The Friends of the Hudson Area Library, the New York State Writers Institute, and national literary journal Fence co-present “THE LITERARY LIFE WHERE YOU FIND IT: an evening with WILLIAM KENNEDY and ELISA ALBERT.” This reading will take place at the Stair Galleries located at 549 Warren Street in Hudson on Thursday, November 7th from 6-8pm. The two writers will read from recently published fiction and essays on themes of Place and Displacement within the Literary Culture, and choosing where best to house one’s valuable creative time and energy. After the reading there will be time for conversation and discussion with audience members, and for book signing.
As seating and books will be limited, it is suggested that you call Spotty Dog Books & Ale (518-671-6006) in advance to reserve yours. This event is free and open to the public. Books that will be available for purchase and signing are Chango’s Beads and Two-Tone Shoes, Ironweed, and O Albany! by Kennedy and Goodbye to All That and The Book of Dahlia by Albert.
Born in 1928 and raised in Albany’s North End, WILLIAM KENNEDY is the author of 18 works of prose: short story collections, plays, screenplays, and novels, including the eight novels that comprise The Albany Cycle. His most recent entry is Changó’s Beads and Two-Tone Shoes (Viking, 2011), of which the Los Angeles Times wrote: “Before you jump fully into William Kennedy’s vibrant new novel … it’s useful to consider his lengthy literary path. Because Kennedy, 83, never just writes a novel. He sends updates from his imaginary Albany, N.Y.-centric world, and with ‘Changó’s Beads,’ he’s added a few welcome branches to some familiar family trees.” A graduate of Siena College, a recipient of the Pulitzer Prize in Literature, and a longtime professor at the University at Albany, Kennedy is the founder of the New York State Writers Institute.
A native of Los Angeles, ELISA ALBERT is the author of a short story collection, How This Night is Different, a novel, The Book of Dahlia, and the forthcoming novel Afterbirth . Her essay on leaving New York City for Albany is included in the new anthology Goodbye to All That: Writers on Loving and Leaving New York (Ed. Sari Botton, Seal Press, 2013). Of Albert’s first novel The New Yorker says that “Albert writes with the black humor of Lorrie Moore and a pathos that is uniquely her own, all the more blistering for being slyly invoked.”
The Friends of the Hudson Area Library is an advocacy and support group dedicated to increasing public awareness, literacy and services of the Library.
For more information about the Friends, including membership and volunteer opportunities, contact the library at 518.828.1792 or online at www.hudsonarealibrary.org or visit and Like Us on Facebook at Friends of the Hudson Area Library.