Community Calendar

Join internationally bestselling author Alexander McCall Smith for a delightful evening celebrating The Big Cats Dance Party, the 27th installment in his beloved and bestselling No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series.

Is it hot in here, or is it just your writing? Birds do it, bees do it . . . so why is it so hard for writers to do it—or rather, to do it well? Writing about sex, like the very act itself, can be difficult, funny, embarrassing, intense, evocative, compelling, sad, political, boring, mind-blowing, exciting, and exhausting. How much is too much? When is it not enough? What will others think of us? And what about our own self-censors? We will consider these and other perils and joys of getting believable, effective, sometimes beautiful and literary sex scenes on the page. We’ll look at published samples, and cover tips and traps to avoid—starting with the fact that sex in literature is rarely just about the sex at all. Join us for this evening delight! And note—this class is about writing sex scenes in works of fiction and memoir, NOT about writing erotica or porn.

Rated R for Real—all participants must be 18 or older.

You've written a book or you're thinking about writing one, but how do you decide what comes next? Today's authors have more publishing options than ever before, yet many feel overwhelmed by the differences between traditional publishing, hybrid publishing, and self-publishing. In this workshop, author, self-publisher, and publishing company founder Ashequka Lacey provides a practical overview of each publishing path, exploring the benefits, challenges, costs, timelines, and levels of creative control associated with each option. Participants will learn key considerations for evaluating their goals as authors and gain a clearer understanding of which publishing path may be the best fit for their book. Attendees will leave with greater confidence, practical resources, and actionable next steps for moving their writing project forward.

Want to add more dimension to your settings and characters? In this dynamic two-part workshop, you will discover how to transform ordinary prose into a vivid, texture-rich world where every detail does heavy lifting. You will learn how consumer brands can provide insight into a character's life and psychology, how quirky personality traits can naturally spark plot, conflict, and humor, and how to masterfully balance the classic debate of "showing vs. telling." Beyond character anatomy, we will explore "place as character," analyzing how the unique mores, rituals, and unspoken rules of a setting actively shape and challenge its inhabitants.

This two-part workshop will be a combination of lecture, writing, discussion, and optional sharing. By the end of the workshop, you will write an original scene driven by a character’s distinct eccentricities or craft a atmospheric setting, perhaps with strange rituals and happenings reminiscent of Shirley Jackson’s chilling classic, "The Lottery."

Want to add more dimension to your settings and characters? In this dynamic two-part workshop, you will discover how to transform ordinary prose into a vivid, texture-rich world where every detail does heavy lifting. You will learn how consumer brands can provide insight into a character's life and psychology, how quirky personality traits can naturally spark plot, conflict, and humor, and how to masterfully balance the classic debate of "showing vs. telling." Beyond character anatomy, we will explore "place as character," analyzing how the unique mores, rituals, and unspoken rules of a setting actively shape and challenge its inhabitants.

This two-part workshop will be a combination of lecture, writing, discussion, and optional sharing. By the end of the workshop, you will write an original scene driven by a character’s distinct eccentricities or craft a atmospheric setting, perhaps with strange rituals and happenings reminiscent of Shirley Jackson’s chilling classic, "The Lottery."

Want to add more dimension to your settings and characters? In this dynamic two-part workshop, you will discover how to transform ordinary prose into a vivid, texture-rich world where every detail does heavy lifting. You will learn how consumer brands can provide insight into a character's life and psychology, how quirky personality traits can naturally spark plot, conflict, and humor, and how to masterfully balance the classic debate of "showing vs. telling." Beyond character anatomy, we will explore "place as character," analyzing how the unique mores, rituals, and unspoken rules of a setting actively shape and challenge its inhabitants.

This two-part workshop will be a combination of lecture, writing, discussion, and optional sharing. By the end of the workshop, you will write an original scene driven by a character’s distinct eccentricities or craft a atmospheric setting, perhaps with strange rituals and happenings reminiscent of Shirley Jackson’s chilling classic, "The Lottery."

Join us for this free screening of the documentary film “Women Laughing,” followed by a conversation with veteran New Yorker cartoonist Liza Donnelly and James Thurber’s granddaughter Sara Thurber Sauers.

In “Women Laughing,” Liza Donnelly sets out to explore her lifelong passion for women’s humor and cartooning by speaking, laughing, and drawing with a diverse group of remarkable women who create cartoons for the iconic magazine. Inspired by her acclaimed book Very Funny Ladies and Liza’s own biography, the film also looks back at the fascinating history and evolution of single panel cartoons—from the 1920s, to the present—and reveals how far women have come in a field historically dominated by men.

Liza Donnelly is a writer and award-winning cartoonist with The New Yorker Magazine, where she has been drawing cartoons and writing about culture and politics for forty years. She has contributed to CBS News and CNN, creating political cartoons as well as live-drawing special cultural and political events. Donnelly writes and draws for The New York Times and CNN Opinion pages and The Washington Post. Liza is also a screenwriter working on her third feature film.

Many memoirs-in-progress suffer from being too sad or plotless or seemingly irrelevant, and a quick fix is humor. People read nonfiction to spend time with the writer—so if you’re funny, readers will want to spend time with you. Editors will want to spend time with you. You’ll want to spend time with you. And you don’t have to be born with a sense of humor to be funny and to write funny. Funny is a skill like any other. Writers of every level can learn and memorize concrete ways to joke with confidence about yourself, your life, and your world. In this generative writing seminar, everyone will practice comedic tools with guided instruction to be funnier on the page and at parties.

Join award-winning singer-songwriter Eric Gnezda for a conversation with his good friend and fellow musician Sally Fingerett about his new book, Stories at the Center, as well as live performances of Eric's original songs with virtuoso violinist Arkadiy Gips! Highlighting Eric as a songwriter and author, this evening will also feature readings by Eric, an audience Q&A, and a book signing.

Eric and Sally will discuss Eric's latest book, Stories at the Center, a memoir chronicling his unconventional path in the entertainment business, including creating and hosting the popular PBS original program, Songs at the Center, a nationally syndicated series that showcases the works of brilliant talents in the contemporary singer-songwriting field.

Eric Gnezda is an award-winning singer-songwriter and the creator and host of Songs at the Center, a TV series that airs on over 400 PBS stations across the U.S. He pens and performs a wide range of songs, both serious and humorous—from inspirational anthems and love songs that touch the heart and soul to country tearjerkers and comedic/satirical numbers.

You will have the opportunity to ask the speakers questions after the event, purchase books, and get your books signed.

In our lives, we are both always experts and novices. Personal essay and book-length memoirs allow writers to explore compelling, central moments, experiences, and material from their lives to communicate meaning, universal themes, and takeaways to readers, transforming experience into narrative art. What are the ethics of writing about others? We will explore conventions of the form, such as self-disclosure and deep examination, creating tension, character arc, using scenes and dialogue, distilling the “one big thing” your piece is about, and the blurry boundaries of fact and imagination in creative nonfiction—the only writing form defined by what it is not. Discussion questions may include: how do you maximize self-inquiry while avoiding "navel gazing"? What elements make stories engaging to readers? How do you craft a persona on the page?

By the end of the session, you will possess an understanding of personal essay and memoir writing fundamentals: honesty, self-reflection, tension, balancing scenes and exposition, distilling your memoir or essay's "about-ness" (i.e., theme), and what to include versus what to omit. Toward the end of our time together, we will discuss the process of submitting your essays for publication so readers can experience them.