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Unless otherwise noted programs are held in the auditorium at the main library on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway
Edna O'Brien | The Little Red Chairs
Natalie Cohn Memorial Lecture
With "an outsize life to match her outsize talent" (New York Times), Edna O'Brien is the author of a score of novels, short story collections, biographies, and poetry collections. Due to frank female voices and daring sexual scenes, her first book, The Country Girls, and six of her subsequent works were banned in her native Ireland. The recipient of the James Joyce Ulysses Medal, the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award, and the National Medal for Fiction, O'Brien is an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. In The Little Red Chairs, a woman's world is crushed when she discovers that the Eastern European man she loves is a wanted war criminal.
In conversation with Laura Kovacs
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James McBride | Kill 'Em and Leave: Searching for the Real James Brown
Tuesday, April 5, 2016 at 7:30PM; FREE
No tickets or reservations required. For more info: 215-567-4341
James McBride is the author of the National Book Award winner The Good Lord Bird, in which a young boy born into slavery joins abolitionist John Brown's crusade, concealing his identity and gender to survive. His other books include the New York Times bestselling memoir and 2004 One Book, One Philadelphia selection The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother, in which "race and religion are transcended by family love" (New York Times Book Review). His other novels include Miracle at St. Anna, which he adapted for Spike Lee's film, and Song Yet Sung. McBride is also an award-winning composer, screenwriter, and saxophonist. His new book traces the roots of James Brown and includes interviews with sources who have never before spoken on the record.
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Buzz Aldrin | No Dream Is Too High: Life Lessons From a Man Who Walked on the Moon
AUDITORIUM SOLD OUT. IN-HOUSE SIMULCAST SEATS AVAILABLE. Best known for the 1969 Apollo 11 moon landing, retired Air Force Colonel Buzz Aldrin holds a doctorate in astronautics; developed the orbital rendezvous technique critical to America's lunar landings; and founded the ShareSpace Foundation, a nonprofit organization devoted to opening the doors of space tourism for all people. In Magnificent Desolation: The Long Journey Home from the Moon, Aldrin told the tale of the historic moon landing, as well as the story of his later struggle with and triumph over depression and alcoholism. He is also the author of three other nonfiction books, two scientifically accurate novels, and two children's books. In No Dream Is Too High, Aldrin illustrates the finely honed principles and lessons taught by his extraordinary life. Signing Guidelines: Mr. Adrin will only sign (but not personalize) his new book No Dream is Too High and his children's books. No memorabilia, photos, or other books will be signed. No posed photos.
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Of Interest
Penn History Series: The Invention of Global Time
How did societies around the world come to follow the same system of hour-wide time zones? Between the 1870s and 1950s, German and French government officials, British social reformers, colonial administrators, Indian nationalists, Arab reformers, Muslim scholars, and League of Nations bureaucrats engaged in a prolonged, contested, and only partially successful quest to adopt a universally standardized clock time and "World Calendar." Vanessa Ogle is the Julie and Martin Franklin Assistant Professor of history at the University of Pennsylvania, and author of The Global Transformation of Time: 1870 - 1950.
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Also of Interest
Geek Parenting: Raising Kids on Fantasy, Sci-Fi, and Comics
Wednesday, April 6, 2016 at 7:00PM; FREE
Parkway Central Library, Room 108
Celebrating the release of their new book Geek Parenting: What Joffrey, Jor-El, Maleficent and the McFlys Teach Us About Raising a Family, coauthors Stephen H. Segal (formerly of Philly Weekly) and Valya Dudycz Lupescu ask parents and kids: Who's your favorite fictional family? Come join the authors at their launch party and geek out over which fantastical clans mean the most to you-whether it's the Potters or the Possibles, the Bagginses or the Baratheons, the Siskos or the Skywalkers. You'll leave with a whole new list of family reading ideas!
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Free Library Author Events
Andy Kahan, Ruth W. and A. Morris Williams Director, Author Events
Laura Kovacs, Associate Director
Jason Freeman, Program Associate
phone: 215-567-4341
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