Maxwell King | The Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers with David Newell “Mr. McFeely” of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood

Mon, September 24, 2018 7:30 P.M.
Parkway Central Library

Cost: FREE

It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood as we welcome Maxwell King, author of The Good Neighbor , a personal, professional, and artistic biography of Fred Rogers. A figure as deceptively sophisticated as the namesake television program that brought an unerring message of kindness,…

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Imani Perry | Looking for Lorraine: The Radiant and Radical Life of Lorraine Hansberry

Tue, September 25, 2018 7:30 P.M.
Parkway Central Library

Cost: FREE

A professor of African American studies, public affairs, and gender and sexuality studies at Princeton University, Dr. Imani Perry is the author of More Beautiful and More Terrible: The Embrace and Transcendence of Racial Inequality in the United States , May We Forever Stand: A History of the…

Adult Author Events Speakers and Lectures Author Events - Free Series African American Author Events Biography & Autobiography History

Deborah Harkness | Time's Convert

Mon, October 1, 2018 7:30 P.M.
Parkway Central Library

Cost: FREE

Working “her own form of literary alchemy by deftly blending fantasy, romance, history, and horror” (Chicago Tribune), Deborah Harkness is the no. 1 New York Times bestselling author of the witches-meet-vampires All Souls book trilogy. Acclaim for this work’s historical and…

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Author Talk: Sarahlyn Bruck

Wed, October 3, 2018 6:30 P.M.
Philadelphia City Institute

Sarahlyn Bruck will present her novel Designer You and sign copies of the book, which will be available for purchase. Pam Wheeler checked every box: Happy marriage? Check. Fantastic kid? Check. Booming career? Check. So when her husband dies suddenly and their DIY empire goes on life support,…

Adult Speakers and Lectures Author Events - Free Series Fiction

Nelson Díaz | Not from Here, Not from There/No Soy de Aquí ni de Allá: The Autobiography of Nelson Díaz

Tue, October 9, 2018 7:30 P.M.
Parkway Central Library

Cost: FREE

In conversation with Sabrina Vourvoulias, journalist, short story author and novelist A 1972 Temple University Law School graduate, Nelson Díaz was the first Puerto Rican lawyer admitted to the Pennsylvania Bar Association and became the state’s first Latino judge and partner in a…

Adult Author Events Speakers and Lectures Author Events - Free Series Author Events Biography & Autobiography Law Politics

Ray Didinger | The Eagles Encyclopedia: Champions Edition with Mark Leibovich | Big Game: The NFL in Dangerous Times

Sat, October 13, 2018 2:30 P.M.
Parkway Central Library

Cost: FREE

Fly Eagles fly! Five-time Pennsylvania Sportswriter of the Year Ray Didinger updated his and late co-writer Robert S. Lyons’s bestselling The Eagles Encyclopedia —“the definitive book for any Eagles fan” ( Philadelphia Daily News )—to reflect the quintessential…

Adult Young Adult School Age Senior Author Events Speakers and Lectures Author Events - Free Series Author Events Philadelphia Philadelphia History Sports & Recreation History

Ben Fountain | Beautiful Country Burn Again: Democracy, Rebellion, and Revolution

Mon, October 15, 2018 7:30 P.M.
Parkway Central Library

Cost: FREE

In conversation with Dick Polman, "Writer in Residence" at the University of Pennsylvania, and national political columnist at WHYY News Ben Fountain is the author of The New York Times bestseller Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk , “a bracing, fearless and uproarious satire…

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Ben Macintyre | The Spy and the Traitor: The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War

Thu, October 18, 2018 7:30 P.M.
Parkway Central Library

Cost: FREE

Praised for his “elegant, jaunty, and very British high style” ( New York Times ), Ben Macintyre is the bestselling author of A Spy Among Friends , Agent Zigzag , Operation Mincemeat , and Double Cross , among other books. He has adapted several of these stories into popular…

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Michael Solomonov and Steve Cook | Israeli Soul: Easy, Essential, Delicious

Tue, October 23, 2018 6:30 P.M.
Parkway Central Library

Cost: FREE

In conversation with Sam Sifton Acclaimed for “cooking that bursts with freshly ground spices and complex flavors” ( New York Times ), Michael Solomonov brought Middle Eastern, North African, Mediterranean, and Eastern European influences to bear in his Philadelphia flagship…

Adult Author Events Speakers and Lectures Author Events - Free Series Author Events Cooking & Nutrition History

B.A. Shapiro | The Collector’s Apprentice

Tue, November 6, 2018 7:30 P.M.
Parkway Central Library

Cost: FREE

“Vibrant and suspenseful” ( The Washington Post ), B. A. Shapiro’s New York Times bestselling novels include The Safe Room , The Muralist , and The Art Forger , an exacting tale of stolen paintings, Faustian bargains, and the heart’s foolish choices. She also wrote the…

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3 Poets read 21 Poems

Wed, November 7, 2018 6:30 P.M.
Fumo Family Library

Linda Pizzi, Maria Famà and Albert Tacconelli read from their newest work, 21 poems. Linsa Pizzi is a poet, writer, rock music critic, crafter, and Assistant Dean and Instructor at Arcadia University, Maria Famà is a poet, writer, and teacher, and the author of seven books of…

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Daniel Torday | Boomer1 with Nana Kwamei Adjei-Brenyah | Friday Black: Stories

Wed, November 14, 2018 7:30 P.M.
Parkway Central Library

Cost: FREE

Exploring the nature of family and loss through the derring-do of a Czechoslovakian war hero, Daniel Torday ’s novel  The Last Flight of Poxl West won the National Jewish Book Award, as did his debut novella The Sensualist . The Director of Creative Writing at Bryn Mawr College,…

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David W. Blight | Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom

Mon, November 19, 2018 7:30 P.M.
Parkway Central Library

Cost: FREE

David W. Blight’s many books of history include American Oracle: The Civil War in the Civil Rights Era ,  Race and Reunion: The Civil War in American Memory , and two annotated editions of Frederick Douglass’s first two autobiographies. Blight is a professor of American History…

Adult Author Events Author Events - Free Series African American Author Events Politics History

Jabari Asim | We Can't Breathe: On Black Lives, White Lies, and the Art of Survival

Tue, November 20, 2018 7:30 P.M.
Parkway Central Library

Cost: FREE

Editor-in-chief of The Crisis magazine, the NAACP’s flagship periodical, and a former editor and syndicated columnist at the The Washington Post , Jabari Asim is a professor of creative writing at Emerson College. His  many books include The N Word ; What Obama Means...For Our…

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Andrew Delbanco | The War Before the War: Fugitive Slaves and the Struggle for America’s Soul from the Revolution to the Civil War

Tue, November 27, 2018 7:30 P.M.
Parkway Central Library

Cost: FREE

“America’s best social critic” ( Time ), Andrew Delbanco is the author of numerous books that explore American history, character, and ideals, including The Real American Dream: A Meditation on Hope , The Puritan Ordeal , and Required Reading: Why Our American Classics Matter .…

Adult Author Events Speakers and Lectures Author Events - Free Series African American Author Events History

Margaret George | The Splendor Before the Dark: A Novel of the Emperor Nero with Madeline Miller | Circe

Wed, November 28, 2018 7:30 P.M.
Parkway Central Library

Cost: FREE

Margaret George ’s fictional biographies of towering world figures—brimming “with lust, violence, cruelty and lively conversation” ( Detroit Free Press ) while adhering as closely as possible to the factual historical record—include Helen of Troy , The Memoirs of…

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Gary Giddins | Bing Crosby: Swinging on a Star: The War Years, 1940-1946

Tue, December 4, 2018 7:30 P.M.
Parkway Central Library

Cost: FREE

Gary Giddins is the author of the National Book Critics Circle Award-winning Visions of Jazz: The First Century , “a grand, brilliant history" ( The New York Times Book Review ). Jazz columnist at The Village Voice for 30 years, his other books include Weatherbird: Jazz at the Dawn of…

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