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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260927T150000
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SUMMARY:Book Launch Celebrating Betsy Smith\, author of Sign of a Loon
DESCRIPTION:Join us to celebrate the launch of Sign of a Loon\, the debut novelette of local author and dear friend of The Mount\, Betsy Smith. For this special event\, Smith will be joined by Tom Hoffman of the Washington Historic Commission and Amy Lafave\, the Lenox Library’s Local History Librarian. \nDuring the COVID lockdown\, Smith was granted a rare opportunity to write at The Mount. The mansion was shuttered and empty—the perfect setting for inspiration. Wearing her great-grandmother’s wedding ring around her neck as a talisman\, Smith wandered the halls of what felt like a giant dollhouse\, drawing on Wharton’s surroundings\, writings\, and the spirits said to inhabit The Mount. The result was Sign of a Loon\, a literary exploration of her ancestral history—both real and imagined—ultimately\, the story she sought to find. \n“A beautiful\, evocative\, and deeply personal account of love\, loss\, and forgiveness. By interweaving her family’s fascinating history with her own memories and experiences\, M. Betsy Smith takes us along her fantastic journey of searching for answers\, creating connections\, and—ultimately—finding peace.” – Nynke Dorhout \n  \nIMPORTANT EVENT INFORMATION: \n\nThis event takes place in The Mount’s Stable Auditorium\, a 140-seat\, climate-controlled\, indoor venue adjacent to the parking lot.\nSeating for all programs at The Mount is first-come\, first-served. If you have seating preferences\, we recommend arriving fifteen minutes early.\nAccessible seating is available. To discuss arrangements\, please contact us by phone: 413-551-5111 x5; or email: programs@edithwharton.org. For more information about accessibility\, review The Mount’s accessibility webpage.\nA book signing will follow this talk.\nQuestions? Email: programs@edithwharton.org; or phone: 413-551-5111 x2\n\n  \n\n  \nM. Betsy Smith was born and raised in Berkshire County. After retiring from her career in insurance in 2016\, she started writing. It was a long-held dream she fully embraced. Her creative nonfiction essays and poetry share emotional and often universal stories. Her work has been published by Refinery29\, The Write Launch\, Entropy\, Brevity\, Chaleur Magazine\, and the WriteAngles Journal. Sign of a Loon is her first book.   \nTom Hoffman is a resident of the town of Washington and a member of the Washington Historic Commission.  He has always had a fascination with the William Whitney Estate in Washington\, and with exploring October Mountain. He has collected historical information and documentation from multiple sources.  Tom also enjoys fishing and hiking out-of-the-way locations. \nAmy Lafave is the Local History Librarian at the Lenox Library\, which has an extensive repository of materials on Lenox history. She enjoys working with and assisting historians like Tom. She is a lifelong resident of Lenox\, and currently lives in historic workers’ housing for the old Lenox Glassworks. 
URL:https://edithwharton.org/event/betsy-smith/
LOCATION:The Mount\, 2 Plunkett Street\, Lenox\, MA\, United States
CATEGORIES:Author Talks & Conversations
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260930T170000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260930T180000
DTSTAMP:20260902T150352Z
CREATED:20260902T150251Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260902T150352Z
UID:10001651-1790787600-1790791200@edithwharton.org
SUMMARY:Almost Home | Mirabai Bush in conversation with Matt Tannenbaum
DESCRIPTION:Almost Home chronicles Mirabai Bush’s remarkable life across several tumultuous decades\, from NASA to an ashram in India and finally to the foundational role she played in the establishment of Eastern spiritual traditions in North America. Raised Catholic with Joan of Arc as her hero\, Mirabai is among the most influential people who brought Buddhism to the West from India in the 1970s. Her life tells a fascinating narrative of our time: the rediscovery of contemplative practices\, in many forms and from many traditions\, in secular modern culture. \nModerated by Matt Tannenbaum of the Lenox Bookstore\, this conversation will explore Mirabai’s remarkable journey as chronicled in Almost Home\, and the legacy that extends far beyond its pages. \n  \nIMPORTANT EVENT INFORMATION: \n\nThis one-hour talk takes place in The Mount’s Stable Auditorium\, a 140-seat\, climate-controlled\, indoor venue adjacent to the parking lot. \n\n\nSeating for all programs at The Mount is first-come\, first-served. If you have seating preferences\, we recommend arriving fifteen minutes early. \n\n\nAccessible seating is available. To discuss arrangements\, please contact us by phone: 413-551-5111 x5; or email: programs@edithwharton.org. For more information about accessibility\, review The Mount’s accessibility webpage. \n\n\nA book signing will follow this talk. Books can be purchased at the event from The Lenox Bookstore.\n\n\nQuestions? Email: programs@edithwharton.org; or phone: 413-551-5111 x2 \n\n  \n\n  \nMirabai Bush is the founder of the Center for Contemplative Mind in Society. Under her direction\, The Center introduced mindfulness and other contemplative practices into social work\, higher education\, law\, business\, environmental leadership\, the military\, and social justice activism. Her personal story in Almost Home embodies present history. Through intimate moments of a life well-lived\, she writes of the moon race in the 1960’s\, hippie India in the 1970’s\, her teachers Goenka and Neemkaroli Baba\, motherhood\, Vietnam\, psychedelics\, the civil war in Guatemala\, and of utmost importance\, the influence of Eastern spirituality on the West and the growth of feminism.
URL:https://edithwharton.org/event/almost-home/
LOCATION:The Mount\, 2 Plunkett Street\, Lenox\, MA\, United States
CATEGORIES:Author Talks & Conversations
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://edithwharton.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Mirabai-Bush.jpg
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20261004T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20261004T190000
DTSTAMP:20260918T190202Z
CREATED:20260723T222009Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260918T190202Z
UID:10001569-1791118800-1791140400@edithwharton.org
SUMMARY:Whose Truth? Writers and Readers Forum
DESCRIPTION:In an era shaped by artificial intelligence\, contested truths\, and information overload\, Whose Truth? Writers and Readers Forum brings together leading voices to explore how writers responsibly tell stories about real people and events. Co-organized by The Authors Guild Foundation\, panelists will examine the ethics and craft of memoir\, biography\, narrative history\, and fiction — and how memory\, research\, interpretation\, and imagination shape what we call truth.  \nThe Whose Truth? Forum includes three panel discussions followed by a festive Meet-the-Authors reception on The Mount’s Terrace. Join us! \nTICKETS are available for both the full conference and individual panel discussions. Please note: access to the Meet-the-Authors reception is included exclusively with the full conference ticket. \n  \n\n  \nSCHEDULE AT A GLANCE: \n1:00 PM | Session One: Approaching History \nHistorical storytelling can illuminate the past — but it can also reshape it through creative interpretation\, characterization\, and selective detail. Historian David W. Blight will be joined in conversation by historian and former journalist David Conrad-Pérez\, and author Michelle Young\, moderated by Holly Jackson\, PhD\, on where imagination ends and historical responsibility begins.  \n2:30 pm | Session Two: Writing About Real People \nWriting about real lives requires imagination\, research\, and restraint. Journalist and biographer Martha Ackmann\, novelist Gish Jen\, and media attorney Nancy Wolff will discuss how biographers portray difficult truths about complicated\, flawed individuals without veering into harm\, caricature\, or defamation. Moderated by Joe Donahue\, WAMC. \n4:00 pm | Session Three: Authorship in the Age of AI \nFrom the writer’s desk to the reader’s hands\, artificial intelligence is reshaping how stories and ideas are produced\, circulated\, and trusted. Writers Jia Tolentino and Maris Kreizman will explore how AI is changing the ways writers write and readers read\, moderated by Mary Rasenberger. \n5:30 pm | Meet-the-Authors Reception \nMingle with the day’s featured authors at this exclusive reception on The Mount’s Terrace\, where you can enjoy seasonal refreshments and continued conversation. \n  \nThe Mount wishes to thank Mary Copeland and José A. Gonzalez\, Jr.\, and Stonover Farm for supporting this program.\n  \n\n  \nIMPORTANT EVENT INFORMATION: \n\nTickets are available for both the full conference and individual panel discussions. Please note: access to the Meet-the-Authors reception is included exclusively with the full conference ticket.\nThis half-day Forum talk takes place in The Mount’s Stable Auditorium\, a 140-seat\, climate-controlled\, indoor venue adjacent to the parking lot. \nSeating for all programs at The Mount is first-come\, first-served. If you have seating preferences\, we recommend arriving fifteen minutes early. \nAccessible seating is available. To discuss arrangements\, please contact us by phone: 413-551-5111 x5; or email: programs@edithwharton.org. For more information about accessibility\, review The Mount’s accessibility webpage. \nA book signing will follow this event. Books can be purchased at the event from The Mount Gift & Bookstore or in advance via Bookshop.org \nQuestions? Email: programs@edithwharton.org; or phone: 413-551-5111 x2 \n\n  \n\n  \nMartha Ackmann is a journalist and author who writes about women who have changed America. Her essays have appeared in The Atlantic\, the Paris Review\, The New York Times\, and The Washington Post. She is also a frequent commentator for New England Public Radio and has been featured on CNN\, National Public Radio\, and the BBC. Martha is the recipient of fellowships from the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation and the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University. Her books include: Ain’t Nobody’s Fool: The Life and Times of Dolly Parton; The Mercury 13: The True Story of Thirteen Women and the Dream of Space Flight; Curveball: The Remarkable Story of Toni Stone\, the First Woman to Play Professional Baseball in the Negro League; and These Fevered Days: Ten Pivotal Moments in the Making of Emily Dickinson.  \nDavid W. Blight is Sterling Professor of History and Director of the Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery\, Resistance\, and Abolition at Yale University. He previously taught at North Central College in Illinois\, Harvard University\, and Amherst College. He is the author or editor of a dozen books\, including Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom; American Oracle: The Civil War in the Civil Rights Era; Race and Reunion: The Civil War in American Memory; and annotated editions of Douglass’s first two autobiographies. He has worked on Douglass much of his professional life\, and been awarded the Pulitzer Prize\, the Bancroft Prize\, the Abraham Lincoln Prize\, and the Frederick Douglass Prize\, among others.  \nDavid Conrad-Pérez is a historian and former journalist whose work examines the forces that shape the media\, philanthropy\, and public life. He serves as research director for the Center for Media & Social Impact at American University. He is a former producer for New York Public Radio’s On the Media and Public Radio International’s The World. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School for Communication. Fire in the Heart of the City is his first book. \nHolly Jackson is a professor of English and the chair of the American Studies department at UMass Boston. She is the author of two books\, most recently American Radicals: How 19th-Century Protest Shaped the Nation. Her essays have appeared in popular venues such as the New York Times and the Washington Post\, as well as in a range of scholarly journals. Jackson is an elected member of the American Antiquarian Society\, an Honorary Fellow of the Massachusetts Historical Society\, and the Bernard Bailyn Editor of The New England Quarterly. \nGish Jen is the author of six novels\, two books of stories\, and two works of nonfiction. Her honors include fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation\, the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study\, and the Fulbright Foundation\, as well as the Lannan Literary Award for Fiction and the Mildred and Harold Strauss Living Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Her stories have been chosen for The Best American Short Stories five times\, including The Best American Short Stories of the Century. Bad Bad Girl\, her latest novel\, was named the best-reviewed work of fiction in 2025 by Lit Hub and is a finalist for the 2026 Dayton Literary Peace Prize. \nMaris Kreizman is an essayist and columnist for Literary Hub whose work has appeared in the New York Times\, New York Magazine\, the Wall Street Journal\, the Los Angeles Times\, Vanity Fair\, and Esquire. She hosted The Maris Review\, an intimate author interview podcast\, from 2018 to 2023. A former board member of the National Book Critics Circle\, she has served as a judge for the annual NBCC Awards as well as for the NYPL Young Lions Fiction Award. She is the creator of Slaughterhouse 90210\, a blog and book that celebrate the intersection of literature and pop culture. She was previously the editorial director of Book of the Month\, the editorial director of digital content at barnesandnoble.com\, and a publishing outreach lead at Kickstarter. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and her books. \nMary Rasenberger is the CEO of the Authors Guild and Authors Guild Foundation. Prior to joining the Guild in November 2014\, Mary practiced law for over 25 years in roles that spanned private practice\, the government\, and the corporate sector\, as a recognized expert in copyright and media law.  \nJia Tolentino is a staff writer at The New Yorker\, the author of the essay collection Trick Mirror\, and a screenwriter. Formerly\, she was the deputy editor at Jezebel and a contributing editor at the Hairpin. She grew up in Texas\, received her undergraduate degree at the University of Virginia\, and got her MFA in fiction from the University of Michigan. In 2020\, she received a Whiting Award as well as the Jeannette Haien Ballard Prize. Her work has also appeared in the New York Times Magazine and Pitchfork\, among other places. She lives in Brooklyn.  \nNancy Wolff is a partner at the intellectual property\, media and entertainment law firm of Cowan\, DeBaets\, Abrahams & Sheppard\, LLP located in New York\, NY\, and Beverly Hills\, CA.  She represents a wide range of creative individuals and companies in all areas of digital media\, art law\, licensing\, and publishing and serves as counsel to the Digital Media Licensing Association. Nancy is co-chair of the firm’s Litigation Department and co-chair of the firm’s Art Law Group based on her deep knowledge of copyright\, defamation\, and other third-party rights.  \nMichelle Young is an award-winning journalist and author. Her latest book\, The Art Spy: The Extraordinary Untold Tale of World War II Resistance Hero Rose Valland was named a Best Book of 2025 by the New York Public Library\, Library Journal\, and Hyperallergic\, and was named an Honor Book by the Massachusetts Book Awards. The Art Spy was also a finalist for the Marfield Prize and The Lambda Literary Prize and was longlisted for the American Library of Paris Book Award. Michelle’s work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal\, The Guardian\, Airmail\, The Forward and Town & Country. She is a graduate of Harvard University and Columbia University\, and lives in the Berkshires. \nThe Authors Guild Foundation is the charitable arm of the Authors Guild\, the nation’s oldest and largest professional organization for published writers. The Foundation supports working writers\, advocates for free expression\, and hosts literary events that highlight the importance of a rich\, diverse American literary culture and the authors that contribute to it.
URL:https://edithwharton.org/event/whose-truth/
LOCATION:The Mount\, 2 Plunkett Street\, Lenox\, MA\, United States
CATEGORIES:Author Talks & Conversations
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://edithwharton.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Whose-Truth-Graphic.png
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20261104T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20261104T190000
DTSTAMP:20260925T161435Z
CREATED:20260921T212229Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260925T161435Z
UID:10001656-1793815200-1793818800@edithwharton.org
SUMMARY:Virtual Reading | Hidden in the Archives: Publishing the Lost Works of Literary Legends
DESCRIPTION:Why do works of great literary luminaries remain unpublished during their lifetimes\, and what does it mean to bring a forgotten story to readers today?  \nCo-organized by Andrew Gulli\, editor of The Strand Magazine\, this panel explores the discovery\, editing\, publication\, and reception of previously unpublished works by literary icons. Joined by Laurence Hyman\, son and manager of the estate of Shirley Jackson\, Isabelle Parsons\, Edith Wharton scholar and professor at The Open University\, UK\, and Jan Turnquist\, Executive Director of Louisa May Alcott’s Orchard House\, Gulli will delve into the detective work behind these literary mysteries\, the decisions involved in bringing them to print\, and the new perspectives they can offer on writers we thought we knew. Featuring works by Edith Wharton\, Shirley Jackson\, and Louisa May Alcott\, the conversation offers a rare glimpse into the archives\, and the stories still waiting to be told.  \n  \n\n  \nIMPORTANT EVENT INFORMATION: \n\nThis is a virtual program hosted on Zoom. Registration is recommended to receive the Zoom link via email. Join here!\n\n  \n\n  \nAndrew Gulli is the managing editor of The Strand Magazine\, where he’s published newly discovered works by iconic writers such as John Steinbeck\, Shirley Jackson\, Louisa May Alcott\, and more. He also curates original short fiction from today’s leading authors and is co-editing The Best of The Strand Magazine: 25 Years of Twists\, Turns\, and Tales. When he’s not working on the magazine\, you can find him uncovering lost literary treasures in university archives\, playing pickleball\, painting\, and even stamp collecting!    \n  \nLaurence Jackson Hyman is the eldest child of famed novelist Shirley Jackson and literary critic and teacher Stanley Edgar Hyman. Over the decades he has worked as a reporter-photographer for the Providence Journal-Bulletin and Berkshire Eagle newspapers; served as Director of Public Relations and Publications for Bennington College; taught Still Photography and Darkroom Arts at Bennington College; founded and managed Woodford Publishing and Woodford Press in San Francisco for 25 years\, where he produced many award-winning books and monographs; owned and managed Crescendo Studios\, audio post-production in San Francisco; and since 1995 has managed his mother’s literary estate—Shirley Jackson Literary Properties.  Laurence has collected and edited two volumes of his mother’s previously unpublished short stories\, Just an Ordinary Day (1996)\, and Let Me Tell You (2015)\, and edited The Letters of Shirley Jackson (2021).  Laurence has also served as Executive Producer for many film and stage adaptations of his mother’s work\, including “We Have Always Lived in the Castle\,” 2019.  Sixty-five of his black-and-white photographs are in the permanent collection of The Bennington Museum.  Laurence has also worked as a professional jazz trumpet player all his life since the age of 14.  He currently resides in Western Sonoma County\, California\, surrounded by redwood trees.  \n  \nIsabelle Parsons is an associate lecturer and honorary associate in English and Creative Writing at The Open University\, UK. She wrote The Secrets and Silences of Edith Wharton’s Women\, and her articles have appeared in the Edith Wharton Review. These include an analytical reading of ‘The Men Who Saved the World’\, Wharton’s recently published short story that she encountered in the Beinecke Library as the recipient of an Edith Wharton Society Award for Archival Research in 2019. She has a background in archaeology but\, having completed her PhD on Wharton in 2021\, returns often (and eagerly!) to this novelist’s doings.  \n  \nJan Turnquist is Executive Director of Louisa May Alcott’s Orchard House\, a historical consultant\, and an Emmy winner for her Orchard House documentary\, which streams on PBS. Jan portrays Louisa May Alcott throughout the United States and across Japan\, where she was invited to the Imperial Palace to meet Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko due to the Empress’ abiding appreciation of Little Women.
URL:https://edithwharton.org/event/hidden-in-the-archives/
LOCATION:https://us06web.zoom.us/j/88152743843
CATEGORIES:Author Talks & Conversations,Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://edithwharton.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Virtual-Panel-unpublished-works.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20261106T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20261106T203000
DTSTAMP:20260925T135953Z
CREATED:20260924T192552Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260925T135953Z
UID:10001659-1793991600-1793997000@edithwharton.org
SUMMARY:The Lit Salon | An Evening with Author Marcia Chatelain Accompanied by Singer-Songwriter Chantell McCulloch
DESCRIPTION:The Lit Salon of the Berkshires is a new series bringing together literature and music through intimate\, candlelit conversations and live performances. Presented by The Mount at Barrington Hall and curated by author Michelle Young (The Art Spy)\, the Salon creates a warm\, intimate setting for the community to gather\, connect\, and experience the written word and music in unexpected combinations. \nFrom Pulitzer Prize-winning author Marcia Chatelain comes the little-known story of the pioneering Black women who helped shape the 1963 March on Washington—artists and activists who were seen\, yet too often left unheard. How Bright the Path Grows: The Untold Story of the Women Who Made the March on Washington is a scintillating group biography\, rendering the lives of thirteen Black women visionaries—some famous\, others soon to be—in novelistic detail and like never seen before. Moderated by Michelle Young and featuring an accompanying performance by acclaimed singer-songwriter Chantell McCulloch\, this conversation and performance brings these trailblazing women into the spotlight\, from cultural icons Josephine Baker\, Rosa Parks\, and Mahalia Jackson to Eva Jessye\, the choir director who designed the day’s musical program\, and Anna Hedgeman\, the coordinator who pushed in the eleventh hour for a tribute to Black women’s work.\n  \n\n  \nIMPORTANT EVENT INFORMATION: \n\nThis program takes place offsite at Barrington Hall\, 426 Stockbridge Road\, Great Barrington\, MA 01230\, a fully accessible event venue.\nDoors open at 6:00 pm. A cash bar and food truck will be available.\nSeating at Barrington Hall is first come\, first served.\nAll ticket sales are final\, and Barrington Hall is unable to offer refunds for missed events.\nIf an event is cancelled or postponed\, the venue will notify all ticket holders and provide the option to receive a refund or hold onto your ticket for the new date.\nQuestions? Email: programs@edithwharton.org; or call: 413-551-5111 x2\n\n  \n\n  \nABOUT THE AUTHOR: \nMarcia Chatelain is a Presidential Penn Compact Professor of Africana studies at the University of Pennsylvania. She is the author of South Side Girls and Franchise\, which won the 2021 Pulitzer Prize in History\, the James Beard Foundation Book Award for Writing\, the Hagley Prize for Business History\, and the Lawrence W. Levine Award from the Organization of American Historians. An active public speaker and educational consultant\, Chatelain has received awards and honors from the Ford Foundation\, the American Association of University Women\, and the German Marshall Fund of the United States. \n  \nABOUT THE MUSICIAN: \nChantell McCulloch\, healing songstress\, is a classically trained vocalist from Chicago\, known for her commanding vocal agility and soulfully connected performance style. Her artistic credits include sharing the stage with Grammy-nominated artists like Matt Cusson\, opening for Grammy Award-winning cellist Yo-Yo Ma\, and Grammy Award-winning pianist Emmanuel Ax\, and recording for PBS Kids and Sesame Street. In 2026\, Berkshire Magazine named Chantell as a recipient of Berkshire 25 for her work around the county. Performing blues\, jazz\, and classical soul\, her uniquely styled arrangements transform her performances into spaces of collective encouragement\, hope\, and healing. Photo: Lee Everett \n  \nABOUT THE CURATOR: \nMichelle Young is an award-winning journalist and author. Her latest book\, The Art Spy: The Extraordinary Untold Tale of World War II Resistance Hero Rose Valland\, was named a Best Book of 2025 by the New York Public Library\, Library Journal\, and Hyperallergic\, and a 2026 Massachusetts Book Award Honoree. The book was also a finalist for the Marfield Prize—The National Award for Arts Writing—and the Lambda Literary Prize\, and was longlisted for the 2025 American Library of Paris Book Award.  \n  \nABOUT THE VENUE: \nBarrington Hall is an event venue and gathering place in Great Barrington\, Massachusetts. With a focus on serving and being an active part of the Berkshire community\, the Hall brings people together for live music\, comedy\, cultural programming\, weddings\, private celebrations\, and community gatherings.
URL:https://edithwharton.org/event/lit-salon-marcia-chatelain/
LOCATION:Barrington Hall\, 426 Stockbridge Road\, Great Barrington\, 01230\, United States
CATEGORIES:Author Talks & Conversations,Music
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://edithwharton.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Marcia.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20261121T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20261121T203000
DTSTAMP:20260925T135938Z
CREATED:20260925T135809Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260925T135938Z
UID:10001660-1795287600-1795293000@edithwharton.org
SUMMARY:The Lit Salon | An Evening with Author Colin Asher Accompanied by Singer-Songwriter George Oldziey
DESCRIPTION:The Lit Salon of the Berkshires is a new series bringing together literature and music through intimate\, candlelit conversations and live performances. Presented by The Mount at Barrington Hall and curated by author Michelle Young (The Art Spy)\, the Salon creates a warm\, intimate setting for the community to gather\, connect\, and experience the written word and music in unexpected combinations. \nLONGLISTED FOR THE 2026 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR NONFICTION • AN INDEPENDENT PRESS BESTSELLER  \nIn American popular music\, we often glorify rebellious artists and “outlaws.” In his new book\, The Midnight Special: The Secret Prison of American Music\, Colin Asher reveals a lesser-known story: how the criminal justice system has shaped the lives\, careers\, and legacies of American musicians. Moderated by Michelle Young and featuring an accompanying performance by award-winning composer George Oldziey\, this conversation and performance will trace the history of twentieth-century incarceration—from Southern prison farms and the heroin-driven drug war that villainized a generation of jazz artists\, to the dawn of mass incarceration. Along the way\, Asher explores how prisons occasionally incubate musical talent\, but more often cut careers short\, constrain artistic lives\, and distort the public’s understanding of musicians and their value to society.   \n  \n\n  \nIMPORTANT EVENT INFORMATION: \n\nThis program takes place offsite at Barrington Hall\, 426 Stockbridge Road\, Great Barrington\, MA 01230\, a fully accessible event venue.\nDoors open at 6:00 pm. A cash bar and food truck will be available.\nSeating at Barrington Hall is first come\, first served.\nAll ticket sales are final\, and Barrington Hall is unable to offer refunds for missed events.\nIf an event is cancelled or postponed\, the venue will notify all ticket holders and provide the option to receive a refund or hold onto your ticket for the new date.\nQuestions? Email: programs@edithwharton.org; or call: 413-551-5111 x2\n\n  \n\n  \nABOUT THE AUTHOR: \nColin Asher is the author of the critically acclaimed Never a Lovely So Real. His work has been featured in the Believer\, the Baffler\, the New Republic\, and the Los Angeles Review of Books. He lives in Brooklyn\, New York.   \n  \nABOUT THE MUSICIAN: \nGeorge Oldziey has had a widely versatile career as a performer\, composer and educator. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Trumpet Performance from Manhattan School of Music and a Master’s degree in Composition from Texas State University. As an in-house composer for Electronic Arts’ Origin Systems\, he created music for iconic video game series including Wing Commander and SpongeBob SquarePants. His extensive film credits include Spy Kids 2 and 3D\, Once Upon a Time in Mexico\, Kill Bill Vol. 2\, Sin City\, The Grinch\, and The House of Gucci. He also arranged Mon Laferte’s Latin Grammy-winning album\, Norma. Currently\, Oldziey is an Associate Professor in Screen Scoring at Berklee College of Music.  \n  \nABOUT THE CURATOR: \nMichelle Young is an award-winning journalist and author. Her latest book\, The Art Spy: The Extraordinary Untold Tale of World War II Resistance Hero Rose Valland\, was named a Best Book of 2025 by the New York Public Library\, Library Journal\, and Hyperallergic\, and a 2026 Massachusetts Book Award Honoree. The book was also a finalist for the Marfield Prize—The National Award for Arts Writing—and the Lambda Literary Prize\, and was longlisted for the 2025 American Library of Paris Book Award.  \n  \nABOUT THE VENUE: \nBarrington Hall is an event venue and gathering place in Great Barrington\, Massachusetts. With a focus on serving and being an active part of the Berkshire community\, the Hall brings people together for live music\, comedy\, cultural programming\, weddings\, private celebrations\, and community gatherings.
URL:https://edithwharton.org/event/lit-salon-colin-asher/
LOCATION:Barrington Hall\, 426 Stockbridge Road\, Great Barrington\, 01230\, United States
CATEGORIES:Author Talks & Conversations,Music
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://edithwharton.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Colin.jpg
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR