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Boston Literary District

This is Boston Literary District: Shakespeare on the Common; a speakers’ forum featuring Alice Walker; a book festival with Doris Kearns Goodwin; walking tours that take you past Sylvia Plath’s apartment, just around the corner from Robert Frost’s residence, and Khalil Gibran’s…! All that, and more – poetry slams, writing workshops, readings, signings – can be found in Boston’s Literary Cultural District, the first such district in the country. From Washington Street to Exeter, from Beacon Hill to Boylston, Boston is crammed with literary happenings and history – probably more so than any other city in the country. It's a vibrant community of writers and readers who partake of Boston’s rich literary life via readings, discussions groups, and other programs and events. Boston has an unparalleled literary heritage with a broad and diverse set of writers ranging from enslaved poet Phillis Wheatley to Henry David Thoreau, Anne Sexton, and Eugene O’Neill. Get a glimpse of this district online and take advantage of a chance to see it up close with the hotels that offer literary tour packages. Enjoy the nearby restaurants with themed literary menus and visit institutions from the Boston Public Library to the Boston Athenaeum, Emerson College, Suffolk University, and GrubStreet, each with ongoing programs and events that cater to those who enjoy their relationship with the written word – or will develop one now that all things literary in Boston have been made more visible.

http://www.bostonlitdistrict.org/

The Junction of Joists and Enjambments

Thu, Aug 13, 2015

Boston Poet Laureate D**anielle Legros Georges** is tasked with raising the status of poetry in the everyday consciousness of Bostonians, acting as an advocate for poetry, language, and the arts. Hear her and **Carpenter Poets Joe Bergin and Bill Thibodeau** entertain with poetry. You won’t be sorry. Danielle's poems have appeared in numerous literary journals and anthologies and even in her own book, _Maroon_. She has also received awards for her work such as a recent Massachusetts Cultural Council Artist Fellowship in Poetry. Bergin has been cited for his poetry by Mayor Menino, and Bill has appeared on PBS and The Poetry Channel. His poems are part of the high school curriculum in Quincy.

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Faith Ed: Teaching About Religion in an Age of Intolerance

Tue, Aug 18, 2015

A look at the debate over religion in public schools—and how to best teach children religious literacy and tolerance. Veteran education journalist **Linda K. Wertheimer** has traveled the nation listening to all sides of the controversy surrounding the teaching of religion in public schools, interviewing clergy, teachers, children, and parents who are Muslim, Jewish, Christian, Sikh, and atheist.

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Great Oratory and Famous Poems

Thu, Jul 2, 2015

Actors from the [Boston Poets Theatre](https://https://www.poetstheatre.org/boston-poets) present a bouquet of short excerpts from great oratory and famous poems — all echoing originals first delivered in the vicinity of Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market, the State House, the Boston Athenaeum, the Tremont Temple, and the Boston Public Library. The event honors Boston’s rich legacy of great orators and literary and political figures of great variety and distinction. ## The Program Ralph Waldo Emerson's Concord Hymn and "On John Brown" ready by Ben Evett John Hancock read by Steven Barkhimer Daniel Webster's speech at Bunker Hill Monument read by Bob Scanlan Frederick Douglass's "Fourth of July for the Negro" read by Shanae Burch William Lloyd Garrison's "Let the South Go" read by David Gullette Oliver Wendell Holmes' "The Chambered Nautilus" recited by Steven Barkhimer Ida B. Wells' "On Lynch Laws" read by Shanae Burch John F. Kennedy read by David Gullette Richard Wilbur read by Ben Evett

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Alysia Abbott Reads From Fairyland

Thu, Jul 16, 2015

**Alysia Abbott** learned from her father to boldly live the life you are meant to live. In her memoir _Fairyland_, she chronicles her unusual childhood, growing up on Haight St. in San Fransisco, raised by her father, a gay man who chose to pursue his life to the fullest, against all odds.

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Matthew Gilbert Reads from Off the Leash

Thu, Jul 9, 2015

Come hear Matthew Gilbert talk about his work, and his time at the local dog park. Gilbert has written an utterly charming book about how his distaste for dogs morphed into love for his own dog, Toby, who taught him that it’s okay for life, relationships, to get intimate and messy. His new book is his homage to Toby, and even non-dog lovers will enjoy such descriptions as a pack of bulldogs running around like so many Winston Churchills, or two dogs of different colors play-fighting and looking for all the world like clothes seen spinning through the porthole of a dryer.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons

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Hallie Ephron Reads From Night, Night, Sleep Tight

Thu, Jul 30, 2015

**Hallie Ephron** is the _New York Times_ bestselling author of 13 books, including her latest, _Night Night, Sleep Tight._ It was inspired by an infamous Hollywood murder that took place when she was growing up there in the ’60s, surrounded by the glamor of Tinsel Town. Come hear her speak about her latest work. The hairs on the back of your neck haven’t stood on end for a while.

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The Map Thief

Fri, Jun 12, 2015

E. Forbes Smiley, a respectable antiquarian map dealer, spent years doubling as a map thief — until he was finally arrested one day while slipping maps out of books in the Yale University Library. To write a full-length work about Smiley, investigative journalist **Michael Blanding** gained access to the man himself — no mean feat. No wonder The Minneapolis Star-Tribune calls Blanding’s much heralded work, _The Map Thief: The Gripping Story of an Esteemed Rare-Map Dealer Who Made Millions Stealing Priceless Maps_, nothing less than “a suspenseful tale of the theft of cultural heritage by a man who presented himself as one of the chief interpreters and safeguards of that heritage.” The Map Thief was named a New England Indie Bestseller by the New England Independent Booksellers Association.

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Susan Wilson: The History of Omni Parker House

Fri, Jun 19, 2015

In March of 1877, humorist Mark Twain was staying at the Parker House in room 168. A reporter from the _Boston Globe_ entered Twain’s room, shuttled in by a porter. After a pause of several moments, Twain swiveled around in his large easy chair and faced his visitor. With a local newspaper in hand and puffing on a large cigar, he observed to the reporter, “You see for yourself that I’m pretty near heaven—not theologically, of course, but by the hotel standard.” Inspired by Twain, **Susan Wilson** named her anecdotal and lavishly illustrated new book on the history of the Omni Parker House _Heaven, By Hotel Standards_. Fascinating stories from that book make up her talk, including tales of the illustrious Saturday Club, which regularly drew to the hotel some of the greatest luminaries of the Golden Age of American Literature—like Ralph Waldo Emerson, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and John Greenleaf Whittier. (Photo: [Wikimedia Commons](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omni_Parker_House ""))

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When Birth of a Nation Screened in Boston

Fri, May 29, 2015

Veteran journalist **Dick Lehr** talks about his new book, _Birth of a Nation: How a Legendary Filmmaker and Crusading Editor Reignited America's Civil War_. Lehr delves into a little-known episode of Boston’s history when the white citizenry of the city that prides itself on its abolitionist roots flocked to see a film that glorified the KKK, despite NAACP's unsuccessful campaign to ban the film.

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Lisa Wong: Scales to Scalpels

Fri, May 22, 2015

Pediatrician, author and musician **Lisa Wong** played viola with a string trio recently in Boston's bustling South Station. The music entertained travelers waiting for trains, and gave Wong the opportunity to read from her book, _Scales to Scalpels_, in which she makes the case that music and medicine can and should be inextricably interwoven as healing arts. This public event is part of a series hosted by the Boston Literary District.

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