(5.5) The HiFi (Historical Fiction) Collaborative, in partnership with the Providence Public Library and the Providence Athenaeum, presents “The Craft of Historical Fiction Forum,” with authors Adam Braver, Ann Hood, Thomas Cobb, and Taylor Polites.

Local historical fiction authors Braver (Misfit), Hood (The Obituary Writer), Cobb (There Will be Blood in Their Eyes), and moderator Polites (The Rebel Wife), will discuss their recent works and explore the fine line between literature and history, creative expression and scholarly research, poetic license and factual accuracy.

The HiFi Writers’ Collaborative — a writing group in which participants explore the challenges of historical fiction writing and critique each other’s work — meets one weeknight a month, alternating between Providence Public Library and The Providence Athenaeum.

Free and open to the public, 2:30pm to 4:30pm, Sunday, May 5, Providence Athenaeum, 251 Benefit Street

(2.23) Ada Books will host a poetry reading Saturday evening.

From New York City: Jon Curley “Angles of Incidents” and David Fitschen “The Weight of Sorrows.” And from Providence, Eric Paul “My Parents Were Insects”.

Eric Paul, Jon Curley & David Fitschen make you drunk on words while beer and wine make you drunk on beer and wine. And it’s all as free the deadly rays of the sun!

7pm to 9pm, Saturday, February 23, Ada Books, 717 Westminster Street (fb)

Again, a little late on this one — people need a heads-up on reading a whole book I suppose —  but there is still time. Read fast! You have until 6pm Wednesday to read A Gate at the Stairs by Lorrie Moore. Better still, if a reading group is your thang, hook up with these people and get directly into the loop yourself; I clearly can’t be counted upon. This week’s group will be led by Brian Folan.

Tall. Dark. Handsome. Brian studied English Literature and Creative Writing at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and the University of East Anglia in Norwich, UK. Now a resident at AS220, Brian has started working on his own novel. He is a founder/editor of caringtapes.com (est. 2010), an open-forum art blog and contributor/editor for Squarepop.com. Previously, he has worked at Dunkin’ Donuts, Showcase Cinema, Atkins Farm Deli, and the Norwood Cemetery, and more. He didn’t like any of those jobs.

6pm to 7:30pm, Wednesday, February 27, AS220 Reading Group, 115 Empire Street

Eat, drink, and talk about a book. You are invited to join the first meeting of the AS220 Reading Group: This week’s discussion of Citrus County by John Brandon will be led by Brian Folan.

In John Brandon’s second novel, set in the thicket of this Florida county, everything is evidence. Evidence of young love, bad habits, and death threats. For Toby, Shelby, and the middle school geography teacher, Mr. Hibma, everything is a crime of passion, especially their crimes. As these characters try to break out of their designated roles, they begin a long sprawl of sociopathy and alienation while the world around them stays the same — a constant state of disintegration with deft and deep prose, Brandon manages to rewrite the classic crime novel like Dostoevsky at a 7-Eleven.

Brian Folan studied English Literature and Creative Writing at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and the University of East Anglia in Norwich, UK. Now a resident at AS220, Brian has started working on his own novel.

6pm to 7:30pm, Wednesday, January 30, AS220 performance space, 115 Empire Street, (fb)

(1.11) Meet Marilyn Bellemore author of The Night the Music Ended this Friday at Books on the Square.

This book looks at The Station nightclub of West Warwick, Rhode Island, and the site of a tragic fire on February 20, 2003–the fourth deadliest nightclub fire in American history. The Night the Music Ended is presented in memory of that tragic night and its victims, but is also a look at the nightclub itself, its place in the community, the fire, and the aftermath.

In addition, The Night the Music Ended focuses on the music–interviews with the very bands that attracted so many devoted fans to this popular club. Quiet Riot, The Dave Davies Band, Warrant, The Fixx, and many more. This book is both a memorial to the events, and a celebration of a community.

7pm, Friday, January 11, Books on the Square, 471 Angell Street (Wayland Square), 331.9097

C-Span2 recently visited Providence to film several segments for its BookTV and AmericanHistoryTV features. Seen here is the interior of the Providence Athenaeum on Benefit Street.

Other BookTV segments take you inside the John Hay Library, the Rhode Island Historical Society Library, Cellar Stories Bookstore; there are also talks from local authors and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse expounding “On Virtues.”

The AmericanHistoryTV segments cover topics ranging from the Gaspee Affair to The Mob.

more »

Competitive book collecting? Get Jeff Probst on the phone. (“I didn’t come here to make friends!”)

Meet John Russell Bartlett: co-founder of the Providence Athenaeum, statesman, author, publisher, scholar; member of numerous societies devoted to the advancement of human knowledge; and the official librarian for John Carter Brown’s library collection from 1856 until his death in 1886. So the man was somewhat bookish.

And every year the John Bartlett Society holds a rather unusual prize competition in honor of Brown’s first woman Professor of Bibliography, Margaret Stillwell, “with the intent of encouraging students to share her lifelong pleasure in reading and book collecting.” This is open to undergraduates at any Rhode Island college or university.

A contestant’s collection may be in any field. It may emphasize some particular interest within a field, or exemplify certain bibliographical features such as edition, issue, and other conditions of manufacture and sale; illustration, type, calligraphy, binding, etc. All types of books, including paperbacks, may be included, as long as their place in the collection can be justified (the inclusion of textbooks is nevertheless discouraged, except in rare cases).

The deadline is April 5, 2013; top prize is $750. Before entering, contestants are strongly encouraged to contact the Stillwell Prize chair, Richard Noble, at the John Hay Library, Brown University (Richard_Noble@Brown.edu; 401.863.1187. Complete info at Stillwell Prize 2013.

It’s like Kindle never happened . . . or computers . . . or steam-powered weaving machines . . .

(12.1) Saturday at Ada Books — Publicly Complex Presents: Poetry.

Cole Swenson, Sarah Riggs & Angela Veronica Wong enrobe you in dark chocolate words while wine, cheese and cookies disrobe your at least two of your senses. And it all happens at the luxurious price of naught!

6pm to 8pm, Saturday, December 1, Ada Books, 717 Westminster Street

10:00 am to 4:00 pm each day free and open to the public on the campus of Brown University!  A roomful of vendors with booths chock full of vintage goodness!  We’ll have men’s and women’s vintage clothing, accessories, boots, hats, gloves, bags, etc.  We have vintage and repurposed original jewelry.  We have books, vinyl records, vintage lighting, electronics, and industrial goods!  Our housewares include mid century enamelware, linens, colorful mod containers and more!  Antique and vintage buttons, fabrics and patterns abound.  We have Victorian antiques to 80’s bodywear!  Something for everyone!

When: Saturday, November 10th and Sunday November 11th 10:00 am – 4:00 pm daily

Where: Faunce Hall, lower level, Brown University (enter at the arch at Brown & Waterman)

Admission: Free!

How to get there: RIPTA to Thayer St/Tunnel stop; walk one block.  Metered and timed on street parking Saturday and free on street parking Sunday.

What to bring: Cash, Credit Cards, gift list, friends, family, coffee (for vendors)

Watch our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Urban-Vintage-Bazaar/266734040027846?ref=tn_tnmn for live updates and photos from the event!  Take a look at our blog at www.urbanvintagebazaar.blogspot.com for a full list of vendors and photos of the goods!

If you loved us last year, you’ll love us TWICE as much this year as we added more vendors and a second day of VINTAGE!  Saturday, November 10th and Sunday, November 11th, 10 – 4 each day!  On the campus of Brown University and free and open to the public!

We are all vintage and include men’s and women’s vintage clothing and accessories; hats; boots; coats; sweaters, and much more!; jewelry, books, vinyl records, mid century housewares, industrial lighting, antiques and collectibles…the list goes on…  Something for everyone… you cannot miss this one!  14 Vendors in extra large spaces in one room for two days.

Urban Vintage Bazaar

Sat Nov. 10th & Sun Nov 11th

Faunce Hall, Brown University (enter at the arch)

Brown and Waterman Streets

East Side, Providence, Rhode Island

10:00 – 4:00 each day

Free Admission. Free Sunday parking.

Follow us on Facebook at Urban Vintage Bazaar

Check out our blog at www.urbanvintagebazaar.blogspot.com

Head over to What Cheer Antiques and Vintage Saturday at noon for a special event. Jake Austen (RISD ‘92) will be reading from his latest book “Darkest America: Black Minstrelsy from Slavery to Hip-Hop,” a survey of the uncomfortable but fascinating topic of African Americans who performed in blackface minstrel shows in the 1800s, and their legacy in the 20th/21st Century.

We now consider minstrelsy an embarrassing relic, but once blacks and whites alike saw it as a black art form — and embraced it as such. And, as the authors reveal, black minstrelsy remains deeply relevant to popular black entertainment, particularly in the work of contemporary artists like Dave Chappelle, Flavor Flav, Spike Lee, and Lil Wayne. Darkest America explores the origins, heyday, and present-day manifestations of this tradition, exploding the myth that it was a form of entertainment that whites foisted on blacks, and shining a sure-to-be controversial light on how these incendiary performances can be not only demeaning but also, paradoxically, liberating.

Sponsored by Narragansett Beer and Nice Slice Pizza.

Noon to 1pm, Saturday, October 6, What Cheer, 180 Angell Street, Facebook

Join AS220, Ada Books and Drawn & Quarterly for the Providence launch of “New York Drawings” with cartoonist Adrian Tomine.  This lavish, beautifully designed volume collects every cover, comic, and illustration that the acclaimed cartoonist as produced for The New Yorker to date, along with an assortment of other rare and uncollected illustrations and sketches inspired by the city. At the launch, Tomine will read from the book and present a slideshow detailing his work for the storied magazine and insight into his artistic process. Signing to follow. 8pm, free!

Free, 8pm, Wednesday, October 3rd, AS220, 115 Empire Street

(8.24) Wise-cracking apples, eggplants and pears; foul-mouthed birds and bleeding tomatoes; dead carrots and heartless bananas; stone-faced bunnies; conceited vampire bats; snogging peanut butter; half-witted cat-munchkins; naked wieners; and poop. All this (and more!) can be yours, at Ada Books this Friday, where Lauren Barnett (Me Likes You Very Much) and Alabaster (The Complete Talamaroo) will be within talking and touching (no touching, please) distance, ready and able and possibly even willing to sign your recently purchased copy of one of their awesome books (from Hic and Hoc Publications). Miss Barnett will present a brief and amusing slide-show at 7:30 and some sort of snacks (none of the above) will be at hand.

Free, 7pm to 9 pm, Friday, August 24, Ada Books, 717 Westminster Street

Hooray for independent bookstores. Books on the Square is celebrating 20 years in business, and given the economic pressures of the past few decades that’s really saying something. They must be doing something right. Here’s what’s on tap for the anniversary celebration.

First, 20% off everything in the store Saturday and Sunday (June 16 and 17) with 10% of the weekend sales being donated to Reach Out and Read RI, a local non-profit that inspires children to read. Special events are planned for Saturday.

2pm — Laughs & Illusions: The Charismatic Comedy Magic of Matt Roberts. Matt Roberts presents a different, funny and astonishing family show that all ages will be talking about long after the amazing finale! Learn more about Matt at www.RImagic.com

3pm to 5pm — Kids Activities: Raffles, games, design-a-bookmark, stories, cupcakes!

6pm to 8pm — Adult Activities: Raffles, Trivia Contests, and summer reading suggestions.

Cupcakes.

Books on the Square, 471 Angell Street, 331.9097

Join author Taylor Polites for a short reading and Q&A about his book The Rebel Wife. Brimming with atmosphere and edgy suspense, The Rebel Wife presents a young widow trying to survive in the violent world of Reconstruction Alabama, where the old gentility masks a continuing war fueled by hatred, treachery, and still-powerful secrets.

“A richly detailed portrait of Reconstruction-era Alabama. . . . Nimble, engrossing . . . builds to a vivid climax.”
—Publishers Weekly

“The suspense is exquisitely honed . . . pulled back just in time to make for a wonderfully chilling—yet over-heated—read.”
—Booklist

“Polites draws a detailed portrait of post-war politics and sentiments.”
—Kirkus Reviews

Free, Thursday, May 3, 7pm to 8pm, Rochambeau Library, 708 Hope Street

Author Ron McLarty will return to his native Rhode Island to launch his fourth novel The Dropper about which Stephen King had this to say;

Ron McLarty, who has proven himself a terrific storyteller in such books as The Memory of Running and Traveler, has outdone himself with The Dropper, a story where beauty and brutality mingle in a yarn I just couldn’t put down.

McLarty, who got into acting while attending Rhode Island College, has had recurring roles on Law & Order: SVU and Spenser: For Hire, appearances on The Practice, Sex and the City, and many stage and film credits as well.

Book launch is free and open to the public, 2pm to 3:30pm, Sunday, April 22, third floor, Barnard Room, Providence Public Library, 150 Empire Street