A countess who is also an author, a poet who won a MacArthur “Genius” Grant and best-selling Connecticut authors will present programs for book lovers. Here is a sampling:
The Real Downton Abbey: Lady Fiona, the 8th Countess of Carnarvon, who lives in Highclere Castle in England, where much of “Downton Abbey” on PBS TV was filmed, has written four books about her family history. She will visit Hill-Stead Museum for talks on May 25 and 27 on how some characters were inspired by family members and a gala fundraiser on May 26.
Hill-Stead Museum is at 35 Main St., Farmington. Tickets are $150 for the 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 the May 27 talk at 10 a.m. Information: hillstead.org.
Big Tent Jubilee: The annual Big Tent Jubilee on June 2 at the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center will honor Martese Johnson and Nina Sachs, Student Stowe Prize winners for writing that promotes social justice. Andrew Aydin, co-author with U.S. Rep. John Lewis of Georgia of the best-selling graphic memoir series about the civil rights movement, “March,” will award the prizes and speak. Aydin and the students also will be panelists at an Inspiration to Action: Real Stories of Social Change program.
The center is at 77 Forest St., Hartford. The free panel discussion begins at 3 p.m. at Immanuel Congregational Church, 10 Woodland St., Hartford. The Jubilee begins at 6 p.m. Tickets are $175 (cocktails, dinner and presentation) or $300 (reception with Aydin). Reservations: 860-522-9258, ext. 305, HarrietBeecherStowe.org.
Ann Leary: Best-selling novelist Ann Leary, who lives on farm in northwestern Connecticut, will give three talks about her latest novel, “The Children” (St. Martin’s Press, $26.99) about a wealthy and quirky New England family. It is her third novel, following “The Good House” (to become a film starring Meryl Streep and Robert De Niro) and “Outtakes From a Marriage,” and the memoir, “An Innocent, A Broad.”
Leary will appear May 28 at 4 p.m. at the Hickory Stick Bookshop, 2 Green Hill Road, Washington Depot (information: 860-868 0525 or hickorystickbookshop.com June 2 at 7 p.m. at R.J. Julia Booksellers, 768 Boston Post Road, Madison (registration: 203-245-3959 or rjjulia.com and Simsbury Public Library, 725 Hopmeadow St., Simsbury, on June 29, at 6:30 p.m.(registration by June 22: 860-658-7663 or simsburylibrary.info.
Sunken Garden Festival: Heather McHugh, who has published eight poetry collections and won a MacArthur “Genius” Grant, will open the annual Sunken Garden Poetry Festival on the Hill-Stead Museum grounds in Farmington on June 22. Suzanne Parker, its Poetry Chapbook Winner, also will read. All programs include musical performances and will continue July 10 with Brian Turner and Doug Anderson, July 20 with Ed Hirsch and Clare Rossini, Aug. 7 with U.S. Poet Laureate Juan Felipe Herrera and Peg Boyers and Aug. 19, with Kwame Dawes and Fresh Voices Student Competition Winners on Connecticut Young Poets Day.
The museum is at 35 Main St., Farmington. Gates will open at 4:30 p.m., followed by a 5 p.m. Prelude conversation with the headlining poet; opening poet at 6 p.m.; music at 6:30 p.m. and headlining poet at 7:15 p.m. Admission: $12 on-line; $15 at the gate; free for ages 18 or younger. Free parking. Tickets and information: hillstead.org.
Local Author Festival: Avon Free Public Library will host a free Local Author Festival from June 16 to July 28. Novelist Matthew Dicks, of Newington, who teaches in West Hartford and co-founded the Speak Up storytelling organization, will give the keynote talk on June 25 at 2 p.m. Dicks’ latest novel, his fourth, is “The Perfect Comeback of Caroline Jacobs” (St. Martin’s, $24.99). Forty authors will take part in festival events featuring fiction, Avon, returning authors, teen and middle readers and children’s, romance, travel and mystery books.
Avon Free Public Library is at 281 Country Club Road, Avon. Evening events are at 7 p.m.; afternoon events at 2 p.m. Information: 860-673-9712 or avonctlibrary.info.
Connecticut Authors Trail: Adam von Gootkin will discuss “Living Proof: Onyx Moonshine’s Journey to Revive the American Spirit” (Career Press, $15.99), at the July 7 kickoff at Calvert Library in Franklin for the eighth annual Connecticut Authors Trail. The series of free talks takes place at 20 Eastern Connecticut libraries, from Mansfield to Mystic, with a finale Sept. 15 at Mohegan Sun with romance writer Kristan Higgins. “Living Proof” is a family story and business advice book about how von Gootkin and his partners grew Onyx Spirits from a start-up to a multimillion-dollar, award-winning spirit distillery.
Connecticut Authors Trail events are free. Information: connecticutauthorstrail.org. Calvert Library is at 5 Tyler Drive, Franklin. Information: calvertlibrary.org or 860-642-6207.
