Mid-March 2015 eNews

MARCH EVENTS! 

For more details on all our events, please visit our website.


TRANScribing: Gender Identity, Self-Expression, and Creativity

Wednesday, March 18, 7:30 p.m.

 


 

The program will feature three transgender authors: Joy Ladin, a poet and the first openly transgender professor at an Orthodox Jewish institution, and Tobias Davis, a transgender activist, playwright, and young adult novelist, and Dr. Joe Wenke, a writer, social critic and LGBTQ rights activist.


The panel will discuss their varied journeys and how they create their writings.  Topics will include what audience the authors are writing for, does their transgender status make it hard to get visibility for their work, and how they use their writing as a form of self-expression. The discussion will be moderated by Jacques Lamarre, Director of Communications and Programs at the Mark Twain House.


 

This is a free event.  Reservations are recommended.  Please call (860) 280-3130 or click here.


 


 

Exhibit Opening Reception
'Travel Is Fatal to Prejudice': Mark Twain's Jouneys Abroad

Thursday, March 19, 5:30 p.m.


Mark Twain's first major work was a travel book, The Innocents Abroad, or the New Pilgrims' Progress, published in 1869.  In it, he writes: "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts." We celebrate three great journeys he took during his lifetime, each of which led to a significant travel book full of humor, wisdom and lyrical description. It is our major exhibition for 2015, and we invite the public to a free wine & cheese reception at 5:30 p.m. on March 19 to welcome it.


The exhibition will include such extraordinary items as Ottoman Turkish garb purchased on the first of these journeys, jewelry and other exotic items purchased on the second, and a rare jade pendant received by Mark Twain's wife as a gift from the Maori people -- along with books, manuscripts and revealing letters. Visitors will enter set-piece scenes from the books that will put them in the traveling spirit -- and provide a spot for a "selfie." 


This exhibition is generously supported by The Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection & Insurance Company, United Technologies Corporation, the

Department of Economic and Community Development, and the

Greater Hartford Arts Council.

 

The opening reception is a free event. Reservations are recommended. Please call (860) 280-3130 or click here.

 


 

BOOK/MARK: Fed, White and Blue with author and Food Network star Simon Majumdar

Wednesday, March 25, 8:00 p.m. 

 

Simon Majumdar will be in conversation with local restauranteur Jamie McDonald, owner and chef at Bear's Smokehouse BBQ in Hartford and Windsor. Jamie is featured in the first chapter of Simon's book.  In the book, Simon sets off on a trek across the United States to find out what it really means to become an American, using what he knows best: food.

 

Simon has become a mainstay on the The Food Network, appearing in numerous episodes of Iron Chef American, Beat Bobby Flay, Best Thing I Ever Ate, Extreme Chef, and as a recurring judge on Cutthroat Kitchen.

 

This is a free BOOK/MARK event. Reservations are recommended. Please call (860) 280-3130 or click here.



Graveyard Shift Ghost Tours

Friday, March 27, and Saturday, March 28; 6:00, 7:00, 8:00, and 9:00 p.m.

 

We reprise our popular Graveyard Shift Ghost Tours for some winter chills. 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.

 

The tours are tsponsored by Tsunami Tsolutions.

 

Please call (860) 280-3130 for more information & ticketing. Or, click here for tickets.


 

Direct from New York! 

BRIAN DYKSTRA: $ELLING OUT Directed by Margarett Perry

 

 

Friday, March 27, 7:30 p.m.

 

You will not want to miss award-winning actor and playwright Brian Dykstra in his latest exploration of the American condition. Audiences can expect an uncensored, highly charged one-man tour-de-force that is a hilarious and impassioned examination of the corrupting influence of money and the pursuit of happiness. This show is anything but safe and will make you think as hard as you laugh. Dykstra's $elling Out combines stand-up, storytelling and slam poetry.

 

Tickets are $20/$15 for Mark Twain House & Museum Members. For tickets please call (860) 280-3130 or click here.
 

 

A CONNECTICUT YANKEE IN KING ARTHUR'S COURT Adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher; Directed by Ian Belknap; Performed by The Acting Company

Saturday, March 28, 8:00 p.m. at The Hoffman Auditorium, University of Saint. Joseph, 1678 Asylum Avenue, West Hartford

 

Legendary actor-director John Houseman founded The Acting Company in 1972 and its alumni have gone on to become a "who's who" of great American Theatre. Lancelot, Guinevere, Merlin and Mark Twain himself (as Hank) come tumbling your way in this satirical tale. Wander with Twain as he time travels from the 21st Century to 6th Century England's medieval times through the eyes of Hank Morgan of Hartford, Connecticut who, after a blow to the head, awakens to find himself transported back to the time of legendary King Arthur.  Hank astonishes the Middle Age with heroic fireworks, modern medicine and electricity. These tricks from the future initially advance and improve King Arthur's Court but society ultimately struggles to evolve 1300 years into the future. Mark Twain's satirical romp exposes the foibles and fortes of both ages leading audiences to question and laugh at themselves and the principles of the 21st Century.

 

Part of the Twain on Stage Festival; Support provided by The Edward C. and Ann T. Roberts Foundation, and Webster Bank, with additional support from the Greater Hartford Arts Council and The Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development, Office of the Arts.

 

Tickets are $30 / $25 for MTH&M Members / $20 for children and University of Saint. Joseph Students. Please call 860.231.5555 or visit www.usj.edu/arts.

 

 

AND EARLY IN APRIL!

 

CLUE Tours! - April Fools Edition!

Wednesday, April 1, Tours step off every 15 minutes beginning at 7:00 p.m. Reservations required.

 

Play our live-action version of the classic game CLUE in the Mark Twain House. This special, one night only April Fools edition features some very unusual weapons and suspects--NOT what and who you'd expect! This hour long tour features SEA TEA IMPROV as the suspects--and all the murder, mayhem and merriment one would expect in a whodunit. Featured on the Travel Channel show Wackiest Tours!

 

Tours step off every 15 minutes. Reservations required. $22, $17 for MTH&M members, and $13 for children 16 and under. Please call (860) 280-3130 for more information & ticketing. or click here.

 

 

 

 

 



Writers' Weekend 2015!

April 17-19


 

Our Annual Mark Twain House Writers' Weekend is back for its 4th year! 

 

This year, our keynote speakers are Dani Shapiro, best-selling author of Devotion and Still Writing, and 

Random House employees Ann Kingman & Michael Kindness, hosts of the Books On The Nightstand podcast. 

 

Peek into the inner lives of the region's best writers; hone your craft with workshops on fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and storytelling; learn the publishing industry's secrets on pitching, agents, and publicity; meet other writers; and read your work aloud at our closing event. Tickets are available for the whole weekend or just one day.  Become a better writer at the home of one of the best writers in American history--it's a weekend of inspiration and hard work, bound to get you on the right path to the next stage of your writing life. 

 

For reservations, please call (860) 280-3130 or click here.

  

 

 


 

The Mark Twain House & Museum: Spring Writing Classes & Workshops


Be the writer you've always wanted to be-- study at the home of America's greatest writer!

 

6-Week Classes ($265):

Political Poetry

Self Publishing

Humor

Fiction

Writing for the Web


4-week Class ($199):

Writing from found texts


Memoir
 

One-Day Workshops ($40):

Getting Started

Memoir

Writing for Young Adults

 

 

Don't miss out -- for the start dates and schedule of classes and workshops, or to register, please visit www.marktwainhouse.org or call (860) 280-3130

 

Questions? Email [email protected]

 



 

 


Membership has its rewards!

  

New for 2015!

 

 

Each month, all new and renewing members for the previous month will be entered into a drawing to win a $25 gift certificate to The Mark Twain House Store.

 

Congratulations to January's winner:  Lavell Thompson

 

And also congratulations to February's winners: 

Jeffrey & Suzanne Burgess

 

Be sure to support The Mark Twain House & Museum and purchase or renew your membership to be entered into this drawing!




JOIN The Mark Twain House & Museum!

 

Enjoy the special insider benefits of membership in The Mark Twain House & Museum. And there's the sheer joy of being part of the legacy of Mark Twain, whose wit and insight remain alive today in 2014 -- over 150 years after Sam Clemens took on his famous pen name and entered history.

 

Submit our easy-to-use, secure online membership form or simply call 860-280-3112.

 

Make a DONATION Today!

 

Your donation to The Mark Twain House & Museum has a major impact on our ability to preserve this beautiful home, provide crucial educational programs for thousands of schoolchildren, offer mind-stimulating and spine-tingling events for adults, and welcome thousands of visitors each year. 

 

 ...and make your donation count double: Find out if your employer has a Matching Gift program.

 

Donate online, call 860-280-3112, or send your donation to: The Mark Twain House & Museum, Development Department, 351 Farmington Avenue, Hartford, Connecticut 06105.

 

Join the FRIENDS!

 

The Friends of The Mark Twain House & Museum offer wonderful speaking events, social gatherings, and fun volunteer opportunities. Pony up $30 and you'll get it all, too!

 

It's the volunteer organization that has supported the museum for more than 50 years. To join, call Membership Co-Chairs Chuck Paydos, 860-242-4825, or Dee Peters, 860-233-4066.

 

 

The Mark Twain House & Museum has restored the author's Hartford, Connecticut, home, where the author and his family lived from 1874 to 1891. Twain wrote his most important works there, including The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. In addition to providing tours of Twain's restored home, a National Historic Landmark, the institution offers activities and educational programs that illuminate Twain's literary legacy and provide information about his life and times. The house and museum at 351 Farmington Ave. are open Monday through Saturday, 9:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m., and Sunday, 11:00 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. For more information, call 860-247-0998 or visit us online. Programs at The Mark Twain House & Museum are supported by the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development, and the Greater Hartford Arts Council's United Arts Campaign.

 

David Cash, Publicist and Publications Editor

The Mark Twain House & Museum