Goodnow Library Author Series
I’m thrilled to be hosting the upcoming Goodnow Library Author Series.
All events are virtual and FREE!
Register HERE for our 6/7 event with Hank Phillippi Ryan!
March 2, 2022 @ 7pm:
Michelle Bowdler in conversation with Jacquelin Apsler, Executive Director of Domestic Violence Services Network, Inc. will discuss Michelle’s groundbreaking, award-winning book, Is Rape a Crime? A Memoir, an Investigation, and a Manifesto. REGISTER HERE
Michelle Bowdler has been a public health expert working in higher education for the majority of her career and, after graduating from the Harvard School of Public Health, has worked on social justice issues related to rape for over a decade. Is Rape a Crime? is her first book. She is a recipient of a 2017 Barbara Deming Memorial Award and has been a Fellow at Ragdale and the MacDowell Colony. Bowdler's writing has been published in the New York Times and her essays “Eventually You Tell Your Kids” and “Babelogue” were nominated for Pushcart Prizes.
Jacquelin Apsler is the Executive Director of Domestic Violence Services Network, Inc. (DVSN). Apsler has worked in the domestic violence field for sixteen years. As the Executive Director of DVSN, Jacquelin has built on the program’s past success to bridge the gap between police departments and the community - a model that sets DVSN apart. Jacquelin establishes priorities and constantly reevaluates the program in order to provide the most professional services to survivors of domestic violence. DVSN is recognized as an innovative program of collaboration and advocacy.
April 5, 2022 @ 7pm:
Bettye Kearse, author of The Other Madisons, The Lost History of President’s Black Family in conversation with Artress White, Author of Survivor’s Guilt, Essays on Race and American Identity
Bettye Kearse, now retired, practiced pediatrics in the Boston neighborhood of Dorchester for thirty years. According to the oral history of her family, she is a descendant of the enslaved cook Coreen and her enslaver, and half-brother, President James Madison. Dr. Kearse is the author of the multiple award-winning book The Other Madisons: The Lost History of A President's Black Family. In recounting the struggles, perseverance, and contributions of eight generations of her family, this intimate memoir illustrates that enslaved Africans possessed hope and inner strength, by which they survived, and talents, by which they contributed mightily to America. Kirkus Reviews describes The Other Madisons as "A Roots for a new generation, rich in storytelling, steeped in history.”
Artress White is a poet, essayist, and literary critic. She is the recipient of the Trio Award for her poetry collection, My Afmerica (Trio House Press, 2019). Her debut essay collection, Survivor’s Guilt: Essays on Race and American Identity9 (New Rivers Press, 2020), is currently listed as a Community of Literary Magazines and Presses ( CLMP ) social justice read and a book Kirkus Reviews calls "A well-written, powerful examination of America's racial legacies." Her prose and poetry have appeared in such journals as POETRY, Harvard Review, Solstice, Poet Lore, Ecotone, Birmingham Poetry Review, Tupelo Quarterly, Green Mountains Review and Tahoma Review. White has received fellowships and residencies at the Hambidge Center for Creative Arts, the Sewanee Writers’ Conference, The Writer’s Hotel, and the Tupelo Press/MASS MoCA studios. She is associate professor of English at East Stroudsburg University and teaches poetry and nonfiction workshops for Rosemont College Summer Writer’s Retreat in Pennsylvania. She is also nonfiction editor at the Boston-based literary magazine Pangyrus.
May 10, 2022 @ 7pm
Rachel Barenbaum will chat about her new novel, Atomic Anna, (April 5, 2022 release) which received starred reviews from Kirkus and Publisher’s Weekly. From the author of A Bend in the Stars, Atomic Anna is an epic adventure as three generations of women work together and travel through time to prevent the Chernobyl disaster and right the wrongs of their past.
Rachel is a prolific writer and reviewer whose work has appeared in the LA Review of Books, the Tel Aviv Review of Books, LitHub, and DeadDarlings. She is an Honorary Research Associate at the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute at Brandeis University and is a graduate of GrubStreet’s Novel Incubator. She is also the founder of Debut Spotlight and the Debut Editor at A Mighty Blaze. In a former life she was a hedge fund manager and a spin instructor, She has degrees from Harvard in Business and Literature and Philosophy. She lives in Brookline, MA.
June 7, 2022 @ 7pm
HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN is the USA Today bestselling author of 13 psychological thrillers, winning the most prestigious awards in the genre: five Agathas, four Anthonys, and the coveted Mary Higgins Clark Award. She is also the on-air investigative reporter for Boston's WHDH-TV, with 37 EMMYs and dozens more journalism honors. Book critics call her “a master of suspense,” “a superb and gifted storyteller”; she’s the only author to have won the Agatha in four categories: Best First, Best Novel, Best Short Story and Best Non-Fiction. Her newest is HER PERFECT LIFE, a chilling psychological standalone about fame, family, and revenge. It received starred reviews from both Kirkus and Publishers Weekly, calling it “a superlative thriller.” B.A. Paris says, “Shocking, suspenseful… kept me guessing until the end.” and Julie Clark says, “You will read this in one sitting!” It is now nominated for the Agatha Award for Best Contemporary Novel. Her next is THE HOUSE GUEST, coming January 2023.
Hank is a founder of MWA University, host of CRIME TIME on A Mighty Blaze, and co-host of First Chapter Fun and The Back Room. She is a past president of National Sisters in Crime. Visit Hank at HankPhillippiRyan.com, Twitter @HankPRyan, Instagram @hankpryan and Facebook at HankPhillippiRyanAuthor.