Three best-selling authors will read from their works in separate appearances beginning this month as part of the first ever Writers and Friends series at the Bethlehem Public Library.
Carol Goodman, Susan Cheever and Donald Westlake begin the new writers series underwritten by the Friends of Bethlehem Public Library.
This is our first offering of the writers series, said Jeanne Biggins, assistant director of the Bethlehem Public Library, who said the library has fielded several requests from patrons to bring more authors to the community.
On Saturday, Jan. 12, at 2 p.m., best-selling author of `The Lake of Dead Languages,` Carol Goodman, will read from her works. Goodman’s other stories include `The Seduction of Water,` `The Drowning Tree,` and `The Ghost Orchid.` Her work has appeared in The Greensboro Review, Literal Latte, Midwest Quarterly, New York Quarterly and Other Voices.
`Our staff of librarians considered many authors, and they invited those who they thought might be of interest to the community,` said Biggins.
Susan Cheever, who will appear Sunday, March 9, at 2 p.m., has published five novels, a biography of Alcoholics Anonymous founder Bill Wilson, and four memoirs, including the best-selling `Home Before Dark,` about her father John Cheever. She has written essays, book reviews and articles regularly for many publications including The New Yorker, The New York Times, and The Washington Post. She has taught at Yale University, and is now on the faculty of the Bennington College MFA Program and The New School.
Cheever will be reading from her latest book, `American Bloomsbury,` a nonfiction work that delves into the personalities and relationships of the great American thinkers and writers living in and around Concord, Mass., in the 19th century ` among them Thoreau, Emerson, Hawthorne, Margaret Fuller, and the Alcotts.
Cheever has been nominated for the National Book Critics Circle Award and has won a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Winship Medal, and an Associated Press Award. She is a director of the Yaddo Corporation and a member of the Author’s Guild Council.
Donald Westlake, a master of the comic mystery, also a Grand Master of the Mystery Writers of America, and a three-time Edgar winner will appear Sunday, April 6, at 2 p.m. and will read from his latest book, `What’s So Funny.` Westlake, who grew up in Albany was an Academy Award nominee for his screenplay `The Grifters,` which starred John Cusack and Angelica Huston. Westlake also wrote screenplays for `Cops and Robbers` and `The Stepfather.` Westlake’s numerous honors also include the 2002 Ian McLellan Hunter Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Writers Guild of America and the 2004 Private Eye Writers of America Award for Lifetime Achievement.
Biggins said the appearances by Westlake and Cheever will be ticketed events, meaning they will be free but by reservation only. All authors will appear in the library’s community room, which holds about 100 people. A book signing and reception will follow in the hallway after each reading.
`I Love Books will provide the authors’ works, and the Friends of the Library will sponsor a book sale here at every event,` Biggins said.
David Cooper, president of the Friends of Bethlehem Public Library, said it’s another service the Friends are happy to underwrite.
`It’s another way for us to show your contribution gives something back to the community,` said Cooper. `We’re pretty excited.`
For information on the new Writers and Friends series, contact the Bethlehem Public Library at 439-9314.
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