Colum McCann - Transatlantic
Corte Madera store
Tickets: $30 (includes signed copy of Transatlantic)
Newfoundland, 1919. Two aviators—Jack Alcock and Arthur Brown—set course for Ireland as they attempt the first nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean, placing their trust in a modified bomber to heal the wounds of the Great War.
Dublin, 1845 and ’46. On an international lecture tour in support of his subversive autobiography, Frederick Douglass finds the Irish people sympathetic to the abolitionist cause—despite the fact that, as famine ravages the countryside, the poor suffer from hardships that are astonishing even to an American slave.
New York, 1998. Leaving behind a young wife and newborn child, Senator George Mitchell departs for Belfast, where it has fallen to him, the son of an Irish-American father and a Lebanese mother, to shepherd Northern Ireland’s notoriously bitter and volatile peace talks to an uncertain conclusion.
These three iconic crossings are connected by a series of remarkable women whose personal stories are caught up in the swells of history in acclaimed novelist Colum McCann's latest work. Beginning with Irish housemaid Lily Duggan, who crosses paths with Frederick Douglass, Transatlantic follows her daughter and granddaughter, Emily and Lottie, and culminates in the present-day story of Hannah Carson, in whom all the hopes and failures of previous generations live on. From the loughs of Ireland to the flatlands of Missouri and the windswept coast of Newfoundland, their journeys mirror the progress and shape of history. They each learn that even the most unassuming moments of grace have a way of rippling through time, space, and memory.
Colum McCann is the internationally bestselling author of the novels Let the Great World Spin, Zoli, Dancer, This Side of Brightness, and Songdogs, as well as two critically acclaimed story collections. His fiction has been published in thirty-five languages. He has received many honors, including the National Book Award, the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, a Chevalier des Arts et Lettres from the French government, and the Ireland Fund of Monaco Literary Award in Memory of Princess Grace. He has been named one of Esquire’s “Best & Brightest,” and his short film Everything in This Country Must was nominated for an Oscar in 2005. A contributor to The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic Monthly, and The Paris Review, he teaches in the Hunter College MFA Creative Writing Program. He lives in New York City with his wife and their three children.
- Street:
- 51 Tamal Vista Blvd
- City:
- Corte Madera ,
- Postal Code:
- 94925
Mac Barnett - An Evening with Mac Barnett
Join New York Times bestselling children’s book author Mac Barnett as he discusses his many acclaimed works, including Extra Yarn (2013 Caldecott Honor recipient), Chloe and the Lion, The Clock Without a Face, Guess Again, Billy Twitters and his Blue Whale Problem and the Brixton Brothers mysteries.
This event is part of the Children’s Writers & Illustrators Conference. Preferential seating for Conference attendees.
- Street:
- 51 Tamal Vista Blvd
- City:
- Corte Madera ,
- Postal Code:
- 94925
Carl Hiaasen - Bad Monkey
Andrew Yancy--late of the Miami Police, soon-to-be-late of the Key West Police--has a human arm in his freezer. There's a logical explanation for that, but not for how and why it parted from its owner. Yancy thinks the boating-accident/shark-luncheon explanation is full of holes, and if he can prove murder, his commander might relieve him of Health Inspector duties, aka Roach Patrol. But first Yancy will negotiate an ever-surprising course of events--from the Keys to Miami to a Bahamian out island--with a crew of equally ever-surprising characters. Carl Hiaasen is back doing what he does best with Bad Monkey ($26.95), a wickedly funny, fiercely pointed tale in which the greedy, the corrupt, and the degraders of pristine land get their comeuppance in mordantly ingenious, diabolically entertaining fashion.
Carl Hiaasen was born and raised in Florida. He is the author of twelve previous novels, including the best-selling Star Island, Nature Girl, Skinny Dip, Sick Puppy, and Lucky You, and four best-selling children's books, Chomp, Hoot, Flush, and Scat. His most recent work of nonfiction is The Downhill Lie: A Hacker's Return to a Ruinous Sport. He also writes a weekly column for the Miami Herald.
- Street:
- 51 Tamal Vista Blvd
- City:
- Corte Madera ,
- Postal Code:
- 94925
- Country:
- United States
CWC Presents: Chris Durham - "Why Writers Can No Longer Afford to Ignore Social Media"
There a number of different ways to grow your brand and it can be overwhelming with all the different tools and resources available. But there is one critical tool, Social Media, which you can’t afford to overlook.
You Will Learn:
· Social Media Foundation – What you need to know as writers.
· How many social networks should you be on
· Top 5 Social Media Marketing Tips
· It doesn't take much to become impressive
· The importance of social networking in writing industry
· Action Steps
Chris Durham is the Director of Digital Development for Uhuru Network, LLC.
The Marin branch of the California Writers Club meets monthly at Book Passage, except July, August and December, on the 4th Sunday of the month, unless a holiday. 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Meeting may feature a guest speaker, a workshop or a panel discussion along with networking, encouragement and writing news. All are welcome. www.cwcmarinwriters.com.
- Street:
- 51 Tamal Vista Blvd
- City:
- Corte Madera ,
- Province:
- California
- Postal Code:
- 94925
- Country:
- United States
Jessica Anya Blau - The Wonder Bread Summer
It's 1983 in Berkeley, California. Cut loose by her parents, 20-year old Allie Dodgson is trying hard to make it on her own, attending college on a scholarship and working in a dress shop. But when the dress shop turns out to be a front for a dangerous drug dealing business and Allie ends up with a Wonder Bread bag full of cocaine, her studious life takes a turn for the wild. With a hit man named Vice-Versa in hot pursuit, Allie jumps into her best friend's brand-new Prelude and goes on the lam. In Los Angeles, she finds herself entangled with a duplicitous surfer, a paraplegic porn producer and his Mexican driver, a mean girl from high school, and a legendary rock star. The only people she trusts to pull her out of this jam are the two she can't find: her free-spirited mother, who ran off to be the tambourine girl in a band when Allie was 8; and her father, who moves so often Allie doesn't even have his phone number. Think '80s Alice in Wonderland with a Pineapple Express twist and you get the energy, freshness and wicked black humor of The Wonder Bread Summer ($14.99).
Jessica Anya Blau is a graduate of The University of California, Berkeley, and Johns Hopkins University (where she received a Masters degree from The Writing Seminars). She is the author of the novels The Summer of Naked Swim Parties and Drinking Closer to Home. Jessica's short stories have appeared in numerous magazines and have won or been nominated for many awards including The Pushcart Prize. Her essays appear in The Huffington Post, the AOL homepage, The Nervous Breakdown, Salon and Redroom. Several of Jessica's stories and essays have been anthologized in books such as The Prose Reader: Essays for Thinking, Reading and Writing; Dirty Words: a Literary Encyclopedia of Sex; and The Moment: Wild, Poignant, Life-Changing Stories from 125 Writers and Artists Famous & Obscure.
- Street:
- 51 Tamal Vista Blvd
- City:
- Corte Madera ,
- Postal Code:
- 94925
- Country:
- United States
Walter Walker - Crime of Privilege
A murder on Cape Cod. A rape in Palm Beach. All they have in common is the presence of one of America’s most beloved and influential families. But nobody is asking questions. Not the police. Not the prosecutors. And certainly not George Becket, a young lawyer toiling away in the basement of the Cape & Islands district attorney’s office. George has always lived at the edge of power. He wasn’t born to privilege, but he understands how it works and has benefitted from it in ways he doesn’t like to admit. Now, an investigation brings him deep inside the world of the truly wealthy—and shows him what a perilous place it is. In the tradition of Scott Turow, William Landay, and Nelson DeMille, Walter Walker's Crime of Privilege ($26.00) is a stunning thriller about power, corruption, and the law in America—and the dangerous ways they come together.
Walter Walker is a trial lawyer in San Francisco. He lives in Marin County, California, and on Cape Cod.
- Street:
- 51 Tamal Vista Blvd
- City:
- Corte Madera ,
- Postal Code:
- 94925
