Free Events in Saratoga This Summer

Jamaica Kincaid

Jamaica Kincaid! Joyce Carol Oates!  William Kennedy! Robert Pinsky!  Marilynne Robinson! Russell Banks! And many more….

You are invited to attend the NYS Summer Writers Institute’s free public readings at Skidmore in Saratoga this summer, every weekday from June 30th to July 25th, cosponsored by Skidmore College and the New York State Writers Institute.

SUMMER PUBLIC READING LIST 2014
All Readings are at 8:00 p.m. in Davis Auditorium, Palamountain Hall
815 North Broadway, Saratoga Springs, NY 12866
Free and open to the public

JUNE 30
Fiction reading by Elizabeth Benedict and poetry reading by Campbell McGrath.

JULY 1
Fiction reading by Francine Prose and non-fiction reading by Nicholas Delbanco.

JULY 2
Poetry reading by Frank Bidart and fiction reading by Jim Shepard.

JULY 3
Fiction reading by Russell Banks and poetry reading by Chase Twichell.

JULY 4
Fiction reading by Howard Norman and poetry reading by Jane Shore.

JULY 7
Poetry reading by Rosanna Warren and fiction reading by Cristina Garcia.

JULY 8
Non-Fiction reading by Phillip Lopate and fiction reading by Victoria Redel.

JULY 9
Poetry reading by James Longenbach and fiction reading by Joanna Scott.

JULY 10
Poetry reading by Louise Gluck and fiction reading by Caryl Phillips.

JULY 11
Fiction reading by Joyce Carol Oates.

JULY 14
Poetry reading by Carolyn Forche and fiction reading by Amy Hempel.

JULY 15
Fiction reading by Marilynne Robinson and poetry reading by Peg Boyers.

JULY 16
Fiction reading by Danzy Senna and nonfiction reading by Honor Moore.

JULY 17
Fiction reading by William Kennedy.

JULY 18
Poetry reading by Robert Pinsky.

JULY 21
Poetry reading by Mark Strand and fiction reading by Binnie Kirshenbaum.

JULY 22
Poetry reading by Charles Simic and fiction reading by Adam Braver.

JULY 23
Fiction reading by Rick Moody and poetry reading by Tom Healy.

JULY 24
Fiction reading by Jamaica Kincaid and poetry reading by Henri Cole.

JULY 25
Fiction reading by Paul Harding and poetry reading by Carl Dennis.

For more information:

NYS Summer Writers Institute
Office of the Dean of Special Programs

PHONE
518-580-5593

MAIL
NYS Summer Writers Institute
Office of the Dean of Special Programs
Skidmore College
815 North Broadway
Saratoga Springs, NY 12866

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Troy Street Kid

Bill Kennedy's talk in Saratoga next week:  “I’ll talk about John Morrissey, a Troy street kid and river rat, who rose in the world through his fists and his politics to become an exalted gambler courted by the New York elite and who brought the casino and the track to Saratoga. I’ll talk about latter day gamblers and mob figures who moved into Saratoga — Arnold Rothstein, Meyer Lansky, Lucky Luciano — how it was all linked to politics, and how a politician — Governor Thomas E. Dewey — closed it down,” Kennedy said.

Kennedy will talk about crime and gambling in early 20th century Saratoga in a one-hour moderated conversation with political talk show host Susan Arbetter at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 1 in the Canfield Casino. The program is free and open to the public.

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Poet Henri Cole Tonight

Here is Henri Cole's elegy for his father, "Oil and Steel."

My father lived in a dirty dish mausoleum,
watching a portable black-and-white television,
reading the Encyclopedia Britannica,
which he preferred to Modern Fiction.
One by one, his schnauzers died of liver disease,
except the one that guarded his corpse
found holding a tumbler of Bushmills.
"Dead is dead," he would say, an anti-preacher.
I took a plaid shirt from the bedroom closet
and some motor oil—my inheritance.
Once, I saw him weep in a courtroom—
neglected, needing nursing—this man who never showed
me much affection but gave me a knack
for solitude, which has been mostly useful.

Henri Cole will share the stage with author Jamaica Kincaid, tonight, Tuesday, July 24th, 8PM, Davis Audiorium, Palamountain Hall, 815 North Broadway, Saratoga. Free.

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"Almost Every Other Book You Ever Read Will Suck"

Chuck Palahniuk, author of Fight Club, writes about his experience studying short fiction by Amy Hempel (who reads tonight 7/20 at the Summer Writers Institute in Saratoga) in a writing workshop early on in his career:

"WHEN YOU STUDY MINIMALISM IN THE NOVELIST Tom Spanbauer's workshop, the first story you read is Amy Hempel's The Harvest. After that, you're ruined. I'm not kidding. You go there, and almost every other book you ever read will suck. All those thick, third-person, plot-driven books torn from the pages of today's news -- after Amy Hempel, you'll save yourself a lot of time and money."

Read more in L.A. Weekly.

Amy Hempel shares the stage with Pulitzer-winning poet Richard Howard on Friday, July 20th, 8PM, Davis Audiorium, Palamountain Hall, 815 North Broadway, Saratoga. Free.

Click here for more events in the series. All are free and open to the general public.

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Poet Peg Boyers on "Outing on the Hudson"

Peg Boyers, who reads tomorrow in Saratoga, offers poetic commentary on the 1850 painting
"Outing on the Hudson" (pictured here) by an unknown artist.

"Hardly native and far from naked, these dignified
loungers by the Hudson stroll in their Sunday best,
white as the lilies in the foreground, white
as the sails on the little boats below
navigating the river, white as the scentless smoke
pluming up from the passing steamboat. In this Sunday idyll...."

Read more in Slate.

Hear Boyers read the poem at the Tang Museum in Saratoga here.

Boyers will share the stage with major American fiction writer Ann Beattie, tomorrow, Thursday, July 19th, 8PM, Davis Audiorium, Palamountain Hall, 815 North Broadway, Saratoga. Free.

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Bill Kennedy Explores Saratoga's Hidden Past

Pulitzer Prize winning author William J. Kennedy will explore Saratoga Springs’ gambling past in a one-hour moderated conversation with award winning, syndicated political radio talk show host Susan Arbetter, Wednesday, August 1 at 7 p.m. in the Canfield Casino in Saratoga Springs’ Congress Park. The program is free and open to the public.

In this discussion, Kennedy will draw from a lifetime of research in regional history and personal observation. While much of the talk will focus on the importance of the Spa City as a resort, according to the author, attention will also be directed on the parts of the city seldom discussed. “I’ll talk about John Hennessey, a Troy street kid and river rat, who rose in the world through his fists and his politics to become an exalted gambler courted by the New York elite and who brought the casino and the track to Saratoga. I’ll talk about latter day gamblers and mob figures who moved into Saratoga -- Arnold Rothstein, Meyer Lansky, Lucky Luciano—how it was all linked to politics, and how a politician -- Governor Thomas E. Dewey—closed it down,” Kennedy said.

Born in Albany and educated at nearby Siena College, Kennedy, a former journalist and one of the nation’s most important living authors, has distinguished himself with books about Albany and its people. His works include The Ink Truck (1969), Legs (1975), Billy Phelan’s Greatest Game (1978), Ironweed (1983, winner of the 1984 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction; film 1987), and Roscoe (2002).

 

The event is jointly sponsored by the New York State Archives Partnership Trust, the Saratoga Springs History Program, and the New York State Writers Institute. Funding for the program comes from the Alfred Z. Solomon Charitable Trust and the New York Council for the Humanities, a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

For additional information, contact the Writers Institute at 518-442-5620 or online at http://www.albany.edu/writers-inst.

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Former US Poet Laureate Mark Strand in Saratoga

Poet Mark Strand, whose poetry was praised for its "transparent verbal perfection" by Octavio Paz, the late Mexican writer and Nobel Laureate, will share the stage with poet and memoirist Honor Moore this coming Monday, July 16th,  8PM, Davis Audiorium, Palamountain Hall, 815 North Broadway, Saratoga Springs.

Honor Moore, author of poetry, fiction and nonfiction is perhaps best known for her bestselling memoir, The Bishop's Daughter, about her relationship with her secretly gay father, leading Episcopal bishop Paul Moore, Jr.
All events in the series are free and open to the general public.

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