Boston, October 2, 2015 – Author talks and lectures continue this October at the Boston Public Library’s Central Library and branches, with topics ranging from colonial America to the art of illustrated maps and teen reads. Lecture topics as part of the Local & Family History Series include Beacon Hill séances and tips and guides for genealogical research.
Boston Public Library in late 1800s(file picture).
Fall author talks and lectures run through December. A full list of these events at the Central Library in Copley Square is available here http://www.bpl.org/programs/author_series.htm, and October highlights include:
- Peter Barber details “The Colonies in Context: The Place of North America in King George’s World View” on Monday, October 5, at 6 p.m. in the Abbey Room at the Central Library in Copley Square. Part of the Lowell Lecture Series.
- Novelist M. T. Anderson speaks on “A Revolution within the Revolution: The African-American Struggle for Freedom” and the history behind his National Book Award-winning epic The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation on Wednesday, October 14, at 6 p.m. in the Abbey Room at the Central Library in Copley Square. Part of the Lowell Lecture Series.
- Author, educator, and map illustrator John Roman reveals how and why the human mind instinctively accepts the artistic license evoked in imaginative maps as he discusses The Art of Illustrated Maps: A Complete Guide to Creative Mapmaking’s History, Process, and Inspiration on Wednesday, October 21, at 6 p.m. in the Commonwealth Salon at the Central Library in Copley Square. This is a Norman B. Leventhal Map Center program.
- Karen Mastrobattista Curran, author of Her Greatness Proclaim: The History of Girls’ Latin School, chronicles the school’s establishment, its success as one of the best high schools in the nation, and its ironic demise as a casualty of the women’s rights movement on Wednesday, October 21, at 6 p.m. in the Abbey Room at the Central Library in Copley Square. Part of the Local & Family History Series.
- David Jaher, author of The Witch of Lime Street: Séance, Seduction, and Houdini in the Spirit World, speaks about a showdown in the early 20th century between “Margery,” a famous medium and the wife of a Boston surgeon and Harry Houdini on Thursday, October 22, at 6 p.m. in the Abbey Room at the Central Library in Copley Square. Part of the Local & Family History Series.
- Jane Kamensky takes readers back to colonial America in John Singleton Copley and the Sideways American Revolution on Wednesday, October 28, at 6 p.m. in the Abbey Room at the Central Library in Copley Square. This is part of the Lowell Lecture Series.
Dozens of talks and lectures are also being offered across the BPL’s neighborhood branches. Highlights include:
- First-time novelist Diana Nicosia reads from her book The Caravaggio Contract, based on a true story about the baroque artist Caravaggio’s missing paintings, on Tuesday, October 6, at 6:30 p.m. at the South End Branch, located at 685 Tremont Street.
- Fred Golder details the true story of a Holocaust survivor persecuted by the Nazis and victimized by the American court system in When God Looked Down and Wept on Tuesday, October 13, at 6:30 p.m. at the South End Branch, located at 685 Tremont Street.
- Sam Baltrusis, author of Ghosts of Boston: Haunts of the Hub, explores more than three-hundred years of the city’s haunted history on Tuesday, October 20, at 6:30 p.m. at the Fields Corner Branch, located at 1520 Dorchester Avenue.
- Lawrence DiCara discusses his book Turmoil and Transition in Boston: A Political Memoir from the Busing Era on Wednesday, October 28, at 6:30 p.m. at the North End Branch, located at 25 Parmenter Street.
Boston Public Library has a Central Library, twenty-four branches, map center, business library, and a website filled with digital content and services. Established in 1848, the Boston Public Library has pioneered public library service in America. It was the first large free municipal library in the United States, the first public library to lend books, the first to have a branch library, and the first to have a children’s room. Each year, the Boston Public Library hosts thousands of programs and serves millions of people. All of its programs and exhibitions are free and open to the public. At the Boston Public Library, books are just the beginning. To learn more, visit bpl.org.