Monday, March 22, 2021

Events this week - Jeannée Sacken, Tim Brady, Abi Daré and preview of next week's event with Martha S Jones

Boswell virtual events happening this week

Tuesday, March 23, 7 pm
Jeannée Sacken, author of Behind the Lens
in conversation with Rochelle Melander
cohosted by Shorewood Public Library
Register here for this free event

Join us for an evening with Shorewood writer, photojournalist, and President of the Friends of the Shoreowod Public Library Sacken as she chats about her suspenseful novel about a photographer who, after barely surviving a deadly brush with the Taliban, returns to Afghanistan to teach at a school for girls. Sacken will be in conversation with Rochelle Melander, Write Now! Writing Coach and author of Level Up. 

Since the Taliban ambush that left a young Afghan girl dying in her arms, Annie Hawkins Green has managed to suppress her memories of that brutal day - until she returns to Afghanistan to teach a photography. As the Taliban gain prominence in the once peaceful region, Annie's nightmares from her last time in-country come roaring back with a vengeance. But are they just dreams? The unshakeable feeling of a grim, watchful presence makes Annie think otherwise.

Kirkus calls Sacken’s novel “a gripping Afghan tale starring a strong hero wielding a camera.” And conversation partner Melander chimes in to say, “Not only does this story take readers on an adventure Behind the Lens and into Annie's life, it transports them to the heart of Afghanistan and into a battle for equality, freedom, and justice."

Wednesday, March 24, 7 pm
Tim Brady, author of Three Ordinary Girls: The Remarkable Story of Three Dutch Teenagers Who Became Spies, Saboteurs, Nazi Assassins - and WWII Heroes
cohosted by Nathan and Esther Pelz Holocaust Education Resource Center
Register here for this free event

Award-winning historian and Iowa Writers Workshop alum Tim Brady discusses his latest book, which tells astonishing true story of three fearless female resisters during WWII whose youth and innocence belied their extraordinary daring in the Nazi-occupied Netherlands.

Recruited as teenagers, Hannie Schaft, and Dutch sisters Truus and Freddie Oversteegen fulfilled harrowing missions as spies, saboteurs, and Nazi assassins with remarkable courage. That included sheltering fleeing Jews, political dissidents, and Dutch resisters. They sabotaged bridges and railways, and donned disguises to lead children from probable internment in concentration camps to safehouses. They covertly transported weapons and set military facilities ablaze. And they carried out the assassinations of German soldiers and traitors, on public streets and in private traps, with the courage of veteran guerilla fighters and the cunning of seasoned spies.

Stephen Harding, author of The Last Battle, says, "Exhaustively researched and written with both authority and style, Tim Brady's Three Ordinary Girls is history that reads like a novel. A vivid and unforgettable portrait of three young women who put their lives on the line in a very personal fight against Naziism, this book is a page-turner and is highly recommended."

Thursday, March 25, 2 pm
Abi Daré, author of The Girl with the Louding Voice
part of the Readings from Oconomowaukee series
in conversation with Daniel Goldin and Lisa Baudoin
Register here for this event
You can also purchase Daré's book from Books & Company here.  

Lagos native Abi Daré studied law at University of Wolverhampton as well as an MA in Creative Writing at Birkbeck, University of London. The Girl with the Louding Voice won the Bath Novel Award for unpublished manuscripts in 2018 and was also selected as a finalist in the 2018 Literary Consultancy Pen Factor competition. 

Here’s Daniel on The Girl with the Louding Voice: “Adunni, living in rural Nigeria, has dreams of getting an education, but when her mother dies, her father sells her off as a third wife to get food. Her husband Morufu just wants to hedge his bets on getting new sons for his tax business. Later she’s placed as a maid to Big Madam and Big Daddy, a wealthy and abusive Lagos woman with a flourishing textile business and her lecherous husband. However dire things got in the story, Adunni’s spirit and determination kept me going. She truly is Sweetness, which is what her name means in Yoruba.”

Kiley Reid, author of Such a Fun Age and this year's featured speaker at the Friends of the Milwaukee Public Library Literary Lunch (tickets here) says, "“I’m a big fan of hyper-realistic dialogue and using the sounds of a world to shape the energy of a novel, and so I was immediately drawn to The Girl with the Louding Voice…. [Adunni] is a youthful, dynamic guide with serious bite and poetic language."  

And from Tsitsi Dangarembga in The New York Times Book Review: “Throughout her harrowing coming-of-age journey, told with verve and compassion, Adunni never loses the 'louding voice' that makes Daré’s story, and her protagonist, so unforgettable.”

Don't forget next Monday, March 29, 7 pm
Martha S Jones, author of Vanguard: How Black Women Broke Barriers, Won the Vote, and Insisted on Equality for All
cohosted by America's Black Holocaust Museum
Register here for this free event

Boswell Book Company presents and evening with Martha S Jones, author of a new book that documents the epic history of African American women's pursuit of political power, and how it transformed America. 

Martha S. Jones, Professor of History at Johns Hopkins University, profiles the many Black women who fought for women's suffrage. It's a fascinating survey that goes beyond the most prominent names like Sojourner Truth and Ida B Wells (though she gets a special shout out) to look at the lives of Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, Mary Ann Shadd, Mary Church Terrell, Nannie Helen Burroughs, and many more.

From Jennifer Szalai at The New York Times: "Jones is an assiduous scholar and an absorbing writer, turning to the archives to unearth the stories of Black women who worked alongside white suffragists only to be marginalized, in what often amounted to a 'dirty compromise with white supremacy.'" 


More upcoming Boswell events here.

No comments: