A Happy New Year’s Message from the Head Librarian |
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Happy New Year.
As I sat down to write this note, I re-read a year's worth of my letters to the membership. Some of these letters were difficult, some beseeching, some procedural. All were hopeful. And I remain so. We are still suffering, and there is much work to do. But things are looking up and the signs are encouraging.
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RBdigital magazine readers: You may see a warning message on this platform that does not apply to us. However, news about changes to digital magazines are coming soon.
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Last month we inquired what you were reading as the year drew to a close. Many respondents declared their plan to read Isabel Wilkerson, Jess Walter, and President Obama’s new memoir; others dug into classics and contemporary classics including Italo Calvino, Hilary Mantel, James McBride, and Wallace Stegner, or history featuring Truman, Nixon, and foreign correspondents between the world wars. At least one reader intended to revive the custom of “A Christie for Christmas” – Agatha, that is.
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NEW DATES! WRITING LIFE WORKSHOP - OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
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Write What Life Feels Like Now with Esther Cohen
Thursdays January 7, January 21, 3:00 PM
online | open to the public; free for members | registration required
It's an unusual season. There are so many words to say how we feel. Let's try together. This popular workshop continues alternate Thursdays through the winter.
Esther Cohen is a writer and poet in New York City. She also teaches and is a cultural activist. Most days she posts a poem at esthercohen.com.
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THE WRITING LIFE - FOR MEMBERS ONLY |
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Prompt!
with Terena Elizabeth Bell
Fridays, January 8, February 12, 11:00 AM
Join your fellow member writers for a fun and stimulating hour and a half of prompts, writing, and sharing. Prompt! takes place second Fridays of the month through the spring.
Terena Elizabeth Bell is a fiction writer. She has published in more than 100 outlets, including The Atlantic, Playboy, The Yale Review, Juked, and Natural Bridge. She also edits the Writing Your Way Through the Classics literary craft series under the pseudonym Lizzy Sisk.
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NEW! SPECIAL EVENT - OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
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New Year's Know-It-All Quiz Night
Friday, January 8, 6:00 PM
Ring in the New Year with our all-new trivia night with a literary bent. Test your knowledge on opening lines, banned books and more. Prizes! Surprises!
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SPECIAL EVENT - OPEN TO THE PUBLIC |
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Film Screening and Screenwriting Discussion: Love, Repeat
Sunday, January 24, 2:00 PM
online | $10 per person | registration required
Love, Repeat is a new romantic family comedy, and a love letter to the Upper East Side. James is still in love with his ex-wife Barbara. His quirky and diverse circle of family and friends are all breaking up too. But, in a crazy world, love is the only thing that makes sense. To love, and then love again. This special event includes a screening of this new film and discussion with screenwriter/star Bill Connington.
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SEMINAR - FOR MEMBERS ONLY |
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Hilary Mantel's Cromwell Trilogy
with Nicholas Birns
Wednesdays January 27, February 17, March 10, April 7, 11:00 AM
online | $60 for the set of four sessions | registration required
We read Mantel's magisterial historical-fiction trilogy on Thomas Cromwell as the author uses her characters and settings to trace the evolution of the earliest stirrings of a modernity we may still inhabit.
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SEMINAR - FOR MEMBERS ONLY |
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Vladimir Nabokov: Four Books
with Jane Mallison
Thursdays January 28, February 18, March 11, April 1, 11:00 AM
online | $60 for the set of four sessions | registration required
This seminar reads three of Nabokov’s novels and his autobiography, emphasizing the pleasure of enjoying his originality and the intricacies of his style.
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SPECIAL EVENT - OPEN TO THE PUBLIC |
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Black Literature Matters: The 1800s
Thursday, January 28, 6:00 PM
online | free of charge | registration required
In this original series of live online events, hear the voices of Black writers through history re-examined to inspire understanding of race in our country today. This second event of the series features writers from the 1800s including William Wells Brown, Frederick Douglass, Frances E.W. Harper (shown here), Harriet Jacobs, David Walker, and Ida B. Wells, with historic context, dramatic readings, images, and music.
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The Writing Life events in 2021 are generously underwritten by Jenny Lawrence. |
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Quick Links
Library Hours
Monday and Friday 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday 10:00 AM – 7:00 PM
Saturday and Sunday 11:00 AM – 5:00 PM
The Library will be closed Monday, January 18, in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
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