Mid-April 2015 eNews


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. Of particular interest may be the playwriting panel with acclaimed playwrights Neil LaBute, Christopher Shinn, and Mark St. Germain. 

 

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 and more information, please call (860) 280-3130 or click here.

The full schedule can be found here.

  

 


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

 

Documentary Film Screening - 88 Days in the Motherlode: Mark Twain Finds His Voice

Thursday, April 16, 7:00 p.m.

 

The Mark Twain House & Museum is proud to present the East Coast Premiere of the exciting new documentary 88 Days in The Mother Lode: Mark Twain Finds His Voice. This film focuses on a previously under-studied and publicized aspect of the Twain Story; that the nearly three months he spent in Tuolumne and Calaveras Counties in the winter of 1864-1865 were crucial for his transformation from Sam Clemens to Mark Twain. Well known Twain experts are interviewed in the documentary and reenactments were filmed on location in Calaveras and Tuolumne Counties. This beautiful and compelling film makes a valuable contribution to the Twain story. The producer will be present at this screening.

  

Suggested donation $5. Reservations are recommended. Please call (860) 280-3130 or click here.



BOOK/MARK: Redeployment with author Phil Klay

Tuesday, April 21, 7:00 p.m. (Rescheduled from an earlier date)

 

Winner of the 2014 National Book Award for Fiction

National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 Honoree

New York Times Bestseller

 

Phil Klay's Redeployment takes readers to the frontlines of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, asking us to understand what happened there, and what happened to the soldiers who returned. Interwoven with themes of brutality and faith, guilt and fear, helplessness and survival, the characters in these stories struggle to make meaning out of chaos. 

 

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

 


The Adventures of Mark Twain: The Author as Social Critic -- Panel Discussion Presented in Collaboration with the University of Connecticut

Wednesday, April 22, 7:00 p.m.


What did Mark Twain think of the Philippine-American war? How can his novel, The Gilded Age, help us understand modern political economy? And how did his 20-cigar-a-day habit help him to satirize moralists? 
Join UConn President Susan Herbst and a panel of distinguished UConn scholars of literature and history as they discuss Twain's legacy, placing his novels and penchant for satire into perspective with today's most pressing issues. The event will be followed by a dessert and coffee reception. 

 

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



The Role of Museums in Promoting Civil Engagement--A Conversation With Tatiana Kursina,Gulag Museum at Perm-36

Tuesday, April 28, 5:00 p.m. at the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center

 

How do museums inspire civic engagement? What happens when a museum is located in a contentious political environment? Come  meet Tatiana Kursina, co-founding director of the Gulag Museum at Perm-36 in Russia, to hear the challenges faced in operating a museum focused on the history of political repression in Russia. The event is co-presented with the Mark Twain House & Museum. The Stowe Center is a member of the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience, a global network of historic sites, museums, and memory initiatives connecting past struggles to today's movements for human rights and social justice. 

This is a free event. Reservations: [email protected] or (860) 522.9258, x317.


 

PLUS: coming up in May!  


 


VARLA JEAN MERMAN IS A LOUISIANA SKANKEE IN CONNECTICUT COURT

Friday, May 8, 7:30 p.m., and Saturday, May 9 at 7:30 p.m.

 

The Mark Twain House & Museum is pleased to announce the return of drag chanteuse Varla Jean Merman in a new show especially created for the Museum. "Merman combines the physical presence of a buxom Russ Myer starlet with a hint of perky Doris Day and the brassiness of her spiritual mother, Ethel Merman." --Variety.  To get a hint of the hilarity in store, check out Varla's YouTube Channel.  Just search online for "Varla YouTube".

 

Adults only! Tickets are $30/$25 for MTH&M members. Please call (860) 280-3130 for tickets or more information, or click here.

 

 

Celeste Bedford Walker's Theatrical Production of BLACK WALL STREET

Friday, May 15, and Saturday, May 16 at 8:00 p.m. each evening at the Artists Collective, 1200 Albany Avenue in Hartford.

 

The Artists Collective's eighth annual Jackie McLean Memorial Celebration, to be held May 15 to 16, will feature the historical theater production of Celeste Bedford Walker's BLACK WALL STREET, directed by Michael Green, in collaboration with The Mark Twain House & Museum.  


BLACK WALL STREET brings to life a little-known portion of American history during the early 1900s-1920s. In the heartland of America, there was a Black community paradise. In the Greenwood section of Tulsa, Oklahoma, African Americans, Native Americans, and people of Jewish descent developed a networking relationship surpassed by none in modern day history, creating more than 600 businesses.  In June 1921, an alleged incident involving a white female elevator operator and a Negro "shoe shine boy" ignited the simmering resentment and jealousies of neighboring white communities. In the aftermath of the worst race riot in US history, the once thriving business district of Greenwood lay, smoldering and totally destroyed.

 

The Jackie McLean Memorial Celebration production of BLACK WALL STREET, in collaboration with The Mark Twain House & Museum, is made possible with the generous support of The Edward C. & Ann T. Roberts Foundation with additional program support from: The State of Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development, Connecticut Office of the Arts, Greater Hartford Arts Council, Bank of America, the City of Hartford, Pedro E. Segarra, Mayor, and our media partners, Northend Agent's Newspaper, and CT NOW.

 

 

Tickets for Black Wall Street are: $25 for advanced purchase general admission; $20 advance purchase for Artists Collective and Mark Twain House & Museum members, students, seniors and GHAC Lets Go Members; and $30 at the door for all.

Tickets are available via The Mark Twain House & Museum by calling (860) 280-3130 or by clicking here or by calling the Artists Collective at (860) 527-3205. Special Group rate tickets available--call the Artists Collective for information. 

 

 

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):

Self Publishing (starts April 29)

Fiction (starts May 6)

Writing for the Web (starts May 6)

 

4-week Class ($199):

Writing from found texts (starts May 6)

Memoir (starts May 6)

 

One-Day Workshops ($40):

Memoir (May 9)

 

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 March's winner: Gayle Anton

 

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

 

 
SPECIAL THANKS TO THE UCONN MASTER GARDENERS 

Every week, the UConn Master Gardeners come to The Mark Twain House to work in the Conservatory. 

 

We sincerely appreciate their outstanding efforts in keeping this indoor garden in a condition befitting the "loveliest home that ever was," as Mark Twain called it.

 

We truly couldn't do it without them! 

 

 

Pictured are Marianne Cassidy, Wendy Burki, Karen Pierson and Lea Anne Moran.

 

 

 


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 7 days a week, 9:30 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