(2.24) Last winter two dozen readers created entries for “Dear Diorama,” an exhibit of 3-D book reports that was organized by Providence Community Library and Not About The Buildings. Local artists, crafters, and hobbyist bookworms showed off scenes from some of their favorite books, from Watership Down and Alice In Wonderland to The Flame Throwers …
(10.17) Experience a lively evening of angst at the 6th annual ‘Not About the Buildings’ Spelling Bee. 36 spellers will take to the stage of AS220’s main performance space on Friday, October 17th, but only one will emerge as Providence’s spelling bee champion. There are fabulous prizes for the victors, including memberships to the Providence …
(6.19) Not About The Buildings and the Providence Athenaeum have teamed up once again, this time to commemorate the re-installation of the Egyptian galleries at the RISD Museum. Join us for a reading of Edgar Allan Poe’s witty and not terribly long 1845 story “Some Words with a Mummy.” In 1845 Poe published “Some Words …
(2.20) For the fifth year, Not About The Buildings is pleased to present micro-memoir!, a chance for writers of all ages and experience to write, edit, and read their life stories in just under two hours. Tell your story and learn about the lives of other memoirists in the room. Participants will write and read …
(3.28) Another thrilling but short marathon reading coming up. Not About The Buildings is ready to kick winter to the curb with its more-or-less annual March marathon reading. This time we’re tackling The Duel, the autobiographical tale by that notorious Casanova, Giacomo Casanova, as he flees one kingdom only to find himself challenged to a …
Marathon Casanova Reading At Athenaeum — Join In Read More »
Once again, we were gathered in the beautiful lower floor of one of the oldest libraries in the United States, sipping wine among the stacks while sacrilegiously eating pizza slices and delicious crunchy little chocolate chip cookies off the Egyptian cabinet that once held Napoleon’s “Description of Egypt.” But this was a guilt-free evening. The Providence Athenaeum may …
Come down to AS220 tonight, Monday, June 6, for the fifth annual Not About the Buildings Spelling Bee. This invite comes from master of ceremonies, Matthew Lawrence, who was spotted two days ago buying yet another dictionary. Relive your childhood glories and/or traumas at AS220 while competing for fabulous prizes. Speller registration starts at 8:30 …
Can you write in the air? When two vowels go walking, who does the talking? Can you spell ‘fun’? Then pull up your diphthong and get in the Bee. Not About The Buildings’ 5th Annual Spelling Bee Fundraiser is once again happening at AS220. There will be fame, honor, glory, and prizes for one smartypants …
Not About the Buildings has teamed up with the Providence Athenaeum once again to bring us “Micro-Memoir!” I missed like four of these but finally made it to the last one in March, and it was fantastic. The hosts have it all down pat, from free wine and snacks to not revealing the secret topics …
Spend your Wednesday evening at Ada Books for a “Frome-In”, A marathon reading of Edith Wharton’s bleak, yet short, novel Ethan Frome to commemorate its 100th anniversary and also to celebrate the end of winter. Presented by Not About The Buildings. Bring your own copy of the book, or we’ll have a handful available for …
If you see this man lurking on your doorstep in the upcoming weeks, no harm shall come to him! He is a federal employee in the performance of a constitutionally mandated mission — counting. When not counting, he is spelling. He is a simple man and his name is Matthew Lawrence. This Monday is the …
This is something of a ‘save the date’ notification. Not About the Buildings is holding its Fourth Annual Spelling Bee on Monday, June 21st, from 9pm to 11-ish. Not About The Buildings’ most popular event is also our biggest fundraiser. 36 spellers will compete for fame and glory and fabulous prizes, but even non-spellers can …
Ever dreamed of churning out your life story but never had the time? Your problems will be solved tonight at the Providence Athenaeum, where a roomful of people will get thirty minutes to write their story in 200 words or less. Everybody can, if they want to, read their story out loud afterwards and, if …
This Thursday, the Providence Athenaeum and Not About The Buildings are teaming up to bring you Micro-Memoir!, a lightning-fast event where people write really short memoirs (and read them aloud) in just two hours. Hosted by Karen Donovan, founding editor of Paragraph magazine and artist-in-residence at the Athenaeum, the event is free and open to …
Our very own Annie Messier’s “Notes from a Seven-Year Study of the Domestic Short-Haired Feline” won the Not About The Buildings Writing Prize last month, and copies of the story are (finally) available for you to buy. It was published in a limited run of 50 chapbooks. You can pick it up now at Ada …
Tomorrow night at the Providence Athenaeum, I’ll be hosting the prize reading for the Not About The Buildings Second Annual Writing Prize. In a crazy turn of events that seriously had nothing whatsoever to do with me, the prize was awarded (by an outside judge who blind-read the entries and lives halfway across the country) …