Book Events: Avon Comic Convention; Spoken Word At MCC

Special To The Courant
Author Amy Bloom and WNPR host Faith Middleton will appear at West Hartford Town Hall April 15

AvonCon, a Comic Convention presented by Avon Library, will offer free workshops and talks for kids and adults about many aspects of comic books and graphic novels at the library, 281 Country Club Road, Avon on Saturday, April 18, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Costumes are encouraged.

There will be workshops on Gaming, Comic Book Creation, Cartoon Anatomy and Monster Creation and lectures on The Importance of Graphic Novels, The DC vs. Marvel Debate, Women in Comics and Dungeons & Dragons.

The Avon Fire Department will prepare and sell refreshments (cash only). Information: 860-673-9712 or avonctlibrary.info/avoncon.html.

Cristina Henriquez At Renbrook

Author Cristina Henriquez, whose debut novel, "The Book of Unknown Americans" (Knopf, $24.95), is a tale of immigrant families, love and what it means to be an American, will give a free talk on Tuesday, April 14, at 6:30 p.m. at Renbrook School, 2865 Albany Ave., West Hartford. Thea Montanez, president of the board of the Hartford Public Library, will be the moderator.

Henriquez' short fiction has appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, Glimmer Train, The American Scholar, Ploughshares and the anthology "This is Not Chick Lit: Original Stories by America's Best Women Writers." Her nonfiction has run in major magazines and such anthologies as "Thirty Ways of Looking at Hillary: Women Writers Reflect on the Candidate and What Her Campaign Meant."

Reservations: 860-236-1661 or renbrook.org/booktalk.

Mishi-maya-gat Spoken Word & Music

The Mishi-maya-gat Spoken Word & Music Series will present poet, editor, nonfiction writer, translator and educator Christopher Merrill and music by Manchester Community College students and members of the MCC Music Club on Thursday, April 16, from 6:30-9 p.m., at MCC on Main, 903 Main St., Manchester.

The program opens with the musical performance. At 7:30 p.m., Merrill, author of six poetry collections, five nonfiction books, translator of other poets' work and director of the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa, will speak.

Information: manchestercc.edu/mmg or 860-512-2824.

Bloom And Middleton In West Hartford

Connecticut author Amy Bloom and WNPR radio host Faith Middleton will appear in a free National Library Week Celebration program at West Hartford Town Hall, 50 S. Main St., West Hartford, on Wednesday, April 15, at 7 p.m.

Bloom is the acclaimed author of three novels and three story collections. She has written for The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine and The Atlantic Monthly, among many other publications, and has won a National Magazine Award. Her most recent novel is "Lucky Us" (Random House,$26). Bloom is Distinguished Writer in Residence at Wesleyan University. Middleton's program, "The Book Show," is broadcast on Thursdays on WNPR.

This annual event is presented by the Friends of West Hartford Libraries to honor library advocate Herbert Hoffman. Free parking is available in the Town Hall lot.

Information: 860-561-6990.

Aetna Celebration of Creative Nonfiction

On Thursday, April 16, at 7 p.m. at UConn Co-op, One Royce Circle, Storrs Center, the Aetna Celebration of Creative Nonfiction will present a free reading by award-winning author Rigoberto González, author of four poetry collections, four novels, a story collection and three books of nonfiction, including "Butterfly Boy: Memoirs of a Chicano Mariposa," winner of the American Book Award.

The reading is sponsored by the UConn Co-op, the Aetna Chair of Writing, and the Creative Writing Program at the university.

Information: bookstore.uconn.edu, or creativewriting.uconn.edu.

Poetry Events

The Faxon Poets, based at Faxon Library, 1073 New Britain Ave., West Hartford, will hold a free reading from their new chapbook, "Perspectives IX," an open mike and a publication party on Sunday, April 12, at 1:30 p.m., hosted by Tom Nicotera. West Hartford poet laureate Ginny Lowe Connors will be a special guest. The Faxon Poets include: Robert Balay, JoAnne Bauer, Francis Cheng, Pamela Guinan, Cheryl Hale, Peter Herrmann, Andrew Hook, Jerome Howard, Camilla Donahue Hynes, Christopher Jay, Mairead Siobhan Lazarus, Marcia Lewis, June Sidran Mandelkern, David May, David Mello, Brittany Mishra, Steve Olechna, Thomas L. L. Hercules Strong, Andy Weil and Anissa Zucker. Information: 860-561-8202.

Poet Sara Ingram will present a free "The Stories Behind the Poems" program on Thursday, April 16, at 7 p.m., Killingworth Library, 301 Route 81, Killingworth. Registration: 860-663-2000.

The free Wintonbury Branch Poetry Series will host a reading by Margaret Gibson on Thursday, April 16, at McMahon Wintonbury Library, 1015 Blue Hills Ave., Bloomfield, at 7 p.m. Gibson has published 11 collections, including, "Broken Cup" (Louisiana State University Press, $17.95), about coping with her husband's Alzheimer's disease. Information: prosserlibrary.info or 860-242-0041.

The Arts Café, 9 Water St., Mystic, will present readings by poets Frank Bidart and Elizabeth Thomas and music by Sylvia Berry on Friday, April 17, at 7:30 p.m. Admission is $10. Information: 860-912-2444 or allynsally@sbcglobal.net.

Who's Your Muse?, a free spoken-word performance with jazz guitar by Paul DeMaio will be held onSaturday, April 18, at 2 p.m., at Artist Tree Tea House, 160 School St., Bristol. Cassandra Angelo, Richard Daigle, Jim Govoni, Alexandrina Sergio, Isabelle Smith and Andy Weatherwax, all members of Meeting House Poets will read, followed by an open mike event. Information: 860-919-4356.

Twain Writers Weekend

The Fourth Annual Writers' Weekend at The Mark Twain House & Museum, 351 Farmington Ave., Hartford, will be held Friday, April 17 to April 19. It offers lectures, workshops, panels, readings, receptions and signings with authors and playwrights. The cost for the three-day event is $170, and single day or event tickets also are available, beginning at $25.

A conversation with Michael Kindness and Ann Kingman of the podcast and blog Books on the Nightstand will open the weekend on Friday at 7 p.m. Dani Shapiro, the Connecticut-based author of bestselling memoirs and novels, will be the keynote speaker on Saturday, April 18 at 6 p.m., and talks and workshops that day will run from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., including a 3 p.m. panel discussion with film director, screenwriter and playwright Neil LaBute in conversation with playwrights Christopher Shinn and Mark St. Germain. On April 19, the workshops will run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Workshop topics include the craft of writing and aspects of publishing, poetry, fiction, memoir, mysteries, nonfiction, oral history, proofreading, avoiding clichés, social-media writing, self-publishing, dialogue and finding an agent. Je Banach will interview Terence Hawkins about his book, "American Neolithic."

Schedule and registration: marktwainhouse.org.

Information: Julia.pistell@marktwainhouse.org or 860-280-3130.

Authors At Hickory Stick

David DeWitt, of Litchfield County, an expert on handwriting, will sign copies of "Handwriting Analysis: Discover Your Own Vocational/Career Potential" (Outskirts Press, $14.95) at The Hickory Stick Bookshop, 2 Green Hill Road, Washington Depot, on Sunday, April 12, at 2 p.m. The book is a guide to assessing career potential using graphology and includes a test that matches personality types to rewarding occupations.

On Saturday, April 18 at 5 p.m., Jan-Philipp Sendker will talk about his new novel, "Whispering Shadows" (Atria/37 Ink $25.99). In it, a retired expat journalist in contemporary China tries to solve a murder. Sendker, born in Germany, served as the American and later the Asian correspondent for Stern magazine. Admission, which includes a copy of the book, catered refreshments and a chance to meet the author, is the purchase of the book.

Information: 860-868-0525 or hickorystickbookshop.com.

Authors At R.J. Julia

New England Book Award winner Lily King will give a free talk on her novel, "Euphoria" (Grove Press, $16), on Tuesday, April 14, at 7 p.m. at R.J. Julia Booksellers, 768 Boston Post Road, Madison. It is the story of three young anthropologists in the 1930s in a dangerous love triangle. King has won the Barnes and Noble Discover Award and a Whiting Writer's Award, among many others, for her work.

On Friday, April 17 at 7 p.m. Jan-Philipp Sendkar will give a free talk about his new novel, "Whispering Shadows" (Atria/37 Ink $25.99), in which a retired expat journalist in contemporary China tries to solve a murder.

Registration is required: 203-245-3959 or rjjulia.com.

Civil War Medical History

Dr. Ira Spar, an orthopedic and hand surgeon from Farmington who is an expert on Civil War-era medicine and member of the Hartford Civil War Round table and Society of Civil War Surgeons, will discuss his book, "New Haven's Civil War Hospital: A History of Knight U.S. General Hospital, 1862-1865" (McFarland, $39.95), on Thursday, April 16, from noon to 12:45 p.m. in Memorial Hall, Connecticut State Library, 231 Capitol Ave., Hartford. It is the story of Knight U.S. General Hospital in New Haven, created to help wounded Union Army soldiers during the Civil War, when more soldiers died from non-combat related diseases than war wounds.

His talk is a free State Library and Museum of Connecticut History's Third Thursday BrownBag Lunchtime speaker series event. Attendees may bring their lunch.

Information: 860-757-6668 or ctstatelibrary.org or museumofcthistory.org.

Rebound!

Award-winning New Haven Register sports journalist David Borges will sign copies of his game-by-game account "Rebound! The Incredible Story of UConn Basketball's Comeback from Defeat to Dominance" (University Press of New England, $17.95) on Tuesday, April 14, at 6:30 p.m. at Southington Library and Museum, 255 Main St., Southington.

The book details how Coach Kevin Ollie led the comeback of the UConn men's basketball team after coach Jim Calhoun retired.

Registration: 860-628-0947 or southingtonlibrary.org.

Legendary Locals of New Britain

Amy Melissa Kirby will visit Berlin-Peck Memorial Library, 234 Kensington Road, Berlin, on Saturday, April 18 at 1 p.m. to give a free talk about her book, "Legendary Locals of New Britain" (Arcadia, $21.99). Kirby creates community-focused programs on the history of New Britain, such as Timeless Tales of Fairview Cemetery, produced with the city parks and recreation department. She is the founder and president of the New Britain Historical Society.

Registration: 860-828-7126.

Mann In Manchester

Mary Cheney Public Library, 586 Main St., Manchester, will host author Jan Mann, who will give a free talk about her new book, "How I Won the West: A Journey of Discovery" (Hillside House, $15) on Saturday, April 18, at 2 p.m. The book is both a guide to inexpensive travel and account of Mann's trip out west. It is part of the library's "Money Smart Week."

Information: 860-645-0821 or janmannbooks.com.

"Mending Horses"

Author M.P. Barker will visit East Granby Public Library, 24 Center St., East Granby, at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, April 13, to give a free talk about her upper elementary/middle school novel, "Mending Horses" (Holiday House, $17.95). It is about an Irish boy and former indentured servant in 19th-century America who suffers prejudice as he tries to make a new life for himself in a traveling show.

Registration: egpl.org.

Mystery Discussion

Carole Shmurak, of Farmington, who writes the Susan Lombardi mystery novels, will lead a free Simsbury Mystery Group: And the Award Goes to... discussion of "Winter and Night" (2002) by S.J. Rozan at Simsbury Public Library, 725 Hopmeadow St., Simsbury, on Monday, April 13, at noon.

Information: 860-658-7663.

"The Listener"

Author Rachel Basch will read from her novel, "The Listener," on Wednesday, April 15, at 7 p.m. at Fairfield University bookstore, 1499 Post Road, Fairfield. In the book, a college therapist becomes emotionally entangled with a student struggling to define his identity. Basch, who lives in the Sandy Hook section of Newtown, has published other novels, teaches in Fairfield University's MFA Program and the Graduate Liberal Studies Program at Wesleyan University.

Information: 203-255-7756.

Connecticut's Jewish Farmers

Mary Donohue, co-author with Briann G. Greenfield of "A Life of the Land: Connecticut's Jewish Farmers," published by the Jewish Historical Society of Greater Hartford, will lead a second tour of synagogues and former Jewish farming communities in Eastern Connecticut. Many of these farms in Hebron, Columbia, Lebanon, Lisbon and Colchester later became resorts in "The Catskills of Connecticut."

Advance registration is required for the tour on Sunday, April 19. It will leave at 9:30 a.m. from the commuter parking lot on Route 30, near Rein's Deli, and return at approximately 4 p.m. Tickets are $60 and include transportation, lectures, admissions and a light dairy lunch.

Registration and information: jhsgh.org or 860 727-6170 or bbrodie@jewishhartford.org.

Connecticut Yankee In Lincoln's Cabinet

J. Ronald Spencer, author of "A Connecticut Yankee in Lincoln's Cabinet: Navy Secretary Gideon Welles Chronicles the Civil War" (Acorn, $24.95) will give a free talk sponsored by the Old Saybrook Historical Society at Acton Public Library, 60 Old Boston Post Road, Old Saybrook, on Thursday, April 16, 2015 at 7 p.m.

His talk will recount Welles' astute and often caustic observations in his diary about Civil War-era battles, events and issues, including the battles of Antietam and Gettysburg, the Fort Pillow massacre of African American troops and Lincoln's assassination. Spencer has taught Civil War courses for many years and is associate academic dean and lecturer emeritus in history at Trinity College.

Information: 860-395-1635 or oldsaybrookhistory.org.

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