Readings: Authors, Writers, Politicians and Personalities

BORDERS BOOKSTORES

Various locations
www.borders.com

Judy Shepard — The Meaning of Matthew (9/19, 18th & L Streets NW)

E. Lynn Harris Tribute Tour — Fellow authors Victoria Christopher Murray and Kimberla Lawson Roby remember the celebrated, recently deceased gay author’s last novel, the new Mama Dearest (9/25, Largo)

James Ellroy — Blood’s A Rover is the latest work of fiction from this master of political noir(9/27, Bailey’s Crossroads)

Thad Carhart — Across the Endless River (9/30, Bailey’s Crossroads)

Taylor Branch — The Clinton Tapes is an unprecedented account based on confidential interviews during President Clinton’s two terms in office(10/1, 18th & L Streets NW)

Bob and Fred Luskin — The Wine Guys (10/5, 11/2, 12/07, 18th & L Streets NW)

Christian Siriano — The unforgettable Project Runway winner offers fashion advice in Fierce Style (10/10, 18th & L Streets NW)

Madeleine Albright — The first female secretary of state talks about how powerful a simple piece of jewelry can be in world affairs in Read My Pins: Stories from a Diplomat’s Jewel Box (10/10, Bailey’s Crossroads; 10/11, Rockville)

Countess LuAnn de Lesseps — Class with the Countess offers etiquette tips and a guide to ”sophisticated living” from this Real Housewives of New York City star. Yes, really (10/11, Bailey’s Crossroads)

Captain Chesley ”Sully” Sullenberger — Highest Duty (10/15, Bailey’s Crossroads)

Nomi Prins — It Takes A Pillage (10/22, 18th & L Streets NW)

David Baldacci — A mysterious high-profile homicide in the nation’s capital collides with the dark side of national security in the thriller True Blue 

Audrey Niffenegger — The author of The Time Traveler’s Wife returns with Her Fearful Symmetry

David Plouffe — President Obama’s campaign manager tells the story of his success in The Audacity to Win (11/6, 18th & L Streets NW)

B. Smith — The famed African-American restaurateur and television host presents her first-ever comprehensive cookbook, B. Smith Cooks Southern Style (11/10, Largo)

COOLIDGE AUDITORIUM AT THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

Thomas Jefferson Building
10 First St. SE
202-707-8000
www.loc.gov/concerts

Walter Frisch — Arnold Schoenberg: The Early Years, Through Verklärte Nacht and Pierrot Lunaire (10/28)

Music and the Brain 2009-2010 Season — Select Highlights: Charles J. Limb and Patrick J. Donnelly‘s Beethoven’s Deafness: A Medical Mystery (10/16)

Richard E. Cytowic — Wednesday Is Indigo Blue: How Synesthesia Speaks to Creativity (10/30)

Robin Sylvan‘s Trance Formation: Music, Trance, Religious Experience and the Brain (11/3)

Petr Janata‘s Music, Memories and the Brain (1/21/10)

David Huron Head‘s Why Do Listeners Enjoy Music That Makes Them Weep? (2/26/10)

FOLGER

201 East Capitol St. SE
202-544-7077
www.folger.edu

PEN/Faulkner Gala — Geraldine Brooks, David Anthony Durham, Debra Magpie Earling, Beth Henley, Alice McDermott, Jay McInerney, Francine Prose, Amy Tan and others lend their imagination to the theme ”Revelation” at a benefit evening of readings followed by a black-tie dinner, for the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction and Writers in Schools (9/21)

Stacey D’Erasmo & Jonathan Lethem — Two of America’s most innovative literary stylists read from their new novels set in post-9/11 New York City: Lambda Literary Award-winner D’Erasmo’s The Sky Below and Lethem’s Chronic City (11/2)

Paul Collins — The NPR Weekend Edition resident literary detective reads from and discusses his new book, The Book of William: How Shakespeare’s First Folio Conquered the World (11/16)

Susan Orlean & George Saunders — The New Yorker contributors read selections from the rich mélange of their combined repertoire in the short story, creative nonfiction, travel essay, fable, children’s literature, profile, short sketch and more (2/1/10)

E.L. Doctorow & Ivy Meeropol — The novelist Doctorow and documentary filmmaker Meeropol, granddaughter of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, discuss their respective treatments in novel and film of the Rosenberg affair and its aftermath (3/15, Washington DCJCC)

James Shapiro — This Shakespeare scholar reads from and discusses his new book, Contested Will: The Shakespeare Authorship Controversy (4/16)

Isabel Allende — An evening of readings and conversation with the celebrated Chilean-American author of The House of Spirits and The Sum of Our Days (4/30, Washington National Cathedral)

JEWISH LITERARY FESTIVAL

DCJCC
1529 16th St. NW
202-777-3250
www.washingtondcjcc.org

Selected Highlights: Festival Opener — A celebration of the 50th anniversary of the publication of famed American novelist Philip Roth’s first book, Goodbye, Columbus,featuring dramatic readings of excerpts from that book and other Roth classics by some of the area’s finest actors (10/18)

Robin Gerber’s Barbie and Ruth, the first biography of Ruth Handler, the visionary entrepreneur who brought Barbie to life and created one of the world’s most successful toy companies (10/20)

Shana Liebman’s Sex, Drugs and Gefilte Fish: The Heeb Storytelling Collection, featuring contributing writers/performers Josh Swiller, Mike Albo and Ophira Eisenberg (10/21, Chief Ike’s Mambo Room)

Past Imperfect: New Jewish Fiction — Sheila Jelen of the University of Maryland, College Park will moderate a discussion of Binnie Kirshenbaum’s The Scenic Route, Jonathon Keats’s The Book of the Unknown: Tales of the Thirty-Six and Norah Labiner’s German for Travelers: A Novel in 95 Lessons (10/22)

Joy Ladin’s Transmigration Poems — the Kurlander Program for Gay & Lesbian Outreach and Engagement presents this exploration of the journey of the self from one gender to the next, the journey of the soul in and out of flesh, the journey of a marriage into and out of love; the journey of a body from amputation to wholeness (10/25)

The Bernard Wexler Lecture on Jewish History 2009 — Melvin Urofsky, author of Louis D. Brandeis: A Life (10/26)

Festival Closer — The Gerald L. Bernstein Memorial Lecture by Howard M. Sachar, American historian and author of the landmarkbook, A History of the Jews in America, will speak on current Israeli myths and realities, and the historic and agonizing dilemma of reconciling small-state security with “great power” diplomacy (10/28)

LAMBDA RISING

202-462-6969
1625 Connecticut Ave. NW
www.lambdarising.com

Frederick Hertz — Making It Legal: A Guide to Same-Sex Marriageis the only book that offers a comprehensive review of all the issues that influence the decision to marry, breaks down the complex and ever-changing rules of same-sex relationship laws, and provides practical guidance on one of the most important decisions a couple can make (9/25)

Stuart Weisberg — Barney Frank: The Story of America’s Only Left-Handed, Gay, Jewish Congressman is a biography based on interviews with over 150 people, including more than 30 hours with Frank himself, reconstructing for the first time his life and career (9/30)

Jim Colucci — The Q Guide to The Golden Girls is Lambda Rising’s longest-running bestseller, a guide to the classic TV sitcom now finding a new generation of gay fans in reruns (10/6)

Mary L. Gray — Out In The Country offers an unprecedented contemporary accountof being queer in rural America, specifically rural Kentucky and Appalachia, from Wal-Mart drag parties to renegade Homemakers’ Clubs (10/29)

LISNER AUDITORIUM AT GWU

730 21st St. NW
202-994-6800
www.lisner.org

David Sedaris — With sardonic wit and incisive social critiques, the gay Sedaris has become one of America ‘s pre-eminent humor writers (10/7)

Michael Chabon — This D.C.-area native, Pulitzer prize-winning author reads from his newest book, Manhood for Amateurs: The Pleasures and Regrets of a Husband, Father and Son, a memoir and his first major work of nonfiction. Presented with Politics and Prose (10/9)

Deepak Chopra, M.D. — In his newest book, Reinventing The Body, Resurrecting the Soul: How to Create a New You, Chopra offers three ways to create the “self you desire” (10/16)

Margaret Atwood — A unique combination of book launch, dramatic reading with music, and fundraising event for a number of environmental organizations, this event features the Booker Prize-winning author joined by several George Washington University students dramatically interpreting select scenes from her newest novel, The Year of the Flood (10/30)

Al Gore — The former vice president and Nobel Peace prize co-recipient reads from his upcoming book Our Choice, which picks up where An Inconvenient Truth left off to comprehensively describe the real solutions to global warming (11/5)

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC LIVE!

Grosvenor Auditorium
NGS Headquarters
1600 M St. NW
202-857-7700
www.nationalgeographic.com/nglive/

Amy Tan — Author of The Joy Luck Club, The Kitchen God’s Wife and The Bonesetter’s Daughter, Tan has adapted her work for film, television and opera. In
a wide-ranging conversation, Tan will discuss the life-changing challenges of living in two cultures, the importance of fate and family in her life and work and the places that have most moved and inspired her (9/23)

Our Sustainable Future: Making Change Happen — Coinciding with the Solar Decathlon on the Mall, this event offers an inspiring and insightful look at changes being made in communities across the country that are helping to move us along the path to a sustainable future. The event includes a panel discussion with environmental and business leaders as well as a screening of videos about the Frito-Lay-sponsored ”Green Effect” contest winners (10/6)

Simon Winchester — Author of numerous bestsellers, including The
Professor and the Madman, Krakatoa and his most recent, The Man Who Loved China, and editor for The Best American Travel Writing 2009 shares adventures and misadventures from decades on the road (10/15)

Roz Savage — The only solo woman ever to compete in the Atlantic Rowing Race shares her adventures in Rowing the Atlantic (10/19)

National Geographic Image Collection — Editor Leah Bendavid-Val, Image Collection director Maura Mulvihill and various photographers offer an inside look at one of the world’s greatest treasure troves of photography (10/20)

Pam Spaulding — An American Family: Three Decades with the McGarveys documents events in the life of a family from Louisville, Ky. (10/28)

Albert Dien — To celebrate the new National Geographic Museum exhibition Terra Cotta Warriors: Guardians of China’s First Emperor, historian Dien reviews the tumultuous era of Chinese history that saw the construction of the terra cotta army, an army of statues placed in the tomb of Emperor Qin Shihuangdi (11/21)

Colin and Julie Angus — Rowed Trip: From Scotland to Syria by Oar documents this Canadian couple’s human-powered 7,000-km journey that earned them the designation of 2006 Adventurers of the Year by National Geographic Adventure magazine (11/24)

Donald Johanson — Lucy’s Legacy: The Quest for Human Origins tells the story of most widely known fossil of the 20th century, a 3.2-million-year-old skeleton that marked an important step on the evolutionary path to Homo sapiens (12/2)

Catherine Herbert Howell — A collaboration with the Missouri Botanical Garden, Flora Mirabilis: An Illustrated Time Line of Botanical Exploration, Discovery & Delight offers a fascinating look at how plant explorations and botanical passions have shaped human history and culture (12/10)

POLITICS AND PROSE

5015 Connecticut Ave. NW
202-364-1919
www.politics-prose.com

25th Anniversary Thank-You Party — Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne Jr. interviews this bookstore’s founders about its legacy and future (9/20)

Ron Suskind — The journalist and author of The Way of the World, about the fabrication of evidence to promote support for an invasion of Iraq, discusses his book in an intimate setting over dinner (9/22, Rock Creek Restaurant in Mazza Gallerie)

Frank Bruni and Maureen Dowd — Bruni, the former New York Times restaurant critic, joins the newspaper’s acerbic columnist in a discussion of his memoir, Born Round: The Secret History of a Full-Time Eater (9/29)

SIXTH & I HISTORIC SYNAGOGUE

600 I St. NW
202-408-3100
www.sixthandi.org

Barney Frank and Stuart Weisberg — Discussing Weisberg’s highly anticipated political biography, Barney Frank: The Story of America’s Only Left-Handed, Gay, Jewish Congressman (10/5)

Ami James and Todd Weinberger — James, an Israeli-born tattoo artist and star of the reality TV show Miami Ink, discusses his book Tattoos & Taboos and the topic of Jews getting inked with Inked magazine’s creative director (10/25)

THE WRITER’S CENTER

4508 Walsh St.
Bethesda
301-654-8664
www.writer.org

Michael Montlack — My Diva: 65 Gay Men and the Women Who Inspire Them (9/20)

James Ellroy — Blood’s A Rover (9/26)

Alexander Chee and Srikanth Reddy — Authors of Edinburgh and Facts for Visitors, respectively (10/2)

Martin Moran — The Tricky Part: A Boy’s Story of Sexual Trespass, A Man’s Journey to Forgiveness (10/19)

Deborah Ager and Reb Livingston — Authors of Midnight Voices and Your Ten Favorite Words, respectively (12/6)