[I’ve long been
a fan of book
talks, but since my most recent book, We the People: The 500-Year Battle over Who
is American, is intended to be my most public yet, I’ve redoubled my
dedication to talking about it anywhere and everywhere. Since I’m on sabbatical
this fall and even more flexible, I wanted to take this week to highlight some
of my prior and upcoming talks, as examples that I hope can lead to more such
opportunities! I’ll travel and talk anywhere and am happy to pay my own way for
the chance to share these stories and histories!]
On three Fall
2019 talks that illustrate the breadth of audiences/conversations with which I’d
love to share this book.
1)
Boxborough
Public Library: Along with independent bookstores like yesterday’s subject,
the Toadstool, public libraries have been and remain one of my favorite venues
for talks. I love everything about such talks, from the ethos of the institution
to the consistently helpful staff to the diverse and engaged audiences, and I
would do everything in my power to get to a library anywhere in the country.
Currently I have one more library talk scheduled, at the Boxborough (MA) Public
Library in early October, and I’m excited to share We the People there. But again, I’ll never say no to a talk at a
library, so if you have any suggestions, please let me know or feel free to
reach out to them directly!
2)
Southgate
Women’s Circle Breakfast: Reading and discussion groups, like the New
Hampshire one I highlighted in Monday’s post, offer a distinct kind of audience
and conversation from most other spaces and talks, and I’d love to find ways to
connect the book to more such groups and communities. I had the chance to speak
at the Women’s Circle Breakfast a year and a half ago, and am excited to be
returning to talk with this group once more, this time about connections
between We the People and competing
forms/visions of patriotism in America (likely the subject of my next book, for
more on which watch this space!). I’ll say again, if you are part of or know of
other reading/discussion groups for which you think We the People or related topics might be of interest, please feel
free to pass those along!
3)
The
Lillian E. Smith Center: Academic and educational settings and institutions
will likely always remain a central destination for my talks, and rightly so—way
back in the intro
to my third book I called public scholarship a form of education, and I
continue to believe that the two modes of inquiry and discussion are deeply
intertwined. I’ve got a few academic talks in the works for the fall, but one
that’s definitely on the schedule is my contribution to the Smith Center’s
Symposium. My online friend (and soon to be in-person friend, finally!) Matthew Teutsch
is the Smith Center’s new Director, and that’s just one more reason I’m beyond
for the chance to learn more about Smith and her works, take part in this Symposium,
and share my ideas of exclusion and inclusion as part of that conversation.
Just one of the many reasons I’m very stoked for a fall full of book talks!
August Recap
this weekend,
Ben
PS. Ideas or
suggestions for future talks, in-person or online? I’d love to hear them!
No comments:
Post a Comment