Thurber House's literary programming for fall 2009 continues the 25th anniversary celebration when it opens Sept. 14 with best-selling author Sue Miller as the first event in the Evenings with Authors series.
The season line-up also features a bonus literary event and, to conclude the anniversary year, the Thurber Birthday Gala Dec. 9.
The Fall 2009 Evenings with Authors schedule is listed as follows:
Sue Miller, Sept. 14, 7:30 p.m., Columbus Museum of Art, 480 E. Broad St.
New York Times bestselling author Sue Miller will read from her latest novel, The Senator’s Wife, a mesmerizing portrait of two imperfect marriages and two women who unexpectedly change each other’s lives. She is the author of 10 books including, The Good Mother, Inventing the Abbotts, and the Oprah Book Club pick, the bestselling While I’m Gone.
Kaylie Jones,Sept. 24, 7:30 p.m., Columbus Performing Arts Center's Shedd Theatre, 549 Franklin Ave.
Kaylie Jones, acclaimed author of five novels and daughter of iconic author James Jones, will read from her new book and memoir, Lies My Mother Never Told Me. In this revealing story of Kaylie’s childhood, she describes what it was like growing up in the 1960s and ’70s with a famous father and an emotionally abusive mother, surrounded by her parents’ celebrated friends— writers, movie stars, diplomats and other glitterati of the time when alcohol fueled the myth of perfection of their lives.
Julia Glass, Oct. 15, 7:30 p.m., Columbus School for Girls, 56 S. Columbia Ave.
Julia Glass won the National Book Award in 2002 for her first novel, Three Junes. Glass will read from her latest work of fiction, I See You Everywhere. The story, with autobiographical overtones, portrays the relationship between two sisters, Louisa, who is brainy and cautious, and Clem, wild and adventurous.
Rita Mae Brown, Oct. 28, 7:30 p.m., Columbus Performing Arts Center's Shedd Theatre, 549 Franklin Ave.
Rita Mae Brown is the popular, bestselling author of numerous mystery novels, including the Sister Jane Foxhunting series, the Sneaky Pie Brown mysteries and her first memoir, Rita Will. In addition, she is an Emmy-nominated screenwriter and a poet. Her latest work and second memoir, Animal Magnetism: My Life with Creatures Great and Small, will be released in October. Readily admitting that she prefers the company of animals to people, Brown shares the lessons she’s learned from her animal friends as they have loved, endured and taught her, while at the same time, she has given them bottomless love in return.
Bruce Feiler, Nov. 16, 7:30 p.m., Columbus Performing Arts Center's Shedd Theatre, 549 Franklin Ave.
The New York Times bestselling author of Walking the Bible and the writer and host of the acclaimed PBS series of the same name, Bruce Feiler posits that whenever the United States has experienced hard times, it has turned to the Exodus story for direction, inspiration and hope. In his newest book, America’s Prophet: Moses and the American Story, Feiler exemplifies how Moses was an inspiration as far back as the Pilgrims, Franklin and also Jefferson who proposed that Moses appear on the seal of the United States. In America’s Prophet, Feiler explores a variety of American places and symbols, meticulously researching the influence of Moses in America’s history.
Bonus Author Event:
A special reception and reading featuring Erin McGraw and Andrew Hudgins will be held Oct. 1 at the Thurber Center, 91 Jefferson Ave.
The Seamstress of Hollywood Boulevard, recently published in paperback, is the highly acclaimed novel based on the life story of McGraw's grandmother and her incredible journey from Kansas to the glory days of 1920s Hollywood and the burgeoning movie industry. She is a professor of English in the Graduate Creative Writing Program of The Ohio State University (OSU).
Andrew Hudgins is also a professor of English at OSU and a Humanities Distinguished Professor. His works have been short-listed for the Pulitzer Prize, and he has won a National Book Award. He will read from Shut Up You’re Fine: Instructive Poetry for Very, Very Bad Children and his new book that will be published in 2010: American Rendering: New and Selected Poems.
Finally, the 25th anniversary year concludes with the Thurber Birthday Gala, Dec. 9 at the Westin Columbus, 310 South High St.
This year’s featured guest author is Larry Doyle, winner of the 2008 Thurber Prize for American Humor for his first novel, I Love You, Beth Cooper, now a major motion picture starring Hayden Panettiere.
Evenings with Authors each begin at 7:30 p.m. Featured guests read from their most recent work, chat about writing and participate in a question-and-answer session with the audience. Each event closes with a coffee and cookies reception and an opportunity to buy the author’s book(s) and get them signed.
Tickets are $18 in advance, $20 at the door. Discounts for students and seniors. For more information or to purchase tickets, call 614-464-1032 or visit www.thurberhouse.org.