Come By the Hills by David Utiger
Main Hall, April 2-29

African Literatures Discussion Group, led by Anne Serafin, explores the rich variety of writings from Africa. The group usually meets on the third Wednesday of the month at 7:30 pm in Room A. Info call: 617-527-1072. Next meeting: Wednesday, April 16. They will read Chameleon by Jane Bryce; a collection of short stories by a writer from Tanzania.

Children’s Book Writer’s Groups are for writers who have work in progress. Pre-registration required. Maria Gianferrari (781-891-0153) leads the group that meets on the first Monday of the month at 7:00 pm in Room A. Next meeting: Monday, April 7. Karen Day (617-244-4830) leads the group that meets on the 4th Wednesday of the month at 7:00 pm in Room A. Next meeting: Wednesday, April 30.

Commonwealth Book Club has been suspended until further notice.

Contemporary Books Discussion Group

Contemporary Books Discussion Group holds meetings on the first Wednesday of the month at 7:30 pm in Room A. Info call: Marilyn Miller 617-332-4225. Next meeting: Wednesday, April 2 to discuss Away by Amy Bloom.

Contemporary Books 2007 - 2008 Reading List

Great Books Discussion Group meets on the second Tuesday of the month at 7:15 pm in Room A. Members read and discuss books or selected excerpts, some published by the Great Books Foundation. Some are available at the library. Info call: Ruth Greene at 617-527-4143. Next meeting: Tuesday, April 8 at 7:15 pm to discuss A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Wolf .

Newton Camera Club meets on the 2nd and 4th Mondays of each month at 7:30 pm at the Nonantum Branch (September through May) to share and discuss photography. The programs include a range of highly-regarded outside speakers, club member presentations, and competitions. For more information, visit www.newtoncameraclub.org. Next meetings: Mondays, April 14 & 28.

Sequences: Women Tell Our Stories, a supportive, creative group, meets in a congenial atmosphere to read fiction, essays or poetry and discuss and write responses to the material. Led by Robin Mayer Stein, poet and journalist, the group meets on the second Wednesday of the month at 10:00 am in Room A. Next meeting: Wednesday, April 9.

Short Fiction Writing Group is a workshop geared for published writers and those actively pursuing publication. Pre-registration is required, call 617-332-3347. The group meets on the first Tuesday of the month at 7:00 pm in Room A. Next meeting: Tuesday, April 1.

Short Story Discussion Group usually holds its meetings on the 2nd Monday of the month at 7:30 pm in Room A. Group co-leaders are Mary Lanigan (617-527-1505) and Barbara McGinley. Next meeting: Monday, April 14. They will discuss The Room by William Trevor and Djamilla by Tony D’Souza. Both stories are from O. Henry Prize Stories 2007.

Singing Group will not meet in April.

Women in Career Transition. Led by career counselor Joyce Picard, this group, in its third year, provides sharing and information for women in career transition. It focuses on goals, allowing time to share concerns and gain support. The group regularly meets on the third Tuesday of the month at 7:30 pm in Room A. Next meeting: Tuesday, April 15.

Chris Welles, guitar and lead vocals and Rod Thomas, harmonica and harmony vocals are the Boston based acoustic duo, Outrageous Fortune. They will perform their unique style of vintage jazz, blues and rag on Sunday, April 6 at 2:00 pm.

Inspired by musicians like Ry Cooder and Spider John Koerner, Chris taught himself to play finger-style guitar as a teenager by wearing grooves in his country blues records. He studied jazz at Berklee College of Music and performed solo in the '80s at several New England clubs.

Rod started playing harmonica in high school, stealing licks from the late Sonny Terry, and Magic Dick of the J. Geils Band. In college he sang, toured and recorded with the a cappella group The Colgate Thirteen.

The program will include early jazz favorites such as I Can’t Give You Anything But Love and will also preview the duo’s upcoming program for The New England Folk Festival, with Appalachian songs of the traveler, including Swing Low Sweet Chariot and others.

 

Laura Sanders, soprano, Ann Marie Chubet, violin and viola and James Chubet, piano will perform works by Handel, Brahms, Beethoven and Debussy on Sunday, April 13 at 2:00 pm. The concert is cosponsored by the library and the All Newton Music School.

Laura Sanders' Boston area chamber music performances include concerts in several notable locations such as King's Chapel, The Busch-Reisinger Museum and Brandeis University. She is a faculty member of the All Newton Music and has recorded contemporary solo vocal works on the Titanic Label.

Anne-Marie Chubet performs on both “modern” and period violin. She is a member of the Springfield Symphony Orchestra and performs with many area ensembles including the Handel and Haydn Society. She has toured internationally and currently teaches in several locations including the All-Newton Music School.

James Chubet performs extensively as a solo pianist, chamber musician, and accompanist in the U.S. and abroad. He is a member of Trio Lutetia, the Boston College faculty piano trio. Mr. Chubet is on the faculty at Boston College and the All-Newton Music School.

Piano Concert

Pianist, EunMi Ko began her musical pursuits in her native land of South Korea. She will give a concert of works of Martinu, Mendelssohn, Haydn and others on Tuesday, April 15 at 7:30 pm.

Ms. Ko is currently completing her Doctoral Musical Art degree at Eastman. She is a teaching assistant and has performed extensively as a recitalist and collaborative pianist throughout U. S., Canada, and South Korea.

Piano Concert of Classical and Contemporary Works

A native of Japan, pianist Futaba Niekawa commenced her musical studies at an early age and attended the famed Toho School. She holds a Master of Music from the New England Conservatory and currently is continuing her studies at the Conservatory with Irma Vallecillo. Ms. Niekawa has received top prizes in piano competitions. She has performed both as soloist and collaborator in the United States, France, and Japan, including solo recitals at Jordan Hall and Harvard University. Ms. Niekawa has studied both organ and harpsichord extensively. She looks forward to sharing music's treasures with her audience on Sunday, April 20 at 2:00 pm when she will give a concert of Debussy, Takemitsu, Ravel and Schumann.

From bluesy ballads and moving swing tunes to swaying bossa novas, Martha Timke and Friends bring you songs that stand the test of time. Enjoy classics that will make you remember like As Time Goes By and The Shadow of Your Smile, tunes that will make you sway like Kiddio and I Wish You Love and others that will make you dream like You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To and Dream a Little Dream of Me. The concert will be given on Sunday, April 27 at 2:00 pm. Paul Justice, bass and Michael Cardoza, piano will accompany Ms. Timke's soulful singing.

Martha Timke grew up in New York City and started singing at age 17, studying classical voice and jazz. In her 20’s, after moving to the Boston area, she performed locally in a wide range of styles from pop hits to jazz standards. Martha has been singing as an alto in The Quincy Choral Society since 2000 and has performed with them in Italy and Prague. Ms. Timke, an accomplished pastry chef, teaches pastry arts at The Cambridge School of Culinary Arts and creates special order cakes and decorated cookies.

EEC’s will be provided. Questions, inquiries about EEC’s or to register: 617-796-1370.

The Mother Goose on the Loose programs are federally funded with LSTA funds through the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners.

 

The AARP® Tax-Aide™ Foundation will have trained volunteers on hand on Saturdays from 1:30-3:30 pm each week in Rooms A & B through April 12. The volunteers, who are trained by the IRS, will be ready to answer questions and fill out basic (non-business) tax returns.

 

Join us for a Teen Open Mic on Saturday, April 5 from 2:00-4:00 pm. Sing a song, play an acoustic musical piece, read a poem, present a dramatic interpretation, or speak your mind on current issues. Time limit, five minutes, and all presentations must be suitable for a family audience. Participants, 7th graders and up, must preregister between March 3 and 31 with Jean Holmblad at jholmblad@minlib.net or 617-796-1370. Participants will receive a T-shirt designed by a Library Teen Advisory Board member.

This year’s poetry series concludes on Tuesday, April 8 at 7:00 pm. The series is directed by Doug Holder founder of Ibbetson St. Press of Somerville, Ma. The reading will be followed by an open mike with a limit of one poem a person.

Freddy Frankel's poems have appeared in numerous publications. His chapbook, Hottentot Venus: Poems of Apartheid was published in 2003; the year in which he won the New England Writers Robert Penn Warren First Award.

Due to illness Lois Ames will be unable to read at this event. Robert K. Johnson will read in her place. Lois will be scheduled for April 2009. Robert K. Johnson is the submission editor of the Ibbetson Street Press. His recent poetry collection "From Mist to Shadow" was a pick of the month in "The Small Press Review." Johnson has been widely published in the small press. He is the winner of the Ibbetson Street Press Lifetime Achievement Award.

Deborah DeNicola is the author of four poetry collections, most recently Inside Light, The Harmony of the Next, winner of the 2005 Riverstone Press Chapbook Contest. Her work has appeared in many literary journals. Among her awards are a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Mixed Blessings explores the religious struggles and challenges that take place within the more than one million families raising children in Jewish-Christian interfaith families in the U. S. The film shows the intimate and often emotional processes four couples encounter as they try to come to terms with their own spiritual and religious beliefs and how those beliefs get passed down to their children. The screening, sponsored by Temple Emanuel, will show on Wednesday, April 9 at 7:00 pm and will be followed by a Q & A period.

Directed by Jennifer Kaplan of the Filmmakers Collaborative, the film has been shown on PBS affiliates and in film festivals throughout the U. S. and Canada. The Filmmakers Collaborative is a non-profit association of independent filmmakers that supports independent filmmaking in the New England region by serving as a fiscal sponsor for film and video projects.

 

The Newton History Series, Discoveries in Science: The Newton Experience, which focuses on the participation of distinguished Newton residents in various aspects of science continues on Thursday, April 10, at 7:00 pm. In the next cutting-edge program of advances in science presented in layman’s terms, Dr. Phillip A. Sharp, Institute Professor at MIT, will discuss the growth of biotechnology in Boston. Among several recent scientific breakthroughs in the field are the biology of small RNAs and the biology of aging.

Dr. Sharp, a long time Newton resident, was the 1993 Nobel Prize Winner in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of the startling phenomenon known as “discontinuous genes” in mammalian cells; a discovery which fundamentally changed how scientists understand the structure of genes. Author of over 350 scientific papers, Dr. Sharp is an eminent scientific investigator, a skilled lecturer and co-founder of several Boston biotechnology companies.

 

The awareness of crystals as tools and allies for self-healing and the expansion of consciousness, which began in the early 1980s, has reached deeper levels of understanding in the expanded edition of the best-selling, pictorial encyclopedia by Robert Simmons and Naisha Ahsian, The Book of Stones: Who They Are and What They Teach. The book's first edition was the winner of the 2006 COVR award and a finalist of the ForeWord Book of the Year and the IPPY awards. Robert Simmons will give a special presentation followed by a book signing on Thursday, April 17 at 7:00 pm. The talk was rescheduled due to a snow storm in December.

In his talk, Robert will touch on the similarity of Moldavite to the fabled Stone of the Holy Grail, and the resonance of the high vibration stones such as Azeztulite with the legendary Philosopher’s Stone of Alchemy. There will be special meditative exercises, an opportunity to discuss the qualities of stones and crystals, and to learn about their correspondences with the chakras, their lore and history, and capacity to facilitate spiritual, emotional and physical healing.

Robert Simmons and his wife Kathy Warner are co-founders of The Crystal Conference, an annual teaching seminar that brings together the leading teachers, practitioners and crystal healers from around the world.

 

Just in time for the Boston Marathon season, sports nutrition expert Nancy Clark will give a talk called: Nutrition and Exercise: Sports Nutrition Tips for Everyday Champions. The program will be held on Tuesday, April 22 at 7:00 pm.

The informal talk will focus on nutrition and exercise tips for everyday champions who want to learn how to have the energy to survive the hectic days of busy lifestyles and enjoy their exercise sessions. Topics will include:

•What's the right balance of carbohydrates, protein and fat?
•How can I lose weight and have energy to exercise?
•Can I eat a vegetarian diet and get enough protein to build muscles?
•Concerns about the eating habits of high school athletes
•Taming the cookie monster...

Just in time for National Library Week (April 13-19) the library is pleased to announce that the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Investor Education Foundation (FINRA), working with the American Library Association, has awarded us a $46,100.00 Smart Investing @ Your Library® grant to start a Retirement Planning Club for Women.

The library will kick off the two year grant period on Wednesday, April 23 at 7:00 pm when Dr. Arnaa Alcon will speak on the importance of retirement planning for women. Dr. Alcon, an Associate Professor of Social Work at Bridgewater State College, has conducted extensive research and is an advocate for income and financial security for women. She is the former Associate Director of the National Center on Women and Aging and has worked extensively with volunteers and community groups on policy and advocacy in the areas of health and family economic security.

During the grant period the club will meet once per month and will be led by volunteer coaches recruited by the Newton Community Service Center’s SOAR program. Using their own PC’s or library computers club participants will have access through the Newton Free Library’s website to investment education resources and other useful links. Activities will include group participation in the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College’s Get Rich Slow online interactive game and presentation of a class on the use of library financial resources. The library is partnering with Discovering What’s Next® and SOAR on this grant and is grateful for the assistance and support of The Center for Retirement Research at Boston College.

The grant award allows for a library staff development program on issues of gender differences and financial literacy. In addition the grant provides funds for the purchase of library resources including books, financial newsletters, and online databases.

The FINRA Foundation supports innovative research and educational projects that give Americans the knowledge, skills and tools necessary for financial success throughout life. For more information, please visit www.finrafoundation.org.

Established in 1876, the American Library Association is the oldest and largest library association in the world. Its mission is “to provide leadership for the development, promotion, and improvement of library and information services and the profession of librarianship in order to enhance learning and ensure access to information for all.” For more information, visit www.ala.org.

 

In 1956, at the age of 16, Abbington, PA high school student Ellery Schemp stood up and spoke in defiance of the policy of daily prayer and bible reading in his high school; a practice shared by nearly half the school districts in the country. Ellery’s daring actions eventually led to the 1963, 8-1 Supreme Court ruling that such "morning devotions" violated the First Amendment's non-establishment clause.

Ellery Schemp will speak about his family’s role in this extraordinary case on Thursday, April 24 at 7:30 pm. Afterwards he will be on hand to sign copies of Ellery’s Protest: How One Young Man Defied Tradition and Sparked the Battle Over School Prayer, by author Stephen D. Solomon. The books will be provided by New England Mobile Book Fair.

After studying physics and geology at Tufts University, graduating Phi Beta Kappa, Ellery taught college. Later in his career he helped to develop MRI systems for medical diagnostics. Now semi-retired, he continues to speak about issues of separation of church and state.

 

•The role and purpose of non-profit farms operating on community owned land
•Why cities and towns should support these farms
•How Community based non-profit farms teach sustainable agriculture, preserve open space and foster community while reconnecting people with their food and help build a local food economy

 

In a sweeping narrative full of insight, authority and compassion Quil Lawrence’s masterfully researched book, Invisible Nation: How the Kurds' Quest for Statehood is Shaping Iraq and the Middle East gives a current history of the Kurds and their quest for statehood. Lawrence, Middle East correspondent for the public radio program The World, will give an author talk at 7:30 pm on Tuesday, April 29. A book signing will follow with books provided by New England Mobile Book Fair.

Numbering 25 million, the Kurds remain the largest ethnic group in the world without its own nation. The quest for Kurdish statehood has been a long, brutal struggle that continues despite opposition from Mideastern nations and the U.S. The one segment of the Iraqi population in favor of the U.S. invasion in 2003, the Kurds, are a source of worry to neighboring Turkey, Iran, Syria, and pre- and post-Saddam Iraq; none of whom want an independent Kurdistan that would come at their territorial expense.

Interviewing people from all walks of life, from hitchhikers to Kurds now leading the Iraqi government, such as President Jalal Talabani, Lawrence touches on their concerns, very long and bitter memories, and hopes for the times to come. Invisible Nation is a story not only of Kurdistan, but of Iraq, of the Middle East and of the future. To understand any of those, this book is essential as one of the most important works to emerge from a war that, five years in, remains as unpredictable as when it first started.

 

The Friends of the Newton Free Library present Anne Easter Smith, author of Daughter of York, and Stephen Puleo, author of The Boston Italians: A Story of Pride, Perseverance and Paesani, from the Years of the Great Immigration to the Present Day, at the 24th annual Book and Author Luncheon on Friday, May 2, at 12:00 noon at the Newton Marriott.

To join these authors on May 2, send your check for $35.00 per person (payable to the Friends of the Newton Free Library) to Book and Author Luncheon, PO Box 600533, Newtonville, MA 02460. Specify the names of those who will attend and include a stamped, self-addressed envelope. Indicate preference for chicken, fish, or vegetarian entree for lunch. Reservations received after April 19 will be held at the door. Info: call 617-997-7942 or email bookandauthor@gmail.com.