CitySpace At Home: Author Talks From Our Bookstore Partners
Looking for new books to add to your library? Need options for your virtual bookclub? While many of our local bookstores are closed during the pandemic, they are still fulfulling online orders and offering a robust lineup of virtual author talks. Below is a list of upcoming events from our CitySpace bookstore partners. We'll update this post regularly with new events.
Brookline Booksmith
All virtual events at the Booksmith are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted. View the full event lineup here. Purchase books here.
June 23 | 6:00 p.m.
Susan Solomont in conversation with Alan Solomont, former Ambassador to Spain and Andorra
Susan’s memoir, "Lost and Found In Spain: Tales of an Ambassador’s Wife," focuses on her 2008 to 2012 post at the U.S. Embassy in Madrid, Spain, where her husband, Alan Solomont, served as Ambassador under an appointment by President Barack Obama. In "Stella the Ambassadog," Stella Blu the cockapoo is on her way across the ocean to a city called Madrid. Stella’s father (a human) is the new U.S. Ambassador to Spain and Stella is going to serve as the Ambassadog. She will make her new home at the U.S. Embassy and represent the United States all across Spain, from parades and palaces to parks and parties.
June 25 | 6:00 p.m.
Oksana Zabuzhko in conversation with Rosanna Warren
Oksana Zabuzhko will discuss her fiction, nonfiction and poetry and her forthcoming collection, "Selected Poems of Oksana Zabuzhko," available to pre-order now from Arrowsmith Press.
About the collection: A woman on a bus traversing the American midwest, Clytemnestra plotting her husband’s murder, Ophelia criticizing her creator, and a report from Chernobyl all offer the poet occasions for reflections marked by a sophisticated wit and a philosophical probing reminiscent of Wislawa Szymborska or Adam Zagajewski. By turns urgent and ironic, Zabuzhko’s poetry stands alongside the finest and most important work to emerge from Europe in the last half century.
June 26 | 4:00 p.m.
Betsy Cornwell with Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
Brookline Booksmith welcomes Betsy Cornwell back to the stage, in conversation with Kimberly Brubaker Bradley to discuss Betsy’s new novel The Circus Rose.
In this lush YA retelling of “Snow White and Rose Red,” twins Rosie & Ivory are children of the circus, traveling far and wide with their ringmaster mother. When at last they return to Port End, the closest to a home they’ve ever known, the world has changed: fundamentalist pamphlets and angry preachers warn of coming danger. And at their homecoming performance…disaster strikes.
Join us for a discussion of this perfect fable, for fans of Erin Morgenstern and Laini Taylor.
Harvard Book Store
All virtual events at Harvard Book Store are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted. View the full event lineup here. Purchase books here.
June 23 | 7:00 p.m.
Paul Lisicky and Deborah A. Lott
Harvard Book Store's virtual even series welcomes acclaimed writers Paul Lisicky and Deborah A. Lott for a discussion of their respective memoirs "Later: My Life at the Edge of the World" and "Don't Go Crazy Without Me: A Tragicomic Memoir."
June 25 | 7:00 p.m.
Martha McPhee
Harvard Book Store's virtual event series welcomes Martha McPhee—author of the novels "Bright Angel Time" and "Gorgeous Lies"—for a discussion of her latest novel, An "Elegant Woman." She will be joined in conversation by her sister, acclaimed photographer Laura McPhee.
June 26 | 5:00 p.m.
Roddy Doyle
Harvard Book Store's virtual event series welcomes beloved writer Roddy Doyle—author of the Booker Prize–winning novel "Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha"—for a discussion of his latest novel, "Love." He will be joined in conversation by John Freeman, executive editor of "Literary Hub" and founder and editor of the celebrated literary annual, "Freeman's."
Porter Square Books
All virtual events at Porter Square Books are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted. View the full event lineup here. Purchase books here.
June 24 | 7:00 p.m.
Jamie Pacton
Join Porter Square Books for a virtual event with Jamie Pacton, author of May staff pick "The Life and Medieval Times of Kit Sweetly," in conversation with Jennifer Dugan, author of "Verona Comics" and "Hot Dog Girl!"
June 25 | 7:00 p.m.
A People's Guide To Greater Boston
Join Porter Square Books and Eleni Macrakis, Suren Moodlair and Joseph Nevins, co-authors of "A People's Guide to Greater Boston" for a virtual talk! The book eveals the region’s richness and vibrancy in ways that are neglected by traditional area guidebooks and obscured by many tourist destinations.
This article was originally published on May 20, 2020.
