Big Name, Local Authors Set to Visit South End Library

This Thursday evening, the South End Library launches its fall series of "South End Writes," a celebration of local South End authors who will stop by to talk about their work and connect with the neighborhood. 

The program, now in its third year, is organized by the Friends of the South End Library, and has welcomed dozens of authors to speak and share their work with South End residents. Thirteen authors are already lined up to appear at the library through May of 2013, including L. Annette Binder, Stephen Davis, Sarah Lawrence Lightfoot, Margot Livesey, and Leah Hager Cohen. See here for the full schedule. 

"The South End Library is in a neighborhood that houses an enormous number of writers and poets, whether they are accomplished or just starting out," said Marleen Nienhuis, of the Friends of the South End Library. "It gives them a chance to let their neighbors know what they are working on."

In addition to readings from published books, Nienhuis said one of the special parts of the South End Writes program is that authors often come to the event looking for feedback on unpublished works, too. 

"They want to throw it out there and get coments back," she said, noting that author Doug Bauer read an unpublished essay last fall. "Feedback is so important to the writing process."

First up is Susan Naimark, author of The Education of a White Parent: Wrestling with Race and Opportunity in the Boston Public Schools. Naimark's work explores the education she got herself when her two sons enrolled in the Boston Public School System in the 1990s, not in academics, but in "how race and white privilege play out in the public school classroom."

"I had to hold up the mirror,” said Naimark.  

The program gets underway at 6:30 p.m. at the South End Library (685 Tremont St.) "South End Writes" is free and open to everyone.