Richland Library launches ‘3 Thursdays, 3 Authors’
The Richland County Public Library doesn’t just give patrons an opportunity to read authors’ words. It offers a chance to hear them too.
On the next three Thursdays, the library will host a trio of female writers, who will dish about their latest books.
First up is best-selling and award-winning playwright, poet and novelist Pearl Cleage, who will speak at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the S.C. State Museum.
“It is important to our community to hear a variety voices and spark conversations,” said Clo Cammarata, programs and partnership manager for Richland County Public Library. “Pearl Cleage is a fiction writer, playwright, poet, essayist, and journalist, who brings attention to difficult issues.”
Cleage will discuss her newest book, “Things I Should Have Told My Daughter: Lies, Lessons & Love Affairs.” In this memoir, Cleage takes readers back to the 1970s and 1980s , retracing her struggles to hone her craft amid personal and professional tumult. The author’s presentation will be followed by an audience Q&A session and book signing.
Other books by Cleage include “Baby Brother’s Blues,” “Just Wanna Testify,” “Seen it All and Done the Rest,” “We Speak Your Names: A Celebration,” “ Mad at Miles: A Black Woman’s Guide to Truth,” and the 1998 Oprah Book Club selection, “What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day.”
Thursday’s event is from 6:30 - 9 p.m.
On May 19, local author Sandra E. Johnson will speak at the Lourie Center (6-8 p.m.), and on May 26 New York Times best-selling author Zane will speak at the University of South Carolina’s Booker T. Washington Auditorium (6-8 p.m.).
“Richland Library’s core mission is to connect people with information and resources that will enhance their lives,” media relations specialist Emily Stoll said. “By offering programs, such as ‘An Evening with Pearl Cleage,’ we are enabling new experiences for our customers, one-on-one time with a best-selling author, who they may not otherwise be able to see. It’s about connections and free access. Richland Library strives to bring new, fresh programs to our customers that they may not expect to see in the library.”
Lezlie Patterson, Special to The State