Events & Programs
2013: A Rich Selection of Activities for Young and Old and In Between
Mark Twain loved a good circus, and so do we. So we are proud to present a rich array of events that range from the “Trouble Begins at 5:30” lecture series, to the “Tapping into Twain” Oktoberfest, to the many family activities such as Tom Sawyer Day and the Ice Cream Social, to our spooky Graveyard Shift ghost tours, to our Mark My Words event and other appearances by major authors – and much, much more. So have a look through the year ahead by clicking on the tabs below.
Jan
January
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Feb
February
Nook Farm Book Club: The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. Dubois
Wednesday, February 6, reception 5:00 p.m., discussion 5:30 p.m.
In 1903, the scholar and activist W.E.B. Du Bois published an incisive, prophetic collection of essays that reflected on the status of the African American in the 40 years since the Emancipation Proclamation.
Join the Nook Farm Book Club, a collaboration of The Mark Twain House & Museum and the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center, to discuss this important work.
The discussion will be held at The Harriet Beecher Stowe Visitors' Center, 77 Forest Street, Hartford, Connecticut.
The event is free, but registration is encouraged at 860-522-9258, Ext. 317.
The Trouble Begins at 5:30: "Mark Twain, the Maori, and the Mystery of Livy's Jade Pendant" with Dr. Kerry Driscoll
Wednesday, February 13, reception 5:00 p.m., lecture 5:30 p.m.
Using Twain's letters and unpublished notebooks, noted Twain scholarKerry Driscoll of the University of St. Joseph will reconstruct the hidden story of the five weeks the Clemens family spent touring New Zealand in November-December 1895, an experience would radically re-shape Twain's racial attitudes for the remainder of his life.
"The Trouble Begins at 5:30" receives generous funding from First Niagara Bank Foundation, Inc., along with Connecticut Explored magazine, Hot Tomato's restaurant and The Friends of the Mark Twain House & Museum.
Free.
Valentine’s Special Event! Mark Twain's The Diaries of Adam and Eve read by Scot Haney and Kara Sundlun
Thursday, February 14, 7:00 p.m.
Twain's short masterpiece of creation, humor, love and loss is read by WFSB-TV's entirely lovable Scot Haney and Kara Sundlun. The hour-long program followed by a Valentine's Day champagne & chocolate reception in Hal Holbrook Hall.
Tickets are $45; $40 for members. Call 860-280-3130.
Tom Lee, Storyteller for Adults: "Unconventional Marriages: I Married a Monster!"
Sunday, February 17, 2:00 p.m.
Beauty and the Beast is probably the best known tale, but from the ancient Greeks on (who had the beautiful Persephone marry the Lord of the Underworld) the idea of a beautiful maiden linked by marriage to a highly unpleasant creature has been a staple of world mythology.
Such stories, in a program called "Untraditional Marriages: I Married a Monster!" will be relayed with consummate skill by Tom Lee at The Mark Twain House & Museum.
Lee delivers not nursery fare, but real stories with deep roots, and emotion and terror enough to populate a novel. Tom Lee's stories are not recommended for children.
The program is about 75 minutes in length.
Admission is $15; tickets may be obtained by calling 860-280-3130.
The Mouth: A storytelling event
Friday, February 22, 7:30 p.m.
The very first Hartford Mouth free storytelling event -- think a local version of The Moth, the popular NYC storytelling nonprofit featured on public radio -- will be held Friday, February 22, appropriately at the Mark Twain House & Museum in Hartford, presented by WNPR personality Chion Wolf.
Each Mouth will be themed, and since this one is in February, it's only right to tell a love story. Those interested in telling their stories should email Ms. Wolf at Chion@ChionWolf.com or find her on Facebook to tell her approximately how long the story will be (it'd be great if you could keep it under 15 minutes).
If there's time left in the night, we'll ask if anyone in the audience has a story to tell!
THIS IS NOT A COMPETITION, just storytelling goodness without notes, in front of a bunch of friends, in a museum dedicated to one of our country's best storytellers. No pressure. ;)
Please note that the audio will be recorded for a compilation down the line.
After the show is over, ideas and feedback will be solicited.
There will be four more Mouth events this year:
Sunday, May 12th - 2pm - Mother's Day - stories about mothers/motherhood
Sunday, June 16th - 2pm - Father's Day - stories about fathers/fatherhood
Friday the 13th of September - 7:30 - Stories about luck
Free
Graveyard Shift Ghost Tours
Friday, February 22, and Saturday, February 23, 6:00 p.m., 7:00 p.m., 8:00 p.m., and 9:00 p.m.
We reprise our popular Graveyard Shift Ghost Tours for a very limited two-day run. The Mark Twain House has been featured on Syfy Channel's Ghost Hunters and the Biography Channel's My Ghost Story.
On these tours participants will hear all these creepy tales -- and learn about Mark Twain's own interest in the supernatural.
Filled with haunted history, dark tales and Victorian traditions surrounding seances and spiritualism, these nighttime tours are as educational as they are goosebump-inducing.
They sell out fast, so be sure to call 860-280-3130 soon to make your reservations! The tours are tsponsored by Tsunami Tsolutions. Tickets are $20 for adults 17 and up; $16 for members of The Mark Twain House & Museum; and an unlucky $13 for children 16 and under. Tours are not recommended for children under 10.
Graveyard Shift Ghost Tours are by reservation only, and sell out quickly. Call early: 860-280-3130.Tickets are $20 for adults 17 and up; $16 for members of The Mark Twain House & Museum; and an unlucky $13 for children 16 and under. Tours are not recommended for children under 10. Graveyard Shift Ghost Tours are by reservation only, and sell out quickly. Call early: 860-280-3130.
"Living with Guns" with Craig Whitney
Thursday, February 28, 7:00 p.m.
A public discussion with former NY Times editor Craig Whitney on the subject of his book “LIVING WITH GUNS: A Liberal’s Case for the 2nd Amendment.”
The discussion will be moderated by the COO of The Alliance for Nonprofit Growth & Opportunity (TANGO), Bob Margolis, who is politically conservative, a pistol permit instructor and a member of the Metacon Gun Club.
The hope and intent is civil discourse on a very timely and important subject. The hour-long to 90 minute program will be followed by a book signing.Free
Mar
March
Nook Farm Book Club: The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner
Wednesday, March 6, reception 5:00 p.m., discussion 5:30 p.m.
Join the Nook Farm Book Club, a collaboration of The Mark Twain House & Museum and the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center, to discuss this important work.
The discussion will be held at The Mark Twain House & Museum Visitors' Center, 351 Farmington Ave., Hartford, Connecticut.
The event is free, but registration is encouraged at 860-522-9258, Ext. 317.
Susan Schoenberger, "The Art of Fiction": A six-week class
Wednesday, March 6, 5:30 p.m.
"The Art of Fiction" with Susan Schoenberger.
Six weeks, Wednesdays, March 6-April 10, 5:30-7:30 p.m.
Susan Schoenberger's first novel, A Watershed Year, had not even been published when it was awarded the prestigious Gold Medal in the 2006 William Faulkner-William Wisdom Creative Writing Competition. Amazon Publishing is re-releasing A Watershed Year and publishing her next novel. Schoenberger has been an editor at the Hartford Courant and the Baltimore Sun, a published essayist and short story writer, and a favorite of the Writing at the Mark Twain House faculty. The class will cover the main choices an author has to make when constructing a novel, including point of view, voice, character development, writing in scenes, structure and story arc. Participants will have opportunities to share works in progress for constructive feedback.Tuition $450. Call 860-280-3130.
The Gilded Age of Hartford: An Exhibition
Friday, March 15, Exhibit is open during regular museum hours.
The Gilded Age -- the era of great wealth, great poverty, dynamism and oppression, plutocracy and populism, corruption and reform -- got its very name from a novel by Mark Twain. Hartford, Connecticut, was a wealthy and exemplary city of its time -- and Twain's own ideas and life demonstrated the dramatic contrasts of the time. Artifacts and rarely seen items from the museum's collections are accompanied by events and a contest for students. Through September 2.
Free with purchase of a tour of the Mark Twain House, or $5.oo for a special museum-only admission.
"The Jill and Julia Show" with Julia Sweeney and Jill Sobule.
Saturday, March 16, 7:30 p.m.
What happens when singer-songwriter Jill Sobule meets Saturday Night's Live Julia Sweeney? A funny, musical evening filled with smart songcraft and witty observations on the human condition.
Julia Sweeney started her performing career as a member of the legendary comedy troupe The Groundlings. This opportunity allowed her to develop hilarious characters that would serve as a springboard to national fame as a cast member on Saturday Night Live.
Her most popular sketch, the bizarre gender-confused Pat, led to the film "It's Pat," as well as appearances in "Pulp Fiction" and "Stuart Little." After surviving a bout with cancer, Sweeney returned to the stage in her monologue, "God Said 'HA!," which played on Broadway and was later turned into a film. Sweeney's subsequent monologues include "In the Family Way" and "Letting Go of God," a story of her Catholic upbringing and subsequent move to atheism. She has appeared on Real Time with Bill Maher and NPR's "This American Life." Jill Sobule, best known for the top 20 hit "I Kissed a Girl," belongs to a rare breed of artists. Her work is at once deeply personal and socially conscious, seriously funny and derisively tragic. Over five albums and a decade of recording, the Denver-born songwriter/ guitarist/singer has tackled such topics as the death penalty, anorexia, shoplifting, reproduction, the French resistance movement, adolescence, and the Christian right. Did we mention love? Love found, love lost, love wished for and love taken away.Tickets: $40 / $35 for MTH&M members; call 860-280-3130
CELTIC ECHOES: Myths & Stories from Ancient Ireland Performed by Tom Lee
Sunday, March 17, 2:00 p.m.
For thousands of years, sometimes in secret, sometimes in exile, Irish storytellers kept the roots and branches of Celtic tales alive for future generations. The tales survive today in the pages of ancient books, but truly spring to life when told by a master storyteller.
Tom Lee will perform a selection of Irish stories and legends on Saint Patrick’s Day, Sunday, March 17th at 2 pm at The Mark Twain House in Hartford.
Stories of heroes and romance, of curses and spells; where fairies are powerful forces and leprechauns are not to be trifled with.
Tom Lee is a professional storyteller who has worked for The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Yale Center for British Art, and The Metropolitan Opera. His work with Irish folktales was featured on NPR’s “Morning Edition” and BBC-TV’s “Timewatch.”
Admission is $15. This program is not suitable for children. For reservations, please call 860-280-3130
Henry Ward Beecher: Seizing Liberty -- An Author Talk and Book Signing with Debby Applegate
Wednesday, March 20, 7:00 p.m.
The Harriet Beecher Stowe Center and The Mark Twain House & Museum present a free event: "Henry Ward Beecher: Seizing Liberty."
Debby Applegate, 2007 Pulitzer Prize-winner for Biography for The Most Famous Man in America: The Biography of Henry Ward Beecher, will speak about the minister and abolitionist who became one of the most famous men of the late 19th century.
The year 2013 marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Henry Ward Beecher, Harriet Beecher Stowe’s favorite brother and friend of Mark Twain.
Guests are encouraged to arrive at 6 p.m. to view the Mark Twain House & Museum’s newest exhibit, "The Gilded Age of Hartford," a new look at the era that Twain named as it played out in the city where he and Stowe lived.
The exhibit explores the major cultural, social and economic trends of the Gilded Age -- from the end of the Civil War to the turn of the 20th century -- and Hartford's pivotal role in American history and culture. Guests will enjoy coffee, dessert and conversation following the program.
Applegate will speak about the charismatic Henry Ward Beecher whose gospel of unconditional love and healing made him New York’s number one tourist attraction.
Beecher was notorious for his irreverent humor and melodramatic gestures, such as auctioning slaves to freedom in his pulpit and shipping rifles – nicknamed “Beecher’s Bibles” -- to the antislavery resistance fighters in Kansas.
In 1872 Beecher was accused of adultery with one of his most pious parishioners. His trial on charges of “criminal conversation” became the most widely covered event of the century.
The event is part of Stowe Center programming marking the 150th anniversary of The Emancipation Proclamation and the 200th anniversary of the birth of Henry Ward Beecher.
Free.
Hartford Courant/FOX CT Key Issues Forum: A Gun Battle in the Cradle of the Industry
Friday, March 22, 7:00 p.m.
The Hartford Courant/FOX CT will host a Key Issues Forum on Connecticut’s rapidly changing gun laws.
Panelists include:
-- Joe Bartozzi, senior vice president and general counsel of O.F. Mossberg & Sons in North Haven, the oldest family-owned firearms manufacturer in America -- Mike Lawlor, the top state official on criminal justice as undersecretary of policy and management, and former co-chairman of the legislature’s judiciary committee. -- Hartford Courant columnist Dan Haar will moderate the discussion. There’s been little doubt since Newtown that the tragedy would change Connecticut’s gun laws, already among the nation’s strictest. But how will these laws shape up? Will they stop mass killings and reduce crime in cities? How will they affect this state’s historic gun industry — and gun owners’ constitutional freedoms?The public is being asked to submit questions for the panelists prior to the forum by emailing them, including name, address and daytime phone number, to opinion@courant.com.
The Hartford Courant has sponsored Key Issues Forums on topics of importance to the community for more than 25 years.The forum is free and open to the public. Anyone wishing to reserve a seat should call 860-280-3130. Limit two tickets per reservation, space is limited.
Registration Deadline for 'The Art of Memoir' with Bessy Reyna
Friday, March 22, registration deadline; class begins March 27
Bessy Reyna, "The Art of Memoir"
Five weeks, Wednesdays, March 27-April 24. 5:30-8:30 p.m.
$450. Registration Deadline Friday, March 22. Call 860-280-3130. Each of us has a story we can choose to tell or not tell, and Bessy Reyna's short workshop "Tell Me a Secret: Writing Your Memoir" has been enthusiastically received statewide. It is being expanded for this special class. Reyna is the author of two bilingual books of poetry, The Battlefield of Your Body and Memoirs of the Unfaithful Lover/ Memorias de la amante infiel, among many others. Bessy has been an opinion and magazine writer as well as a memoirist, and currently writes the arts and culture page for the newspaper Identidad Latina. She has won numerous awards, including the 2009 Connecticut Center for the Book Lifetime Achievement Award in Service to the Literary Community.Tuition $450. Registration Deadline Friday, March 8. Call 860-280-3130.
Apr
April
Nook Farm Book Talk -- The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander, 2013 Stowe Prize Winner
Wednesday, April 3, reception 5:00 p.m., discussion 5:30 p.m. At the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center.
Michelle Alexander calls on all of us to reexamine our attitudes toward human rights, equality and opportunity. Published to widespread critical acclaim in 2010, The New Jim Crow is a rallying cry for mobilizing around the inequities and the devastating impact of the war on drugs on the 21st century African American community, and suggests that our society has the opportunity for solutions and resolutions.
Join the Nook Farm Book Club, a collaboration of The Mark Twain House & Museum and the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center, to discuss this important work.
The discussion will be held at The Harriet Beecher Stowe Visitors' Center, 77 Forest Street, Hartford, Connecticut.
The event is free, but registration is encouraged at 860-522-9258, Ext. 317.
"Reading Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address": University of Chicago Alumni Lecture with Dr. Steven Smith
Sunday, April 7, Lecture starts at 3:00 p.m.
Though not an official Mark Twain House & Museum event, an appropriate one for the home of "The Lincoln of Our Literature."
How did Lincoln understand the Civil War? Who or what was to blame? What is the role of God in history? What is the role of the statesman in time of crisis?
We will consider all of these questions by means of a close reading of Lincoln's greatest speech.
Dr. Steven Smith has taught at Yale since 1984 and is the Alfred Cowles Professor of Political Science. He has served as director of graduate studies in political science, director of the special program in the humanities, acting chair of Judaic Studies, and, from 1996 to 2011, as the master of Branford College. His research has focused on the history of political philosophy with special attention to the problem of the ancients and moderns, the relation of religion and politics, and theories of representative government.
He has received several academic awards and prizes, including the Ralph Waldo Emerson Prize given by Phi Beta Kappa, but is most proud of receiving the Lex Hixon Prize for Teaching Excellence in the Social Sciences in 2009.
$10. For information, contact Margo Lynn Hablutzel at mhablutzel2@csc.com
The Trouble Begins at 5:30: "Mark Twain and Artemus Ward, the Man Who Made Lincoln Laugh" with John Pascal
Wednesday, April 10, reception 5:00 p.m., lecture 5:30 p.m.
Scholar John Pascal on another Twain contemporary and friend, and a favorite of Lincoln's, humorist Artemus Ward. Ward was America's preeminent literary comedian prior to Mark Twain's emergence as a serious humorist during the 1870s and 1880s. As the unofficial jester of the Civil War Period, Ward was "The Man Who Made Lincoln Laugh." He awakened in Twain the possibilities of being a comic writer and directly influenced Twain's lecture style, which Twain acknowledged.
"The Trouble Begins at 5:30" receives generous funding from First Niagara Bank Foundation, Inc., along with Connecticut Explored magazine, Hot Tomato's restaurant and The Friends of the Mark Twain House & Museum.
Free
A Conversation with Anita Diamant Keynotes The Mark Twain House & Museum Writer's Weekend
Friday, April 26, , Saturday, April 27, Sunday, April 28
A Conversation with Anita Diamant, beloved author of 'The Red Tent' and other bestselling novels, keynotes our Second Annual Writers' Weekend.
Writers in many genres, and all levels of experience, can immerse themselves in the craft at The Mark Twain House & Museum Friday evening, April 26, through Sunday afternoon, April 28.
For a complete schedule, click here.
Within a few hundred yards of America's iconic author's beloved home, participants will hear Diamant (The Red Tent, The Last Days of Dogtown, Day After Night) keynote the conference on Friday night in conversation with Writing at the Mark Twain House Director Julia Pistell.
The next day those taking part can participate in a range of sessions -- from honing a novel they're working on to hearing about the joys and pitfalls of blogging to attending a Playwrights' Panel with David Grimm (The Learned Ladies of Park Avenue) , David Lindsay-Adaire (Rabbit Hole) and Theresa Rebeck (Seminar), three distinguished authors whose works have influenced millions.
The Weekend will conclude on Sunday with more sessions and a talk by Davy Rothbart, author, filmmaker, contributor to NPR's This American Life, and editor/publisher of Found Magazine.
Among authors slated to lead hourlong sessions are Novelist Jon Clinch (Finn, The Thief of Auschwitz); no fewer than two mystery authors (David Handler and Christopher Knopf); Writing at the Mark Twain House faculty including memoirist and biographer Susan Campbell (Dating Jesus), novelist Susan Schoenberger (A Watershed Year) and novelist and memoirist Mary-Ann Tirone Smith (Girls of Tender Age); and a dozen more outstanding authors. There will be sessions on fiction, non-fiction , memoir, romance writing, poetry, travel writing, blogging, the business of getting published, and new forms of storytelling unleashed by the Internet.
The event will run from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. on Friday, April 26; 8:00 am to 5:00 p.m.on Saturday, April 27; and 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, April 28.
The cost of the Second Annual Writers' Weekend is $150. This includes the Friday night reception and lecture, all Saturday and Sunday sessions, coffee and refreshments, and a Saturday box lunch. Participants will also receive a voucher good for a tour of the Mark Twain House at any time. Space is limited to 150 participants, so advance registration and payment is a must: Call 860-280-3130 to register.
Graveyard Shift Ghost Tours
Friday, April 26, and Saturday, April 27, 6:00, 7:00, 8:00, and 9:00 p.m.
We reprise our popular Graveyard Shift Ghost Tours for a very limited two-day run. The Mark Twain House has been featured on Syfy Channel's Ghost Hunters and the Biography Channel's My Ghost Story.
On these tours participants will hear all these creepy tales -- and learn about Mark Twain's own interest in the supernatural.
Filled with haunted history, dark tales and Victorian traditions surrounding seances and spiritualism, these nighttime tours are as educational as they are goosebump-inducing.
They sell out fast, so be sure to call 860-280-3130 soon to make your reservations! The tours are tsponsored by Tsunami Tsolutions.
Tickets are $20 for adults 17 and up; $16 for members of The Mark Twain House & Museum; and an unlucky $13 for children 16 and under. Tours are not recommended for children under 10. Graveyard Shift Ghost Tours are by reservation only, and sell out quickly. Call early: 860-280-3130.
May
May
Nook Farm Book Club: Walden by Henry David Thoreau
Wednesday, May 1, reception 5:00 p.m., discussion 5:30 p.m.
Join the Nook Farm Book Club, a collaboration of The Mark Twain House & Museum and the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center, to discuss this important work.
The discussion will be held at The Mark Twain House & Museum Visitors' Center, 351 Farmington Ave., Hartford, Connecticut.
The event is free, but registration is encouraged at 860-522-9258, Ext. 317.
The Trouble Begins at 5:30: "Dear Mark Twain" with R. Kent Rasmussen
Wednesday, May 8, reception 5:00 p.m., lecture 5:30 p.m.
Noted Twain scholar R. Kent Rasmussen speaks on his new book of contemporary letters to Mark Twain, Dear Mark Twain.
The event is presented in partnership with the Friends of the Farmington Library.
A voracious pack-rat, Twain hoarded his readers' letters; the book collects 200 of them written by children, farmers, schoolteachers, businessmen, preachers, railroad clerks, inmates of mental institutions, con artists, and even a former president. Clemens's own and often startling comments and replies are also included.
"The Trouble Begins at 5:30" receives generous funding from First Niagara Bank Foundation, Inc., along with Connecticut Explored magazine, Hot Tomato's restaurant and The Friends of the Mark Twain House & Museum.Free.
FREE EVENT & BOOK SIGNING With LAUREN DRAIN, author of “Banished: A Memoir – Surviving My Years in the Westboro Baptist Church” In conversation with SUSAN CAMPBELL
Friday, May 10, 7:00 p.m.
Mark Twain spoke out against religious hypocrisy. On May 10th, we welcome LAUREN DRAIN, a former member of the Westboro Baptist Church, a cult that melds a fervent belief in the Bible with a message of hate. Known the world over for picketing the funerals of AIDS victims, soldiers and people who died as a result of tragic violence, Westboro Baptist Church has become one of the most infamous examples of the freedom of religion clashing with freedom of speech.
LAUREN DRAIN, the daughter of parents deeply entrenched in the church, was ultimately banished from Reverend Fred Phelps' anti-gay, anti-Semitic group. Lauren will appear in conversation with "Dating Jesus" author, and religion blogger Susan Campbell.
FREE!
'Writing Fiction: Elements of the Short Story': A Saturday Afternoon Writers' Workshop with Melanie Farandello
Saturday, May 11, 1:00 p. m.-4:00 p.m.
In this afternoon seminar on writing the short story for all levels of writers, we will examine various elements of the craft of fiction writing and get busy generating our own material with in-class writing exercises. We will start by reading some flash fictions and discussing basic story elements in this compressed form. We will then try our hand at writing using various prompts geared towards these elements. The class will include brief lectures on various aspects of story writing such as plot, structure, creating tension, and developing character. We will leave with a better sense of creating a short story along with some possible beginnings and ideas for writing our own stories.
$40; call 860-280-3130.
Tuition $40; call 860-280-3130.
The Mouth: A Storytelling Event for Mother's Day, with WNPR's Chion Wolf
Sunday, May 12, 2:00 p.m.
Everyone has a mother. Love her or not so much, we've all got a story to tell. The MOUTH, the new live storytelling collaboration between The Mark Twain House & Museum and WNPR's Chion Wolf, will feature original stories told by folks just like YOU. Happy tales, sad tales, funny tales and heartwarming tales will all center on the moms in our lives. Whether it is the mother that bore us to the mothers we find for ourselves, this fun event is sure to make your Mother's Day a celebration of motherhood.
$5! Reservations highly recommended. Call (860) 280-3130
'The Art of Biography': A Saturday Afternoon Writers' Workshop with Susan Campbell
Saturday, May 18, 1:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m.
Susan Campbell, the award-winning journalist and memoirist ('Dating Jesus') and author of "Tempest-Tossed: The Spirit of Isabella Beecher Hooker." the forthcoming life of the lively and rebellious neighbor of Mark Twain, on the .
A three-hour session with a master of the genre.
Part of the Writing at the Mark Twain House program's series of Saturday afternoon workshops.
Tuition is $40; call 860-280-3130 to reserve.
Weighty Matters with Diane Smith and Elizabeth Petruccione
Wednesday, May 22, 7:00 p.m.
Acclaimed journalist and author DIANE SMITH and weight loss guru ELIZABETH PETRUCCIONE take on our national obesity epidemic, our obsession with food, and their personal weight loss journeys.
DIANE SMITH is an Emmy Award-winning anchor and producer for CTN. Her latest book, "OBSESSED:America’s Food Addiction and My Own," written with MSNBC Morning Joe co-host Mika Brzezinski, is about reversing the American obesity crisis, and about Diane and Mika’s own struggles with food and weight. The Globe Pequot Press has published six books based on Diane’s “Positively Connecticut” TV series, the longest running local TV series in state history.
Diane was an Emmy winning news reporter and anchor on WTNH-TV in New Haven, and co-hosted the Morning Show on WTIC-Newstalk1080. She is a frequent on air contributor to CT Public Television (CPTV), producing and hosting award winning documentaries and other programming.
ELIZABETH PETRUCCIONE is the inspiring figure behind "Losing Weight With Elizabeth," a Waterbury-based business dedicated to providing good health for those looking to lose weight and keep it off. After losing 93 pounds seven years ago, Elizabeth wrote "YOU WERE BORN FAT," a practical guide to weight loss that has already been adapted for the stage by Jacques Lamarre. In addition, she hosts a cable-access television show, launched a line of low-fat, healthy pita chips, and is an in-demand motivational speaker.
FREE EVENT! Book sale and signing to follow!
'Huck's Adventures in Underland': Author Nikola Jajic Signs His Work
At A Hero's Legacy Comics & Collectibles, 188 Middle Turnpike, Manchester, Connecticut
Saturday, May 25, 2:00 p.m.
In a new comic book series, Huckleberry Finn -- yes, that Huckleberry Finn -- falls down a strange rabbit hole and ends up in a bizarre underground world filled with curiosities, cosmic horrors, and some familiar faces.
'Huck's Adventures in Underland' is a mashup of Mark Twain, Lewis Carroll and H.P. Lovecraft -- the creation of Nikola Jajic, a graphic novelist from Chicago.
In a collaboration of The Mark Twain House & Museum and A Hero's Legacy Comics & Collectibles in Manchester, Connecticut, Jajic will be signing print editions of the first two installments of the comic book -- strictly limited editions as the comics are being released digitally -- on Saturday, May 25, at 2:00 p.m.at the Manchester store.
A Hero's Legacy is at at 188 Middle Turnpike West, Manchester. Jajic will be available to sign and answer questions about the work.
'Huck Finn’s Adventures in Underland' combines Mark Twain’s classics 'The Adventures of Tom Sawyer,' and 'Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,' with Lewis Carroll’s 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' and 'Through the Looking-Glass,' and adds sprinkles of Lovecraftian horror, for a grand new adventure.There are four more installments coming and then they will be sold in print as a full edition with all six parts.
Nikola Jajic is a writer with three previous graphic novels under his belt: "The Big Bad Book," "Loosely Based,' and the critically acclaimed 'Devil’s Island.' He also writes the weekly web-comic Tooth & Nail (toothandnailcomic.com).
Free.
June
June
Nook Farm Book Club: The Secrets of Mary Bowser by Lois Leveen
Wednesday, June 5, 7:00 p.m.-8:30 (note revised time)
Join the Nook Farm Book Club, a collaboration of The Mark Twain House & Museum and the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center, to discuss this important work.
The author will be present.
The discussion will be held at The Harriet Beecher Stowe Visitors' Center, 77 Forest Street, Hartford, Connecticut.
The event is free, but registration is encouraged at 860-522-9258, Ext. 317.
Tom Sawyer Day
Saturday, June 8, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
A free day of fun for the whole family. Details to come.
Free!
Sunday Afternoon Writers' Workshop: 'The Freelancer's Life' with Theresa Sullivan Barger
Sunday, June 9, 1:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m.
Theresa Sullivan Barger, a former Courant staff writer, has written for Yankee Magazine, Huffington Post, CFO.com, The Saturday Evening Post, AARP, AAA and many more. Whether you’re new to writing or a veteran journalist, she’ll tell you how to get started, find paying work, break into new markets and write for national publications.
$40; call 860-280-3130
The Trouble Begins at 5:30: "Mark Twain’s Homes & Literary Tourism" with Hilary Iris Lowe
Wednesday, June 12, reception 5:00 p.m., lecture 5:30 p.m.
Hilary Iris Lowe on her book Mark Twain's Homes & Literary Tourism, which untangles the complicated ways that Clemens's houses, now museums, have come to tell the stories that they do about Twain, reminding us that the sites themselves are the products of multiple agendas and, in some cases, unpleasant histories. Lowe leads us through four Twain homes, from his birthplace in Florida, Missouri, through Hannibal, Missouri, his childhood home, to Elmira, his summer home during the Hartford years, and -- of course -- our own Mark Twain House in Hartford.
"The Trouble Begins at 5:30" receives generous funding from First Niagara Bank Foundation, Inc., along with Connecticut Explored magazine, Hot Tomato's restaurant and The Friends of the Mark Twain House & Museum.
Free.
"Get a Clue' Tours: Solve a Mystery in Mark Twain's House
Friday, June 14, 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. The hour-long tours step off every 15 minutes.
Like the stately home where a murder takes place in the classic Parker Brothers/Hasbro game CLUE, the Mark Twain House has a Conservatory, a Dining Room, a Library, even secret passages...all the elements for a live-action mystery involving the characters Mark Twain invented there.
Was it Tom Sawyer in the Library with the Wrench? Merlin in the Billiard Room with the Knife? The Pauper in the Kitchen with the Rope?
In a parody inspired by the great original game, a full-fledged murder mystery will be laid out for visitors to solve during The Mark Twain House & Museum's "Get a Clue" Tour, Saturday, March 9. The one-hour experience provokes fun, intrigue and hilarity among visitors. The 1874 home's opulent chambers become possible murder scenes in this classic challenge of deductive reasoning and detective skill. In a special one-hour tour, visitors will be able to make accusations and figure out who sent "Pap" Finn -- Huck Finn's drunken, abusive father -- to his doom. And where he was dispatched. And what was used to dispose of the scoundrel. Moving from room to room in the mysterious gloom of evening, probing dark corners of the house (magnifying glasses optional), visitors will get clues to help them in their detection and make their guesses. Finally, in a stunning reveal, all will become clear and the perpetrator unmasked. Members of Hartford's beloved, hilarious Sea Tea Improv comedy troupe portray the suspects, who are based on famous literary characters Twain created in the very house where the mystery unfolds.Tickets are $20 ($16 for members); $13 for children 16 and under. 860-280-3130.
The New Ways of Getting Published: A Saturday Afternoon Writers' Workshop with Susan Schoenberger
Saturday, June 15, 1:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m.
Novelist and Writing at the Mark Twain House faculty member Susan Schoenberger talks about the new ways of publishing -- and how to get an agent who can guide you through it.
$40; call 860-280-3130.
The Mouth, a Storytelling Event with Chion Wolf -- Father's Day
Sunday, June 16, 2:00 p.m.
The third Hartford Mouth free storytelling event invites stories on fathers and fatherhood. (Think a local version of The Moth, the popular NYC storytelling nonprofit featured on public radio.) The event -- appropriate for the home of a great storyteller -- will be presented by WNPR personality Chion Wolf.
Those interested in telling their stories should email Ms. Wolf at Chion@ChionWolf.com or find her on Facebook to tell her approximately how long the story will be (it'd be great if you could keep it under 15 minutes).
If there's time left in the night, we'll ask if anyone in the audience has a story to tell!
THIS IS NOT A COMPETITION, just storytelling goodness without notes, in front of a bunch of friends, in a museum dedicated to one of our country's best storytellers. No pressure. ;)
Please note that the audio will be recorded for a compilation down the line.
After the show is over, ideas and feedback will be solicited.
There will be a final Mouth event this year, on Friday the 13th of September, featuring stories about luck.
$5! Reservations highly recommended. Call (860) 280-3130
The Friends of The Mark Twain House & Museum present Heloise of "Hints from Heloise"
Thursday, June 27, 7:00 p.m.
Following in the footsteps of her mother, the original doyenne of helpful hints for harried housewives, Heloise has dished out sage-like advice on how to remove stains all the way up to how to jump out of planes. Reflecting the changing times, her syndicated national column, television appearances and books provide tips that, in little ways, make life better in keep in our ever-changing world.
Event to be followed by book signing and dessert reception.
Tickets: $40 / $35 for MTH&M Members. (860) 280-3130
Graveyard Shift Ghost Tours
Friday, June 28, and Saturday, June 29, 6:00, 7:00, 8:00, and 9:00 p.m.
We reprise our popular Graveyard Shift Ghost Tours for a very limited two-day run. The Mark Twain House has been featured on Syfy Channel's Ghost Hunters and the Biography Channel's My Ghost Story.
On these tours participants will hear all these creepy tales -- and learn about Mark Twain's own interest in the supernatural.
Filled with haunted history, dark tales and Victorian traditions surrounding seances and spiritualism, these nighttime tours are as educational as they are goosebump-inducing.
They sell out fast, so be sure to call 860-280-3130 soon to make your reservations!
The tours are tsponsored by Tsunami Tsolutions.
Tickets are $20 for adults 17 and up; $16 for members of The Mark Twain House & Museum; and an unlucky $13 for children 16 and under. Tours are not recommended for children under 10. Graveyard Shift Ghost Tours are by reservation only, and sell out quickly. Call early: 860-280-3130.
July
July
Book Launch: 'Harvest of Gold' by Tessa Afshar
Monday, July 1, 6:00-7:00 p.m.
July 1st is the launch of the exciting new novel HARVEST OF GOLD by Iranian-born author Tessa Afshar! FREE event at The Mark Twain House & Museum featuring tea and Persian treats...
"The scribe Sarah married Darius, and at times she feels as if she has married the Persian aristocracy, too. There is another point she did not count on in her marriage-Sarah has grown to love her husband. .."
Tessa Afshar was voted “New Author of the Year” by the Family Fiction sponsored Reader’s Choice Awards 2011 for her novel PEARL IN THE SAND. Her book, HARVEST OF RUBIES was nominated for the 2013 ECPA Book Award (formerly known as the Gold Medallion) in the fiction category.
Tessa was born in Iran to a nominally Muslim family, and lived there for the first fourteen years of her life. She moved to England where she survived boarding school for girls and fell in love with Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte, before moving to the United States permanently.
Tessa holds an MDiv from Yale University where she served as cochair of the Evangelical Fellowship at the Divinity School. She has spent the last fourteen years in full-time Christian service in New England.
Free. Booksigning to follow event.
A GOOD TALE WELL TOLD: The Art and Craft of Storytelling Instructor: Tom Lee
Tuesday, July 2, 9, 16, 23, 30; 6:00-8:00 p.m.
The Mark Twain House’s Storyteller in Residence, Tom Lee, will lead a class introducing the art of storytelling for adults. Participants will gain an understanding of the history of folktales from around the world and learn to tell stories in a compelling style with a unique voice.
In five class sessions we will consider how the structure of a story shapes its performance. We will explore improvisation in language and movement and discover how the storyteller personally connects with the story and with listeners of all ages. Each participant will select a story to learn, develop, and perform. The final session will include a performance by participants in the Mark Twain Theater for invited guests.
Tom Lee is a professional storyteller with twenty years experience performing traditional stories, folktales and myths for adults and for children. Tom’s repertoire is a rich trove of myths and stories from cultures around the world; some are centuries old, some originated thousands of years ago. He performs for adults in theaters and at festivals throughout the country. He is a frequent guest artist at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where he brings together his passion for research, art, story, and for connection with new audiences. In addition, he is a performing arts partner with the Yale Center for British Art.
Cost: $350 (5 weeks/10 hours total) Class size: 12 Call 860-280-3130
HARTFORD CIRCUS FIRE ANNIVERSARY with TOPSY author Michael Daly
Saturday, July 6, 2:00 p.m.
Hartford Public Library and The Mark Twain House & Museum observe the 69th anniversary of the tragic Hartford Circus Fire on Saturday, July 6th at 2 p.m. FREE event!
The third annual presentation will feature another author speaking about another circus tragedy, the strange but true tale of TOPSY the elephant.
In 1903, on Coney Island, an elephant named Topsy was electrocuted, and over the past century, this bizarre, ghoulish execution has reverberated through popular culture with the whiff of urban legend. But it really happened, and many historical forces conspired to bring Topsy, Thomas Edison, and those 6600 volts of alternating current together that day. Tracing them all in "Topsy The Startling Story of the Crooked Tailed Elephant, P.T. Barnum, and the American Wizard, Thomas Edison," journalist Michael Daly weaves together a fascinating popular history, the first book on this astonishing tale.
At the turn of the century, the circus in America was at its apex with the circuses of P.T. Barnum and Adam Forepaugh (or 4-Paw) competing in a War of the Elephants, with declarations of whose pachyderms were younger, bigger, or more “sacred”. This brought Topsy to America, fraudulently billed as the first native-born, and caught between the circus disputes and the War of the Currents, in which Edison and George Westinghouse (and Nikola Tesla) battled over alternating versus direct current.
Rich in period Americana, and full of circus tidbits and larger than life characters—both human and elephant—Topsy is a touching tale and an entertaining read.
Free. Book signing and sale to follow program.
The Trouble Begins at 5:30: "Hartford and the Gilded Age" with historian Andrew Walsh
Wednesday, July 10, reception 5:00 p.m., lecture 5:30 p.m.
In conjunction with our exhibit "The Gilded Age in Hartford," Dr. Andrew Walsh of Trinity College will explore the disparities of wealth and poverty, the vibrant social interaction and the explosion of creativity that characterized the city in the era named by Mark Twain.
Andrew Walsh is a specialist in American religious history and urbanism with a long involvement in the city's history, including Trinity's famed Hartford History Project in the 1990s. Since 1997 he has been Associate Director of the Leonard E. Greenberg Center for the Study of Religion in Public Life.
"The Trouble Begins at 5:30" receives generous funding from First Niagara Bank Foundation, Inc., along with Connecticut Explored magazine, Hot Tomato's restaurant and The Friends of the Mark Twain House & Museum.
Free.
Nook Farm Book Club: Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
Thursday, July 11, reception 5:00 p.m., discussion 5:30 p.m.
Join the Nook Farm Book Club, a collaboration of The Mark Twain House & Museum and the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center, to discuss this important work.
The discussion will be held at The Mark Twain House & Museum Visitors' Center, 351 Farmington Ave., Hartford, Connecticut.
The event is free, but registration is encouraged at 860-522-9258, Ext. 317.
AUTHOR EVENT: THE WORLD'S STRONGEST LIBRARIAN by Josh Hanagarne: At Hartford Public Library
Wednesday, July 17, Reception at 5:30 p.m. ; event at 6:00 p.m.
Hartford Public Library and The Mark Twain House & Museum present a truly one-of-a-kind author. What is life like for a young Mormon boy in Utah with one of the most severe types of Tourette's Syndrome? In THE WORLD'S STRONGEST LIBRARIAN: A MEMOIR OF TOURETTE'S, FAITH, STRENGTH, AND THE POWER OF FAMILY, Josh Hanagarne takes us on a tour of the challenges he has faced. Plagued by tics, yelps and a propensity to hit himself, Josh sets out to conquer his disability by strong-man training (bending spikes, lifting boulders, etc.) and working in the least likely place for someone with Tourette's: the library.
AT HARTFORD PUBLIC LIBRARY MAIN BRANCH!!!
Free. Booksigning to follow event.
A Conversation with Stephen King
Thursday, July 18, 8:00 p.m.
The Mark Twain House & Museum brings Stephen King to The Bushnell, 166 Capitol Avenue, in conversation with WNPR radio personality Colin McEnroe. Proceeds from the event benefit the continuing educational and preservation activities of The Mark Twain House & Museum.
Ticket prices range from $25 to $75 (additional service fees apply) Special VIP tickets at $250 are sold out.
Reservations may be made at www.bushnell.org or 860-987-5900.
The Mark Twain House & Museum presents TERRY BROOKS, Creator of the World of Shannara
Friday, July 26, 7:30 p.m.
In 1977, author Terry Brooks first opened the gates to the fantasy realm of Shannara. Over thirty years later, Brooks continues to build the epic history and legacy of his world in an unparalleled run of over-two dozen Shannara novels. Join The Mark Twain House & Museum as Brooks celebrates the release of his latest novel Witch Wraith: The Dark Legacy of Shannara. We’ll explore the corners of his imagination where elves, trolls, gnomes and other dark things dare to dwell.
Tickets $25 / $20 MTH&M Members VIP Reception Ticket: $65 includes lecture and 5:30 reception with Terry Brooks. Call (860) 280-3130
Graveyard Shift Ghost Tours
Friday, July 26, and Saturday, July 27, 6:00, 7:00, 8:00 and 9:00 p.m.
We reprise our popular Graveyard Shift Ghost Tours for a very limited two-day run. The Mark Twain House has been featured on Syfy Channel's Ghost Hunters and the Biography Channel's My Ghost Story.
On these tours participants will hear all these creepy tales -- and learn about Mark Twain's own interest in the supernatural.
Filled with haunted history, dark tales and Victorian traditions surrounding seances and spiritualism, these nighttime tours are as educational as they are goosebump-inducing.
They sell out fast, so be sure to call 860-280-3130 soon to make your reservations!
The tours are tsponsored by Tsunami Tsolutions.
Tickets are $20 for adults 17 and up; $16 for members of The Mark Twain House & Museum; and an unlucky $13 for children 16 and under. Tours are not recommended for children under 10. Graveyard Shift Ghost Tours are by reservation only, and sell out quickly. Call early: 860-280-3130.
The American Civil War as Seen by Mark Twain: A Walking Tour with Steve Courtney
Saturday, July 27, 10:00 a.m.; at Cedar Hill Cemetery, 453 Fairfield Avenue, Hartford
While Samuel Clemens, aka Mark Twain, is laid to rest in Elmira, New York, his legacy remains alive and well through his historical life and relationships in Hartford. Join author and historian Steve Courtney as we explore the Civil War through the eyes of Twain and tour the resting places of his Hartford friends and counterparts who played significant roles in the American Civil War.
Admission: $5.00; CHCF, Let’s Go Arts and Mark Twain House & Museum Members free
Aug
August
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Sept
September
Nook Farm Book Club: The Cutting Season by Attica Locke
Wednesday, September 4, reception 5:00 p.m., discussion 5:30 p.m.
Join the Nook Farm Book Club, a collaboration of The Mark Twain House & Museum and the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center, to discuss this important work.
The discussion will be held at The Harriet Beecher Stowe Visitors' Center, 77 Forest Street, Hartford, Connecticut.
The event is free, but registration is encouraged at 860-522-9258, Ext. 317.
The Trouble Begins at 5:30: "Dublin, New Hampshire: Mark Twain's Hideaway" with William Morgan
Wednesday, September 11, 5:00 p.m. reception, 5:30 Trouble
One of the most reproduced photos of Mark Twain shows him seated in a rocking chair on a pillared porch, puffing a cigar and gazing into the distance. The photo was taken in Dublin, New Hampshire, where Twain summered in the early 1900s. He called it "the one place I have always longed for, but never knew existed in fact until now." William Morgan is an eminent architectural historian, has written numerous books and teaches at Princeton and Brown. He may be bringing his publisher (Mondanack Summer: The Architectural Legacy of Dublin, New Hampshire"), the legendary David R. Godine, who today lives in the house where Twain stayed more than a century ago.
Free.
Supported in part by Connecticut Explored magazine, the First Niagara Bank Foundation, Hot Tomato's restaurant and The Friends of the Mark Twain House & Museum.
The Mouth, a Storytelling Event with Chion Wolf: Stories about Luck
Friday, September 13, 7:30 p.m.
The fourth Hartford Mouth free storytelling event invites stories on luck. (Think a local version of The Moth, the popular NYC storytelling nonprofit featured on public radio.) The event -- appropriate for the home of a great storyteller -- will be presented by WNPR personality Chion Wolf.
Those interested in telling their stories should email Ms. Wolf at Chion@ChionWolf.com or find her on Facebook to tell her approximately how long the story will be (it'd be great if you could keep it under 15 minutes).
If there's time left in the night, we'll ask if anyone in the audience has a story to tell!
THIS IS NOT A COMPETITION, just storytelling goodness without notes, in front of a bunch of friends, in a museum dedicated to one of our country's best storytellers. No pressure. ;)
Please note that the audio will be recorded for a compilation down the line.
After the show is over, ideas and feedback will be solicited.
$5. Call 860-280-3130.
Tom Lee, Storyteller for Adults
Sunday, September 22, 2:00 p.m.
The celebrated weaver of tales presents stories from a multiplicity of heritages -- narratives whose straightfoward look at lust, violence, and the darkness of the human mind -- with flashes of joy and redemption -- would have appealed to Mark Twain. Details to come.
TBA
"Tapping Into Twain": Our Oktoberfest
Friday, September 27, 5:30-9:30 p.m.
Our annual salute to a range of fine regional artisanal brews, along with great local cuisine, great music, and great companionship. This is the event the Hartford Advocate has called "absolutely, positively, without any doubt whatever, one of the best charitable events Hartford has beheld."
Details to come. All proceeds will benefit The Mark Twain House & Museum.
Oct
October
Nook Farm Book Club: The Turn of the Screw by Henry James
Wednesday, October 2, reception 5:00 p.m., discussion 5:30 p.m.
Join the Nook Farm Book Club, a collaboration of The Mark Twain House & Museum and the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center, to discuss this important work.
The discussion will be held at The Mark Twain House & Museum Visitors' Center, 351 Farmington Ave., Hartford, Connecticut.
The event is free, but registration is encouraged at 860-522-9258, Ext. 317.
"Mark Twain and War": Our Autumn Exhibition
Thursday, October 3, TBA
Mark Twain had a curious relationship with issues of war and peace -- from his short career as a Confederate irregular to his cynicism about military hype in late life, notably in the brief, bitter, eternally relevant "War Prayer." Our exhibit opening Thursday, October 3, will explore the intricacies of this thinking, and that of his Yankee Hartford friends -- particularly that of his best friend, the pastor Joseph Twichell, who had been a Union chaplain.
TBA
The Trouble Begins at 5:30: "Mark Twain and General Daniel Sickles, the American Scoundrel," with Vince Sullivan
Wednesday, October 16, reception 5:00 p.m., lecture 5:30 p.m.
Vince Sullivan, Twain scholar, President of The Mark Twain Society of Virginia and occasional Mark Twain House guide weaves the tale of Sickles, the Congressman who killed his wife's lover, got away with it, became a Civil War general, carried on an affair with the Queen of Spain, and in late life was Mark Twain's New York City neighbor. Twain recorded a memorable visit to the one-legged general's home. Presented in conjunction with our exhibit, "Mark Twain and War," opening Oct. 3.
"The Trouble Begins at 5:30" receives generous funding from First Niagara Bank Foundation, Inc., along with Connecticut Explored magazine, Hot Tomato's restaurant and The Friends of the Mark Twain House & Museum.
Free.
Graveyard Shift Ghost Tours
Thursday, October 17, , Friday, Oct. 18, and Saturday, Oct. 19; Thursday, Oct. 24, Friday, Oct. 25, Saturday, Oct. 26, 6:00, 7:00, 8:00, 9:00 p.m.
We reprise our popular Graveyard Shift Ghost Tours for spooky October. The Mark Twain House has been featured on Syfy Channel's Ghost Hunters and the Biography Channel's My Ghost Story.
On these tours participants will hear all these creepy tales -- and learn about Mark Twain's own interest in the supernatural.
Filled with haunted history, dark tales and Victorian traditions surrounding seances and spiritualism, these nighttime tours are as educational as they are goosebump-inducing.
They sell out fast, so be sure to call 860-280-3130 soon to make your reservations!
The tours are tsponsored by Tsunami Tsolutions.
Tickets are $20 for adults 17 and up; $16 for members of The Mark Twain House & Museum; and an unlucky $13 for children 16 and under. Tours are not recommended for children under 10. Graveyard Shift Ghost Tours are by reservation only, and sell out quickly. Call early: 860-280-3130.
Tom Lee, Storyteller for Adults
Sunday, October 20, 2:00 p.m.
The celebrated weaver of tales presents stories from a multiplicity of heritages -- narratives whose straightfoward look at lust, violence, and the darkness of the human mind -- with flashes of joy and redemption -- would have appealed to Mark Twain. Details to come.
TBA
Nov
November
Nook Farm Book Club: Sunny Memories of Foreign Lands by Harriet Beecher Stowe
Wednesday, November 6, reception 5:00 p.m., discussion 5:30 p.m.
Join the Nook Farm Book Club, a collaboration of The Mark Twain House & Museum and the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center, to discuss this important work.
The discussion will be held at The Harriet Beecher Stowe Visitors' Center, 77 Forest Street, Hartford, Connecticut.
The event is free, but registration is encouraged at 860-522-9258, Ext. 317.
The Trouble Begins at 5:30: "A Tale of Today: The Indian Equator: Mark Twain's India Revisited" with Ian Strathcarron
Wednesday, November 13, 5:00 p.m. reception, 5:30 p.m. Trouble
In 1895, Mark Twain set out on a year-long around-the-world lecture tour, in the course of which he gathered material for one of his most successful books, Following the Equator. Ian Strathcarron — who followed the great humorist's journey through the Middle East in Innocence and War, and spoke about it in a popular "Trouble Begins" last year — recounts Twain's passage through India and offers his own intriguing observations of the same sites a century later.
Free.
Supported in part by Connecticut Explored magazine, the First Niagara Bank Foundation, Hot Tomato's restaurant and The Friends of the Mark Twain House & Museum.
Tom Lee, Storyteller for Adults
Sunday, November 17, 2:00 p.m.
The celebrated weaver of tales presents stories from a multiplicity of heritages -- narratives whose straightfoward look at lust, violence, and the darkness of the human mind -- with flashes of joy and redemption -- would have appealed to Mark Twain. Details to come.
TBA
Dec
December
Nook Farm Book Club: Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Wednesday, December 4, reception 5:00 p.m., discussion 5:30 p.m.
Join the Nook Farm Book Club, a collaboration of The Mark Twain House & Museum and the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center, to discuss this important work.
The discussion will be held at The Mark Twain House & Museum Visitors' Center, 351 Farmington Ave., Hartford, Connecticut.
The event is free, but registration is encouraged at 860-522-9258, Ext. 317.
The Friends of The Mark Twain House & Museum 32nd Annual Holiday House Tour
Sunday, December 8, 11:00 a.m - 4:00 p.m.
A Hartford holiday tradition: Fine area homes distinguished for their history, architecture and design open their doors to visitors -- not the least of them being Mark Twain's own home. Musical performances in each home and in the Visitor Center add to the festive cheer. All due to the efforts of our hard-working Friends of the Mark Twain House & Museum.
TBA
Tom Lee, Storyteller for Adults
Sunday, December 15, 2:00 p.m.
The celebrated weaver of tales presents stories from a multiplicity of heritages -- narratives whose straightfoward look at lust, violence, and the darkness of the human mind -- with flashes of joy and redemption -- would have appealed to Mark Twain. Details to come.
TBA
