Author Visits & Talks

Learning something new is one of the joys of life. Learning to paint en plein air has been both a joy and an enormous challenge. Planning, equipment, practice routine, bugs, working with changing light, and talking to folks you meet while working.  One year into becoming a plein air painter, I feel that I’ve barely scratched the surface.  Plein air has given me an entirely new perspective on what and how to paint. I am looking forward to sharing this work-in-progress. Adrienne Cremins

In collaboration with Sunderland Public Library and held in Sunderland at 20 School Street. Walden has inspired generations of writers and readers to find a place of their own, to go out into nature, to escape the quiet desperation Thoreau saw in the lives and faces of so many of his neighbors. We still respond to that today. The program will look at the life and times of Thoreau, the extraordinary world of mid-nineteenth century Concord and the group of writers and thinkers who changed American literature forever. This free program is brought to you by Tilton Library and the Sunderland Public Library.

Ponsor's second novel, "The One-Eyed Judge" was released in June 2017, and is the second book in the Judge Norcross Novels. Please join us to welcome a return visit of author and senior United States district judge Michael Ponsor. Both novels will be available for purchase and signing.

"Polishing the Bones" is an intimate portrayal of a woman’s unfolding inner journey through her Jungian analysis, her dreams, and her terminal illness as she is guided deeper into the mysteries of life and the extraordinary transformation of her death. The true story of an unusually creative woman, Laura, following her life’s transformation and individuation, with all its longing, pain, transcendent beauty, love, and life’s completion. After the conclusion of her Jungian analysis, Laura becomes terminally ill and is supported by a few intimates including her former analyst, who comes to live with the family to help her die. The intimacy and depth of relationship between the two women, and the foundation of guiding dreams that developed in the analysis, forms a container for an unfolding spiritual journey with numinous experience and sacred visions. We witness the tender care of Laura through and after her death as well as the experience of the author, who undergoes her own transformation through an awe-inspiring initiation into the realm of death itself.(from the publisher) A Deerfield resident, Penelope Tarasuk is a Jungian analyst in private practice in Massachusetts working with individuals, couples, and families. She is a senior training analyst and faculty member of the New England Society of Jungian Analysts and the C. G. Jung Institute of Boston.

Polishing the Bones” is an intimate portrayal of a woman’s unfolding inner journey through her Jungian analysis, her dreams, and her terminal illness as she is guided deeper into the mysteries of life and the extraordinary transformation of her death. The true story of an unusually creative woman, Laura, following her life’s transformation and individuation, with all its longing, pain, transcendent beauty, love, and life’s completion. After the conclusion of her Jungian analysis, Laura becomes terminally ill and is supported by a few intimates including her former analyst, who comes to live with the family to help her die. The intimacy and depth of relationship between the two women, and the foundation of guiding dreams that developed in the analysis, forms a container for an unfolding spiritual journey with numinous experience and sacred visions. We witness the tender care of Laura through and after her death as well as the experience of the author, who undergoes her own transformation through an awe-inspiring initiation into the realm of death itself.(from the publisher) A Deerfield resident, Penelope Tarasuk is a Jungian analyst in private practice in Massachusetts working with individuals, couples, and families. She is a senior training analyst and faculty member of the New England Society of Jungian Analysts and the C. G. Jung Institute of Boston. This event is open to all, at no charge.

CARVING OUT A LIVING ON THE LAND with Emmet Van Driesche of Ashfield's Pieropan Christmas Tree Farm When he first envisioned becoming a farmer, author Emmet Van Driesche never imagined his main crop would be Christmas trees, nor that such a tree farm could be more of a managed forest than the conventional grid of perfectly sheared trees. Carving Out a Living on the Land tells the story of how Van Driesche navigated changing life circumstances, took advantage of unexpected opportunities, and leveraged new and old skills to piece together an economically viable living, while at the same time respecting the land’s complex ecological relationships. From spoon carving to scything, coppicing to wreath-making, Carving Out a Living on the Land proves that you don’t need acres of expensive bottomland to start your land-based venture, but rather the creativity and vision to see what might be done with that rocky section or ditch or patch of trees too small to log.

Join us for this author panel featuring mystery writers Archer Mayor, Julia Spencer-Fleming, Sarah Stewart Taylor, and Paula Munier! Hear this acclaimed panel of authors talk about their craft and respond to questions from the audience. This event will be held online via Zoom Webinar. Access the webinar: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88007504372 Or iPhone one-tap : US: +13126266799,,88007504372# or +19292056099,,88007504372# Or Telephone: Dial(for higher quality, dial a number based on your current location): US: +1 312 626 6799 or +1 929 205 6099 or +1 301 715 8592 or +1 346 248 7799 or +1 669 900 6833 or +1 253 215 8782 Webinar ID: 880 0750 4372 International numbers available: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kb2DA3ptYq This event is organized by Libraries in the Woods, with special thanks to M.N.Spear Library in Shutesbury.

Listen to local author and reporter Richie Davis read from his new book: Inner Landscapes: forty years of writing in The Recorder of western Massachusetts Inner Landscapes describes in intimate detail the values and ideals of thoughtful, hardscrabble, passionate women and men like Wally and Juanita Nelson and refugees from the four submerged Quabbin towns. There are compelling stories from around the region, along with a series of interviews with the likes of Norton Juster, Earl Pope, Barry Moser, Richard Todd and others about the nature of creativity itself. Join us for a virtual reading, with Richie Davis, at the following Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89519744139... Meeting ID: 895 1974 4139 Passcode: 718346 Co-hosted by Arms Library and Boswell Books in Shelburne Falls