The sixth annual Writers’ Weekend at the Mark Twain House & Museum, 351 Farmington Ave., Hartford, will take place Saturday, Sept. 23 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., with a keynote talk by Jarrett Karsoczka at 7 p.m., and Sunday, Sept. 24, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The focus is on writing for young people, to celebrate the publication of “The Purloining of Prince Oleomargarine” (Doubleday Books for Young Readers, $16.50), a picture book by Philip C. Stead based on a fairy tale Mark Twain created for his daughters.
Local authors will lead sessions on the craft and business of writing, including storytelling techniques, memoir, essays about the self and social issues, mysteries and improving the chances of being published.
Presenters will include Matthew Dicks, Pegi Deitz Shea, Dana Rau, Beth Richards, Jane Haertel, Sarah Merrill, Mary Collins and Bessy Reyna. A playwrights’ panel will feature Jacques Lamarre, Betsy Maguire, Tianna Glass-Tripp and Adam Szymkowicz.
Admission is $180; $160 for Twain House members. For $30 more, participants can attend the Tapping Into Twain beer festival on Friday, Sept. 22, from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m.
Tickets: http://bit.ly/2xbhToq. Information: marktwainhouse.org or 860-247-0998.
Mishi-maya-gat
The free Mishi-maya-gat Spoken Word & Music Series opens its 12th season Thursday, Sept. 21, in Manchester Community College’s performance space, MCC on Main, 903 Main St., Manchester.
Poet Zack Finch and fiction writer Jill Gilbreth will read at 6:30 p.m., followed by music from the Stephen Haynes Quartet, featuring Haynes, cornet; Kyoko Kitamura, voice; Ben Stapp, tuba; and Joe Morris, guitar, at 8 p.m.
Finch’s poems and essays on poetry have been widely published, in Columbia Review, Tin House, 88: A Journal of Contemporary Poetry and other journals. Gilbreth’s fiction has been published in Ploughshares. Both teach at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. manchestercc.edu/mmg or 860-512-2824.
Authors In Tolland
Charles Monagan, a former editor of Connecticut Magazine and author of “Connecticut Icons: Classic Symbols of the Nutmeg State” (Globe Pequot, $16.95), will give a free talk Sunday, Sept. 17, at 1 p.m., at Old Tolland County Jail and Museum at 52 Tolland Green, presented by Tolland Historical Society. Monagan’s book is based on his magazine columns from 2001 to 2005 about places, natural features, buildings, food and more that are characteristically “Connecticut.”
On Saturday, Sept. 23, at 1 p.m. at Tolland Public Library, 21 Tolland Green, author Caragh M. O’Brien will give a free talk about her latest Young Adult book, “The Keep of Ages,” the final in the “Vault of Dreamers” trilogy. The talk by the Mansfield resident and former English teacher at Tolland High School will begin the eighth year of Tolland Public Library Foundation’s Eaton-Dimock-King Authors Series. “The Keep of Ages” combines mystery, science fiction and psychological thriller elements in a tale of a teenage heroine. O’Brien also is the author of the “Birthmarked” trilogy.
Registration is required: 860-871-3620 or tolland.org/library.
Authors At R.J. Julia
A panel of Young Adult authors will give a free presentation on Tuesday, Sept. 19, at 7 p.m. at R.J. Julia Booksellers, 768 Boston Post Road, Madison. All events require registration: 203-245-3959 or rjjulia.com.
The panelists include Ann Brashares, author of the bestselling “Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” series, “The Here and Now, (Delacorte Press” $18.99) and other books. Also speaking are Emily Lockhart, who wrote the bestseller “We Were Liars” ( Delacorte Press, $18.99) and other novels, including the “Ruby Oliver” Quartet; Julie Buxbaum, author of the bestseller “Tell Me Three Things”( Delacorte Press, $17.99) and other books; Kara Thomas, author of ‘The Darkest Corners” (Delacorte Press, $17.99) other books; and Jennifer E. Smith, author of seven novels for young adults.
On Tuesday, Sept. 19, at 7 p.m. at the bookstore, Juliana Gray will give a free talk about her new novel, “A Strange Scottish Shore” (Berkley Books, $16), in which a puzzling artifact that is said to belong to a selkie who married a laird leads to a mystery. Juliana Gray is a pseudonym for Connecticut author Beatriz Williams, who has published several bestselling novels.
Irish author Sebastian Barry, whose latest is “Days Without End” (Penguin, $16), will give a free talk at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 20, at Wesleyan R.J. Julia Bookstore, 413 Main St., Middletown. The novel, which chronicles the adventures of a 19th-century Irish immigrant who fights in the Indian Wars and the Civil War, won the Costa Novel Award. wesleyan.edu/rjjuliabookstore or 860-685-3939.
Bank Square Books
On Tuesday, Sept.19, from 6 to 7:30 p.m., Bank Square Books, 53 W. Main St, Mystic, will present a free program about historical fiction. Two Cuban-American authors, Chantel Acevedo and Armando Lucas Correa, will discuss their latest novels, her “The Living Infinite” (Europa Editions, $17), based on the real life of 19th-century Spanish princess Eulalia, and his “The German Girl” (Washington Square Press, $16), about a 12-year-old who flees Nazi Germany but finds her expected asylum is an illusion. Born in Miami to Cuban parents, Acevedo is the author of award-winning books and an associate professor of English at the University of Miami. Prize-winning author and journalist Correa is editor-in-chief of People en Espanol, the top-selling U.S. Hispanic magazine. banksquarebooks.com.
Bank Square Books will host appearances by Southern cooking expert Paula Deen on Saturday, Sept. 23, from noon to 7 p.m. at the Mohegan Sun Casino, 1 Mohegan Sun Blvd., Uncasville. Her latest cookbook is “At The Southern Table with Paula Deen” (Paula Deen Ventures, $28.95). There will be a photo session at noon, admission $30, which includes a pre-signed copy. At The Cabaret Theatre at 4 p.m., a $70 ticket includes a cooking demonstration, discussion with Paula, selfies, samples of featured recipes and a pre-signed copy. Information about photo rules and tickets: banksquarebooks.com/paula-deen.
Book Club Bookstore
On Saturday, Sept. 23, at 1 p.m., at Book Club Bookstore & More, 869 Sullivan Ave., South Windsor, historian Diana Ross McCain will give a free talk about her debut novel, “Thy Children’s Children” (CreateSpace, 19.95), based on the Lyman family of Lyman Orchards in Middlefield. McCain also has published nonfiction books, including “It Happened in Connecticut,” “Mysteries and Legends of New England” and “Connecticut Coast.” 860-432-7411 or bookclubct.com.
Arts Café Reading
The Arts Café Mystic, 9 Water St., Mystic, will present a reading by poet Aja Monet and music by The Sea The Sea (cq) on Friday, Sept. 22, at 7:30 p.m. Admission is $10; free for students. 860-912-2444 or allynsally@sbcglobal.net.
Poetry Place Sunday Series
Clinton Art Gallery’s 2017 Poetry Place Sunday Series will continue Sunday, Sept. 17, at 2 p.m. in the Olcott Art Center at 20 East Main St., Clinton. The sixth event in the free series will present readings by Connecticut poets Marilyn Nelson, Srini Mandavilli and John Stanizzi and an open mike session.
Nelson is the award-winning author or translator of 24 poetry books, including “A Wreath for Emmett Till.” She was State Poet Laureate from 2001 to 2006. Mandavilli is chief of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Hartford Hospital and has been widely published. Stanizzi, who teaches literature at Manchester Community College, has published several collections, and his work has appeared in many literary journals. trentham@comcast.net.
Physician And Author
Hartford Hospital physician Michael J. Hallisey, M.D., will give a free talk at Emanuel Synagogue, 160 Mohegan Dr., West Hartford, on Sunday, Sept. 17, at 9 a.m. for the Brotherhood’s Breakfast/Speaker Program. Breakfast will be served at 9 a.m.
His book, “The Last Prophet” (CreateSpace, $9.99), is a thriller that explores the Black Plague and religious turmoil in the early 1500s. In it, a present-day CIA agent and a trauma surgeon work to solve a murder and a 500-year-old mystery with clues in the artist Caravaggio’s paintings. malleyks@gmail.com or 860-232-6598.
Bridge And A Book Talk
Registration is open to hear author Betsy Lerner discuss her memoir, “The Bridge Ladies” (Harper Wave, $25.99) on Sunday, Sept. 24, at 11:30 a.m. in a program sponsored by the Hartford Bridge Club that will include a pizza lunch and a game. Copies will be available for $10. Non-club members are welcome.
The book tells how Lerner joined her mother’s 50-year-old bridge club, which helped repair their rocky relationship and taught her a lot about life as well as bridge.
Pre-registration is required: shokids@hotmail.com or 860-558-5313.
Granato In Wethersfield
F. Mark Granato, of Wethersfield, will give a free talk on Tuesday, Sept. 19, at 6:30 p.m. at Wethersfield Public Library, 15 Silas Deane Hwy, about his eighth book, “This Boy” (CreateSpace, $19.99). It is about a boy who grows up in Hartford’s South End in the 1960s and becomes a reporter and editor during the racial unrest and Vietnam conflict in the ’60s and ’70s. 860-529-2665 or wethersfieldlibrary.org.
Charter Oak Readings
On Sunday, Sept. 17, at 3 p.m., at Charter Oak Cultural Center, 21 Charter Oak Ave., Hartford, there will be a free program of readings by Paula Adams Nelson, John Cayer, Charlie Chase, Gray Jacobik, Marilyn Johnston and Lisa C. Taylor, following an open mike. charteroakreadings.blogspot.com, JforJames@aol.com or 860-508-2810.
Rankine At La Grua
On Saturday, Sept. 23, at 5 p.m., the annual Merrill Lecture will present poet Claudia Rankine, winner of many prestigious awards, at the La Grua Center, 32 Water St., Stonington. A $5 donation is suggested. lagruacenter.org.
Forgotten Women
Readings from “Forgotten Women: A Tribute in Poetry” (Grayson Books, $19.98), edited by Ginny Lowe Connors, will be held Saturday, Sept. 23, at 2 p.m. at Yale Bookstore, 77 Broadway, New Haven. Readers will include Laura Altshul, Sherri Bedingfield, Elaine Zimmerman, Vivian Shipley, Pat Mottola, Joan Hofmann, Nancy Kerrigan, Christine Beck, Karen Torop, Sheila Murphy, Nancy Clarke Otter and Julia Paul. The poems celebrate often unappreciated women throughout history. theshopsatyale.com/yalebookstoreevents
Inspirational Pets
Connie Bombaci and Shawn Flynn will appear on Saturday, Sept. 23, at Barnes & Noble, 1375 Boston Post Road, Milford, at 1 p.m.
Bombaci is the author of “Hogan’s Hope: A Deaf Hero’s Inspirational Quest for Love and Acceptance” (True Directions Publishing, $13.99), about a rescued deaf dog who learned to respond to American Sign Language. Flynn’s book is “The Kitty Who Rescued Me After I Rescued Him” (ABBE Road Publishing, $9.95)” about the pet who helped him through personal difficulties. 203-301-0371.
