Tagged Biography and Autobiography

Judge David Tatel | Vision: A Memoir of Blindness and Justice

The Author Events Series presents Judge David Tatel |  Vision: A Memoir of Blindness and Justice REGISTER David Tatel has served nearly 30 years on America’s second highest court, the United States Court of Appeals for…

The Phillypino Oral History Project: Exhibition Opening

The Phillypino Oral History Project is an intergenerational, community-based oral history and photography project capturing the rich narratives of Filipino immigrants who arrived in Philadelphia, particularly in the 1980’s, after…

BE/LONGING Exhibition

BE/LONGING is a polyphonic exhibition on the longing, belonging, and connection that library spaces in Philadelphia can inspire. Featuring work by artist Joanne Grüne-Yanoff and curation by exhibitions curator Suzanna Urminska,…

Rocketfest Photography Exhibit

Presented in partnership with Science Leadership Academy, Rocketfest brings together public high school students from across Philadelphia for a photography exhibit next to the Field Teen Center on the ground floor of Parkway…

Love and Revolution: James Baldwin Speaks to Our Time Exhibit

Celebrate 100 years of James Baldwin (August 2, 1924 – December 1, 1987) with selections from across the Free Library’s collections highlighting Baldwin’s work, influence, and legacy. On display outside the…

Love and Revolution: Exhibit Tour

Join members of the Saturday Free School at 3:45 p.m. for a tour of the exhibit. We will meet by the display cases on the 2nd floor landing. Celebrate 100 years of James Baldwin (August 2, 1924 – December 1, 1987) with selections…

Love and Revolution: Exhibit Tour

Join members of the Saturday Free School at 3:00 p.m. for a tour of the exhibit. We will meet by the display cases on the 2nd floor landing. Celebrate 100 years of James Baldwin (August 2, 1924 – December 1, 1987) with selections…

Love and Revolution: Exhibit Tour

Join members of the Saturday Free School at 6:15 p.m. for a tour of the exhibit. We will meet by the display cases on the 2nd floor landing. Celebrate 100 years of James Baldwin (August 2, 1924 – December 1, 1987) with selections…

Love and Revolution: Exhibit Tour

Join members of the Saturday Free School at 5:30 p.m. for a tour of the exhibit. We will meet by the display cases on the 2nd floor landing. Celebrate 100 years of James Baldwin (August 2, 1924 – December 1, 1987) with selections…

Unerasing Incarcerated Women: Kemba Film Screening and Talk Back

Join us for a dynamic screening and a talk-back panel featuring Kemba Smith and other advocates committed to changing mass incarceration. Screening the compelling film "Kemba,” followed by a thought-provoking discussion…

Carrie Rickey | A Complicated Passion, The Life and Work of Agnès Varda

The Author Events Series presents Carrie Rickey |  A Complicated Passion, The Life and Work of Agnès Varda  REGISTER In conversation with Gary Kramer Born in Los Angeles,  Carrie Rickey  is an…

Famous Asian Americans

Biographies and collective biographies on Asian Americans.

LGBTQ - Biographies and Autobiographies

Biographies and Autobiographies of important and influential members of LGBTQ community.

LitFinder

Discover literature content from more than 150,000 full-text poems, 840,000 poem citations and excerpts, 7,100 full-text short stories and novels, 3,800 full-text essays published in the 16th-20th centuries, 2,400 full-text speeches, and…

Literature Criticism Online

This extensive compilation of literary commentary represents a range of modern and historical views on authors and their works across regions, eras, and genres. Covers Children’s, Classical, Contemporary, Drama, Poetry, Shakespearean,…

Gale Literary Sources (formerly Artemis)

Cross-search all of Gale’s literature databases from a single digital space to find biographies, primary sources, contextual reference, and criticism. Includes Dictionary of Literary Biography, Something About the Author, LitFinder,…

Gale In Context: Biography

Comprehensive online biographical reference database in the areas of literature,science,multicultural studies,business,entertainment,politics,sports,government,history,arts and newsmakers from around the world and throughout history.

Gale in Context | Middle School (formerly Research in Context) *

Discover reliable and trusted information on a variety of topics to support middle school student research for government, U.S and world history, geography, literature, sciences, and social issues. Research In Context offers…

Gale in Context | Elementary (formerly Kids InfoBits) *

Elementary students in kindergarten through grade five will find age-appropriate content covering a broad range of educational topics such as animals, arts, geography, health, literature, people, social studies, technology, etc. Kids…

AskART

Paul Hendrickson | Fighting the Night: Iwo Jima, WW II and a Flyer’s Life

In conversation with Wil Haygood Paul Hendrickson ’s books include  Sons of Mississippi , winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award;  Hemingway’s Boat: Everything He Loved in Life, and Lost, 1934–1961 , a National Book Critics…

Jen Psaki | Say More: Lessons from Work, the White House, and the World

In conversation with Annie Duke An “unflappable and genial point-person” ( The New York Times ),  Jen Psaki  served as the thirty-fourth White House Press Secretary under President Biden until May 2022. Currently the host of MSNBC’s…

Karen Valby | The Swans of Harlem: Five Black Ballerinas, Fifty Years of Sisterhood, and Their Reclamation of a Groundbreaking History

Featuring: Lydia Abarça, Sheila Rohan, Marcia Sells, Karlya Shelton, and Khadija Tariyan (daughter of Gayle McKinney Griffith) In conversation with Shelly Power, The Dr. Carolyn Newsom Executive Director, Philadelphia Ballet Karen Valby…

Amy Tan | The Backyard Bird Chronicles

In conversation with Beth Kephart A “master of illusion, and one of the best storytellers around” (NPR),  Amy Tan  is the author of the beloved novels  The Joy Luck Club , a finalist for the National Book Award and the National Book…

Bakari Sellers | The Moment: Thoughts on the Race Reckoning That Wasn't and How We All Can Move Forward Now

In 2006,  Bakari Sellers  defeated a twenty-six-year incumbent State Representative to become the youngest member of the South Carolina state legislature and the youngest African American elected official in the nation. The state’s 2014…

Lydia Millet | We Loved it All: A Memory of Life

Praised for her “darkly funny and painfully sharp” ( Los Angeles Times ) fiction, Lydia Millet is the author of the novel  A Children’s Bible , shortlisted for the National Book Award and a  New York Times  Top 10 book of 2020; the…

Sloane Crosley | Grief is for People

“A fountain of observations” ( The Boston Globe ),  Sloane Crosley  is the author of three  New York Times  bestselling essay collections,  How Did You Get This Number, Look Alive Out There, and  I Was Told There’d Be Cake , which was a…

Hanif Abdurraqib | There’s Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension

In conversation with Airea Dee Matthews Hanif Abdurraqib  is the author of  A Little Devil in America , a sweeping look at Black music, art, and culture that won the Carnegie Medal and the Gordon Burns Prize and was a finalist for the…

Rahul Mehta | Feeding the Ghosts: Poems

Rahul Mehta’s  debut poetry collection,  Feeding the Ghosts , explores the solace to be found in the everyday beauty sometimes overshadowed by larger calamity, as well as the author’s identities, relationships, and culture. Also the…

Morgan Parker | You Get What You Pay For: Essays

In conversation with Shantrelle Lewis Morgan Parker  won the National Book Critics Circle Award for  Magical Negro , a poetry collection that ponders the nuances of Black American womanhood. She is also the author of the young adult…

Kara Swisher | Burn Book: A Tech Love Story

In conversation with Tamala Edwards, anchor, 6abc Action News morning edition An award-winning journalist who has covered the business of the Internet since 1994, Kara Swisher is the host of the podcast On with Kara Swisher and the…

Laurence Ralph | Sito: An American Teenager and the City That Failed Him

In conversation with Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor In  Sito ,  Laurence Ralph  explores the murder of San Francisco teen Sito Quiñonez and his family’s long-reverberating grief and grace. Ralph, the stepfather of Sito’s half-brother, tells…

Marcus Anthony Hunter | Radical Reparations: Healing the Soul of a Nation

In conversation with Tamala Edwards, anchor, 6abc Action News morning edition. Co-promoted by the American Constitution Society The Scott Waugh Endowed Chair in the Social Sciences Division, Professor of Sociology & African American…

Billy Dee Williams | What Have We Here?: Portraits of a Life

In conversation with award-winning journalist and broadcaster Tracey Matisak Screen icon  Billy Dee Williams  is perhaps best known for his role as Lando Calrissian in the Star Wars movies  The Empire Strikes Back ,  Return of the Jedi ,…

Paul Alexander | Bitter Crop: The Heartache and Triumph of Billie Holiday’s Last Year

In conversation with award-winning journalist and broadcaster, Tracey Matisak Paul Alexander ’s bestselling and acclaimed biographies include portraits of James Dean, Sylvia Plath, John McCain, and J. D. Salinger, the last of which…

Shayla Lawson | How to Live Free in a Dangerous World: A Decolonial Memoir

In conversation with Jeannine Cook, owner of Harriett’s Bookshop and Ida’s Books Shayla Lawson  is the author of  This Is Major: Notes on Diana Ross, Dark Girls, and Being Dope , a “whip-smart” ( People ) essay collection about…

Ruha Benjamin | Imagination: A Manifesto

In conversation with Shantrelle Lewis Ruha Benjamin  is the author of  Race After Technology: Abolitionist Tools for the New Jim Code , a “galvanizing” and “inventive and wide-ranging” ( The Nation ) look at how new technologies…

Annie Liontas | Sex with a Brain Injury: On Concussion and Recovery

In conversation with CJ Hauser Featured as an Editor’s Choice in  The New York Times Book Review ,  Annie Liontas ' debut novel,  Let Me Explain You , follows the bridge-burning patriarch of a Greek American family who believes he has…

Raquel Willis | The Risk It Takes to Bloom: On Life and Liberation

In conversation with Ernest Owens A writer, activist, and media strategist dedicated to Black transgender liberation, Raquel Willis has served as director of communications for Ms. Foundation for Women, a national organizer for the…

Beth Kephart | My Life in Paper: Adventures in Ephemera

Renowned for her ability “to generalize from her personal experience to the greater human one” ( The Washington Post ), Beth Kephart is the author of more than 30 books across a wide range of genres, including poetry, young adult…