo, 758 Main St., Branford, on Saturday, May 21, at 1 p.m. Other authors also will speak.
The book is about a young woman trying to break into publishing who becomes an assistant to a famous author known for his considerable talent and wild behavior (much like Thompson). Della Pietra, a magazine editor and writer, lives in Branford. Information: 203-488-1441.
Mariotti In Shelton
Author Celine Rose Mariotti will give a reading and book signing and sell beaded jewelry she designed on Saturday, May 21, from 4 to 6 p.m. at Berry Chill, 15 Huntington Plaza, Shelton. Mariotti has written mysteries, young adult science fiction, poetry collections and a mystery for children. Her latest book, “Adventures on Capitol Hill-The Murder of Secretary Judd Cane” (Cambridge Books, $18.95) is the second in her Adventures on Capitol Hill series.
Christina Heatherton and Jordan T. Camp, co-editors of “Policing the Planet: Why the Policing Crisis Led to Black Lives Matter”(Verso, $19.95), will give a free talk on Wednesday, May 18, at 6 p.m. at the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center, 77 Forest St., Hartford.
The book is a collection of essays by writers and activists, including #BlackLivesMatter co-founder Patrisse Cullors, Ferguson activist and St. Louis University law professor Justin Hansford, poet Martín Espada and scholars about struggles for justice from New York to Ferguson to Los Angeles, as well as internationally.
Reservations: HarrietBeecherStowe.org or 860-522-9258, ext. 317.
