Center for the literary arts in New York State
Classic Film Series
"THE IRISHMAN"
6:30 p.m. Friday, March 13, 2020
Page Hall, UAlbany downtown campus
135 Western Avenue, Albany
Free and open to the public. See map
Note early start time: 6:30 p.m.
(United States, 2019, 209 minutes, color)
Directed by Martin Scorcese.
Starring Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci
A major film event of 2019, this gangster movie about the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa is based on the book I Heard You Paint Houses by homicide investigator and true crime author Charles Brandt.
VISITING WRITERS SERIES
SISTER HELEN PREJEAN
Monday, March 23, 2020
7:30 p.m. - Conversation/Q&A at Page Hall, 135 Western Ave., University at Albany Downtown Campus. See map
NOTE: An informal craft talk will take place earlier that same day at 4:15 p.m. in the Standish Room, Science Library, University at Albany, 1400 Washington Ave., Albany NY 12222. See map.
Both events free and open to the public.
Helen Prejean is a Roman Catholic nun and a preeminent advocate for the abolition of the death penalty. Her bestselling book about ministering to death row inmates, Dead Man Walking (1993), was adapted as a 1995 film starring Susan Sarandon (as Sister Helen) and Sean Penn.
A member of the Congregation of St. Joseph based in New Orleans, Prejean has previously served as chairperson of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. Her new memoir, River of Fire (2019), recounts her spiritual journey from praying for God to solve the world’s problems to engaging full-tilt in working to address societal injustices.
CREATIVE LIFE SERIES
JERRY SALTZ
Tuesday, March 24, 2020
6 p.m. - Book signing and reception, University Art Museum
7 p.m. - Conversation with WAMC’s Joe Donahue, Campus Center West Auditorium.
Both events free and open to the public at the University at Albany, 1400 Washington Ave., Albany. See map
Jerry Saltz is one of the most influential and popular culture writers working today. Since 2006, he has been senior art critic and columnist for New York Magazine.
Formerly the senior art critic for The Village Voice, he received the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism in 2018, and was nominated for that award in both 2001 and 2006. For two seasons, he was a judge on Bravo's “Work of Art: The Next Great Artist.”
His new book, How to Be An Artist (2020), is full of practical inspiration for creative people - brimming with dozens of brand new rules, prompts, exercises and tips designed to break through creative blocks, ignite motivation, conquer bad habits and help artists of all kinds to realize their dreams. Comedian and artist Steve Martin says, “Inspiration leaps off the pages from Jerry Saltz’s new book on creativity. This book is for the artist or non-artist, for the person who gets plain English, for the person who understands that practical talk can coax out the mystical messages that lie underneath.”
ALBANY FILM FESTIVAL
Join us at the NYS Writers Institute's Albany Film Festival!
The full-day community event on Saturday, March 28, will take place at the University at Albany and will feature panel discussions, conversations with actors, filmmakers, and authors whose books have been made into movies, screenings of feature-length films, a contest for film shorts, and an awards ceremony.
Free and open to the public, our inaugural film festival will run 10:30 a.m. until 8 p.m., ending with a spectacular animation display projected on the 195-foot wide, 45-foot high west facade of UAlbany's Science Library.
LATINADES AT THE WRITERS INSTITUTE
SOLO PLAY: "EDDIE'S PEREJIL"
7:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 31, 2020
Main Theatre, UAlbany Performing Arts Center
1400 Washington Avenue, Albany NY 12222
Free and open to the public.
See map
"Eddie’s Perejil" is a gripping solo play written and performed by Edward Paulino about a working-class Dominican-American college student who stumbles upon a document describing a long-forgotten genocide known as the 1937 Haitian Massacre by Dominicans.
Edward Paulino, professor of global history at John Jay College, CUNY, co-founded Border of Lights, an organization that commemorates the 1937 genocidal Haitian massacre and promotes solidarity between Haitians and Dominicans. He serves on the board of the Northern Manhattan Coalition for Immigration Rights. He is also the author of "Dividing Hispaniola: The Dominican Republic's Border Campaign against Haiti, 1930-1961" (2016).
Following the performance, Professor Paulino and director Samantha Galarza will hold a question and answer session with the audience.
Cosponsored by UAlbany’s Department of Latin American, Caribbean and U.S. Latino Studies (LACS), Department of
Anthropology, Department of Sociology, and the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures (LLC).
LATINADES AT THE WRITERS INSTITUTE
SOLO PLAY: "EDDIE'S PEREJIL"
7:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 31, 2020
Main Theatre, UAlbany Performing Arts Center
1400 Washington Avenue, Albany NY 12222
Free and open to the public.
See map
"Eddie’s Perejil" is a gripping solo play written and performed by Edward Paulino about a working-class Dominican-American college student who stumbles upon a document describing a long-forgotten genocide known as the 1937 Haitian Massacre by Dominicans.
Edward Paulino, professor of global history at John Jay College, CUNY, co-founded Border of Lights, an organization that commemorates the 1937 genocidal Haitian massacre and promotes solidarity between Haitians and Dominicans. He serves on the board of the Northern Manhattan Coalition for Immigration Rights. He is also the author of "Dividing Hispaniola: The Dominican Republic's Border Campaign against Haiti, 1930-1961" (2016).
Following the performance, Professor Paulino and director Samantha Galarza will hold a question and answer session with the audience.
Cosponsored by UAlbany’s Department of Latin American, Caribbean and U.S. Latino Studies (LACS), Department of
Anthropology, Department of Sociology, and the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures (LLC).
Video: Jerry Saltz talking with Jim Carrey
Classic Film Series
7:00 p.m. Friday, March 6
![Scott Simon_SunnysidePlaza[1].jpg](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/027f98_0bfccb27f78b4a7e9b19be7fbbb57094~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_168,h_244,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,blur_3,enc_auto/Scott%20Simon_SunnysidePlaza%5B1%5D.jpg)
VISITING WRITERS SERIES
SISTER HELEN PREJEAN
Monday, March 23, 2020
7:30 p.m. - Conversation/Q&A at Page Hall, 135 Western Ave., University at Albany Downtown Campus. See map
NOTE: An informal craft talk will take place earlier that same day at 4:15 p.m. in the Standish Room, Science Library, University at Albany, 1400 Washington Ave., Albany NY 12222. See map.
Both events free and open to the public.
Helen Prejean is a Roman Catholic nun and a preeminent advocate for the abolition of the death penalty. Her bestselling book about ministering to death row inmates, Dead Man Walking (1993), was adapted as a 1995 film starring Susan Sarandon (as Sister Helen) and Sean Penn.
A member of the Congregation of St. Joseph based in New Orleans, Prejean has previously served as chairperson of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. Her new memoir, River of Fire (2019), recounts her spiritual journey from praying for God to solve the world’s problems to engaging full-tilt in working to address societal injustices.
Dimensions of container: 963 x 625
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Coming up ...
BURIAN LECTURE SERIES
Lisa Kron
Burian Lecture Series on Life in the Performing Arts
7:30 p.m. Monday, March 9, 2020
Campus Center West Auditorium, University at Albany, 1400 Washington Ave., Albany NY 12222. See map.
Free and open to the public.
Lisa Kron, actress and playwright, wrote the lyrics and book for the hit Broadway musical, "Fun Home," winner of three Tony Awards in 2015: Best Musical, Best Original Score and Best Book of a Musical.
A story of family and sexual awakening, and the first Broadway musical with a lesbian protagonist, "Fun Home" is a musical adaptation of Alison Bechdel’s bestselling graphic memoir of the same name. Ben Brantley of the New York Times called it, “a beautiful heartbreaker of a musical.”
Kron is also a founder of the award-winning theatre company, The Five Lesbian Brothers, renowned for absurdist humor and the puncturing of lesbian stereotypes. She received the 27th Annual Kleban Prize in 2017 for the most promising musical theatre librettist; the award includes a $100,000 prize.
Presented by the UAlbany Theatre Program and the Jarka and Grayce Burian Endowment in collaboration with the NYS Writers Institute
VISITING WRITERS SERIES
Tuesday, March 10, 2020
7:30 p.m. - Conversation/Q&A at Page Hall, 135 Western Ave., University at Albany Downtown Campus. See map
Free and open to the public.
host of NPR’s “Weekend Edition” and author of Sunnyside Plaza
Scott Simon
Scott Simon, beloved host of NPR’s “Weekend Edition” since it first aired in 1985, and one of the best-known voices on American radio, will present his new middle grade book, Sunnyside Plaza (2020).
The book tells the story of a developmentally disabled adult woman who seeks to solve the mystery of a number of suspicious deaths in her group home. Kirkus called it, “A tender insight into being different and wonderful.”
Simon’s weekly radio show has been called by the Washington Post, “the most literate, witty, moving, and just plain interesting news show on any dial.”
A limited number of free copies of Sunnyside Plaza will be available and a book signing will follow each event.
NOTE: An informal craft talk will take place earlier that same day at 4:15 p.m. in the Standish Room, Science Library, University at Albany, 1400 Washington Ave., Albany NY 12222. See map.
Coming up ...
BURIAN LECTURE SERIES
3 cups
Blueberries
3 cups
Flour
7:30 p.m. Monday, March 9, 2020
Campus Center West Auditorium, University at Albany, 1400 Washington Ave., Albany NY 12222.
1 cup
Sugar
Lisa Kron, actress and playwright, wrote the lyrics and book for the hit Broadway musical, "Fun Home," winner of three Tony Awards in 2015: Best Musical, Best Original Score and Best Book of a Musical.
A story of family and sexual awakening, and the first Broadway musical with a lesbian protagonist, "Fun Home" is a musical adaptation of Alison Bechdel’s bestselling graphic memoir of the same name. Ben Brantley of the New York Times called it, “a beautiful heartbreaker of a musical.”
Lisa Kron
VISITING WRITERS SERIES
3 cups
Blueberries
3 cups
Flour
2 tsp.
Cinnamon
1 cup
Sugar
2 tsp.
Oil
2 tbsp.
Salt
1½ cups
Butter
march
3
6
9
10
13
23
24
28
31
Jennifer Block, health care journalist, in conversation with Elisa Albert
Lady Pink, graffiti artist, educator, & film screening of "Wild Style"
Burian Lecture: Lisa Kron, Tony Award-winning playwright
Scott Simon, author of Sunnyside Plaza
Film screening: "The Irishman"
Sister Helen Prejean, death penalty activist and nun
Creative Life Series: Jerry Saltz, Pulitzer Prize-winning art critic
Albany Film Festival
Play: "Eddies Perejil"
april
2
3
6
13
14
15
17
22
23
24
24
29
Jerome Charyn, novelist in conversation with Paul Grondahl
Film: "Purgatorio: A Journey Into the Heart of the Border"
Authors Theater: "Interstate"
Colson Whitehead, major American novelist
Andy Greenberg, technology journalist
Leymah Gbowee, Liberian peace activist and Nobel laureate
Nadina LaSpina, disability rights activist and author
Valerie Luiselli, novelist and essayist
Dr. B. Janet hibbs, psychologist, family therapist, and author
Zine Festival
Film Screening: "Baby Face"
Louise Aronson, MD, bestselling author on aging
may
2
Selected Shorts
march
3
6
9
10
13
23
24
28
31
Jennifer Block, health care journalist, in conversation with Elisa Albert
Lady Pink, graffiti artist, educator, & film screening of "Wild Style"
Burian Lecture: Lisa Kron, Tony Award-winning playwright
Scott Simon, author of Sunnyside Plaza
Film screening: "The Irishman"
Sister Helen Prejean, death penalty activist and nun
Creative Life Series: Jerry Saltz, Pulitzer Prize-winning art critic
Albany Film Festival
Play: "Eddies Perejil"
2
Selected Shorts
april
2
3
6
13
14
15
17
22
23
24
24
29
Jerome Charyn, novelist in conversation with Paul Grondahl
Film: "Purgatorio: A Journey Into the Heart of the Border"
Authors Theater: "Interstate"
Colson Whitehead, major American novelist
Andy Greenberg, technology journalist
Leymah Gbowee, Liberian peace activist and Nobel laureate
Nadina LaSpina, disability rights activist and author
Valerie Luiselli, novelist and essayist
Dr. B. Janet hibbs, psychologist, family therapist, and author
Zine Festival
Film Screening: "Baby Face"
Louise Aronson, MD, bestselling author on aging
2
Selected Shorts
may
Jennifer Block, health care journalist in conversation with Elisa Albert
3
Lady Pink, graffiti artist, educator, & film screening of "Wild Style"
6
Burian Lecture: Lisa Kron, Tony Award-winning playwright
9
Scott Simon, author of Sunnyside Plaza
10
Film Screening: "The Irishman"
13
Sister Helen Prejean, death penalty activist and nun
23
Creative Life Series: Jerry Saltz, Pulitzer Prize-winning art critic
24
Albany Film Festival
28
Play: "Eddie's Perejil"
31
march
April
Jerome Charyn, novelist in conversation with Paul Grondahl
3
Film: "Purgatorio: A Journey Into the Heart of the Border"
6
Authors Theater: "Interstate"
13
Scott Simon, author of Sunnyside Plaza
10
Film Screening: "The Irishman"
13
Sister Helen Prejean, death penalty activist and nun
23
Creative Life Series: Jerry Saltz, Pulitzer Prize-winning art critic
24
Albany Film Festival
28
Play: "Eddie's Perejil"