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2026 Events
Alpha Sigma Alpha Bookclub, February 26 Wine and Books Bookclub, March 5th Chapter Ten Readers, March 22 Association of University Women, Annual Authors Luncheon, April 18
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Minor Black Figures
Brandon Taylor is an extraordinary writer, mesmerizing and profound. This has something to do with his voice and also the quality of his mind. He’s very contemporary and yet there’s something very classical in his writing style and themes. On the surface the novel tells the story of a young black painter trying to find…
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Welcome the Trolls: Art and the Environment
I’m always on the lookout for art that reflects nature, particularly when it is both beautiful and makes connections to restoring or preserving our environment. So I was delighted to learn about Danish artist Thomas Dambo’s installations in Rhode Island of outsize troll sculptures crafted from scrap wood and old wooden pallets. Dambo, who has…
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Wild Dark Shore, by Charlotte McConaghy
An exceptional novel that is something of an environmental and literary thriller.
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This Is Happiness by Niall Williams
Oh, how I loved this book! My primary interest in fiction is a sense of place, and this novel explores place in a variety of ways. It’s set in the Irish village of Faha in County Clare, which was also featured in Niall Williams’ previous novel, “History of the Rain” (longlisted for the 2014 Man Booker…
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Sylvestor Manor
Shelter Island, New York I’ve been especially eager to visit Shelter Island’s Sylvester Manor since I began writing my current novel, which has a focus on the slave trade in the northeast. The lands of Sylvester Manor were home for millennia to indigenous Manhansett People, then owned by an Anglo Dutch sugar consortium to run…
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2025 Events
2025 Events so far
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2024 Events
October 24 – 6 PM Meet the Authors. In conversation with Andrea Exerins. Charter Books, Newport R.I. More information here October 21 – 7 PM – 8:30 PM Book Inc. Writers’ Institute Workshop: “Dynamic Setting” (via zoom) More info here October 1 – 6 PMMeet the Author. In conversation with Biddle Duke. Ashwagh Hall, East Hampton, free and open to the public.More…
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Art, Nature, and Nature in Art: The Great Elephant Migration
A very moving exhibit arrived in Newport R.I. recently to tell the tale of conservation, coexistence with nature, and the power of community in safeguarding the natural word. The Great Elephant Migration features 100 life-size elephant statues made from natural materials. From Newport they will travel to other cities around the country to spread the…
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Book Recommendation
The Underworld: Journeys to the Depths of the Ocean by Susan Casey The Underworld: Journeys to the Depths of the Ocean, by best-selling science journalist Susan Casey, is shockingly fascinating. Much of it is so unlikely as to seem completely fictional. Just about everything in this book was unknown to me, from the depth of the…
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