We always love a good reading and on Monday, May 10th, we were lucky to get one from Tim Johnston, who is touring the country on behalf of his short story collection, IRISH GIRL. The weather was borderline frightful, but that didn’t stop folks from opening their umbrellas and coming in to witness Johnston’s entertaining stories. If you missed it, be sure to pick up a copy of IRISH GIRL for a taste of what the hype around him is all about. Thanks for visiting, Tim!

What else do we love? Pictures!

David Sedaris will be appearing at the Lied Center tomorrow night — we couldn’t be more excited. One of Sedaris’s favorite books recently — and one he talks about at his readings — is Tim Johnston’s IRISH GIRL. Johnston will be giving a reading at The Raven on May 10 at 7 PM.

Here’s a video to get you doubly excited. It’s Sedaris, reading from IRISH GIRL.

The Kansas Bathtub Writers Collective, are hosting their second annual “Bathtub Benefit” at Genovese Italian Restaurant (941 Massachusetts St.) on Thursday, April 1st, 2010 from 7:00pm-9:00pm. Many MFA and PhD students from the KU English department who are members of the collective will be traveling to the 2010 AWP Conference in Denver next month and presenting a panel titled “Bathtub Kansas Writers’ Collective: A Community of Writers.” The proceeds from this benefit will help to fund that trip, and other community projects, including a Writers in the Schools (W.I.T.S.) program organized with teachers from Lawrence High School.

The festivities at Genovese will include readings by featured national and local writers, and members of the collective. There will also be a silent auction of goods and services from local businesses, art from local artists, a raffle and Genovese appetizers.

Readers include Tao Lin, Linda Rodriguez (author of Heart’s Migration and Skin Hunger), and Shannon Draper-Gard (poet and English teacher at Lawrence High School), as well as several Bathtub members.

See our Events page for more information.  See you there!

We’re getting very excited for tonight, when poet Ken Irby will be on hand to read from his work. The time is 7 PM and the place is The Raven. We’ve stocked up on copies of his recently released THE INTENT ON: COLLECTED POEMS 1962-2006. You can find more info on our Events page. See you tonight!

Detailed info available at the Big Tent page.

Friday, February 19 at 7PM, The Raven is proud to host a reading by three poets who are deeply involved in the Kansas City poetry world.

Phyllis Becker, Silvia Kofler, and Pat Lawson will be reading at this special event.  See the Events page for more detailed information on each of the authors.

Kansas Reads is a project of the Kansas Center for the Book at the State Library of Kansas that encourages all Kansans to read the same book and come together to discuss it. This year’s featured book is Dreams from My Father by Barack Obama.




From the Lawrence Public Library’s website:

Obama once said that his extended family is “like a little mini-United Nations. I’ve got relatives who look like Bernie Mac, and I’ve got relatives who look like Margaret Thatcher.” In Dreams from My Father, Obama introduces us to that family - his mother and grandparents from Kansas, his father and half-siblings in Kenya.

The book is also a coming of age story as Obama takes us along on his personal journey to form his own identity and find his place in the world. Written before he first ran for public office, the book offers a glimpse into the formation of the character of the man who would become our president, and the events that set him on a course of public service.

The Raven has copies of both DREAMS FROM MY FATHER: A STORY OF RACE AND INHERITANCE and the reader’s guide.

Many events revolving around the book will be held at the Lawrence Public Library, including book discussions and lectures.  These take place between February 1 and March 1, more info can be found at the library’s website.

It seems that every six months we hear about a new book that has been dubbed the “Great American Novel.”  Such occasions have become so commonplace that the bestowal is immediately filed under hyperbole.  There are, however, a few novels that can actually hold the water of such an accolade.  One of the original, and most-cited of the Great American Novels is MOBY-DICK.  The Johnson County Library is conducting a MOBY-DICK book club that takes place in January, February and March.  Online discussions will be held about the book.

To kick off the event, Melville expert Dr. Eliabeth Shultz, Professor emeritus of English at University of Kansas, will discuss why MOBY-DICK is such a whale of a book in the American canon.  This Information about registering the event and the online discussion follow the Johnson County Library’s synopsis of the event below.  Get registered now, the event takes place on Sunday!

Special Presentation: Why Moby-Dick is Still the Great American Novel
Presenter: Dr. Elizabeth Schultz
Date: Sunday, January 24, 2010
Time: 2 p.m.
Location: Central Resource Library 9875 W. 87th Street in Overland Park  (913) 495-2400

Renowned Melville expert Dr. Elizabeth Schultz discusses why Moby-Dick, published in 1851, remains the great American novel. This program will kick-off the Library’s all-online Moby-Dick book discussion and will be followed by a hands-on tutorial on how to easily join and participate in the online discussion occurring Jan. 3 through March 31, 2010. Beth Schultz lives in Lawrence and is a former professor (Melville expert) at the University of Kansas.  She will be doing an online discussion about MOBY-DICK through the Johnson County Library.

Register for Dr. Schultz’s discussion here

The MOBY-DICK discussion blog can be found here