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This Wednesday, August 6, local author and renowned photographer, Tony Mendoza will join us as the last Literary Picnic of the 2014 season. He will talk about his new coming-of-age novel, A Cuban Summer. It is the story about a 13-year-old boy in 1950’s Havana, his love of girls, and desire for romance.

Join us anytime after 5:30 p.m. on the lawn of Thurber House, and the reading will begin at 7:00 p.m. Please remember to bring your own chairs, and while it’s too late to order a dinner through us, feel free to bring your own picnic (and alcohol, if you wish). Picnics are rain or shine. The rain site is the Columbus Museum of Art.

For more information or to purchase tickets, click here. We also have a full season of Evenings with Authors coming up! Be sure to check out our great lineup and get your tickets before they’re gone! Click here for the full lineup.

We are so excited to announce the 28th season of Summer Literary Picnics, featuring readings from five authors with Ohio connections. The picnics are held on the Thurber House lawn at 77 Jefferson Avenue and you can purchase a boxed dinner from us, or bring your own. Here’s the line-up for 2013:

Wednesday, June 12: Alexis Wilson

Alexis Wilson is known to many as the wife of musician Byron Stripling, but her memoir, Not So Black and White, shows that she is much more than just a wife and mother. She shares the story of her father, a Tony-award winning choreographer, and her mother, a talented ballet star. This book is a fascinating look at the life of an exceptional woman.

Wednesday, June 26: Julia Keller

Wednesday, July 10: Sharon Short

Wednesday, July 24: John Kachuba

Wednesday, August 7: Charlene Fix

We had such a lovely time on Wednesday with author Karen Harper. Thanks to everyone who braved the hot weather and joined us for a delicious dinner and a fascinating chat. Check out these pictures of the evening, thanks to Thurber photographer extraordinaire Leslie Miller:

Author Karen Harper and her husband enjoy a picnic dinner while chatting with fans.

Children’s Writer-in-Residence Donna Gephart attended the picnic and was able to meet Thurber House fans and friends.

Board member Steve Miller warmed up the crowd before Karen took the podium.

Karen chatted about researching her novels, how a book gets published, working with editors, and gave us a preview of her newest book.

Karen talked with her fans and signed their books.

Last Wednesday, our Summer Literary Picnic season kicked off with a salute to Columbus in celebration of the city’s bicentennial. Here are some pictures of the evening:

Picnickers enjoyed a delicious dinner on a perfect Ohio evening.

The Thurber Chamber Theatre entertained the crowd with a tale of Thurber’s college days and a reenactment of one of his famous fables.

Thurber House Board of Directors President Barbie Tootle welcomed the crowd to our bicentennial celebration.

Joe Santry of the Columbus Clippers told stories of baseball’s beginnings in Columbus.

Columbus and Thurber expert Jim Tootle spoke about Thurber’s time at Ohio State University and his connections to Columbus.

Doreen Uhas-Sauer of the Columbus Landmarks Foundation shared her love of Columbus architecture and some stories behind famous Columbus buildings.

The speakers gladly answered Columbus questions from attendees.

Picnickers enjoyed our first evening of good friends, good food, and great books.

The U.S. Travel Association recently included the Thurber House Summer Literary Picnic series on their blog, SeeAmerica. Check out the link and see what they had to say about our summer plans!

By Susanne Jaffe, Thurber House Executive Director

Last night we wrapped up our 2012 Winter/Spring Evenings With Authors season with a visit from J. Courtney Sullivan, chatting about her bestseller, Maine – a novel about generations of women visiting a family beach house and dealing with problems both personal and familial. This was the perfect book to lead into our summer season.

Attendees sign up to win a copy of J. Courtney Sullivan’s latest book.

Sullivan spoke about her books, her writing practices, and how she researches the settings of her novels.

Audience members asked many thoughtful questions of Sullivan during the Q&A portion of the program.

Sullivan took the time to chat individually with attendees while signing their books.

This was quite a packed season of author events, including two Special Events, and all of us at Thurber House hope you enjoyed them. We want to say a big THANK YOU for your support. We love bringing the diversity of writers to you and are already starting to consider our Fall line-up.

Finish one season of author events, and just around the corner is another—this time the 27^th season of our Summer Literary Picnics. In years past, the picnics have always spotlighted Ohio authors, but this year, in honor of  the Columbus Bicentennial, all five picnics will focus on Columbus authors. Information about each author can be found on our website. All the picnics—weather angels permitting!—are on the side lawn of the House. Bring quarters for those pesky parking meters along Jefferson!

Our picnics offer the option of ordering a delicious boxed dinner from Party Panache catering, or you can bring your own picnic spread – and you are welcome to bring alcoholic beverages as well. Tickets for dinner and the reading are $30, and tickets for the reading only are $15 (or $5 for children under 12). You can order tickets online here or by calling 614-464-1032 x.11.

The first picnic is Wednesday, June 13 and then June 27, July 11, July 25 and August 8. We can’t wait to see you there!

But wait—there’s more from Thurber House this summer! Also in honor of the bicentennial, Thurber House in partnership with Ohio State University’s Rare Books Libraries will have a special exhibit in the Center, next door to the House. It’s all about Columbus and Thurber: Past and Present with fantastic archival photos and even copies of Thurber’s report cards! It’s free and you can visit anytime but it might be fun to come early to the picnic and take a look before you e

Hard to believe, but Wednesday’s picnic with Bob Hunter is the last event in the summer series! (Seriously, where has the summer gone?!) We’re pleased to announce that Linda Logan and the Columbus Sports Commission will be the hosts for this final picnic.

Hunter is a sports columnist with the Columbus Dispatch and author of Chic, the untold story of the unassuming schoolboy, Chic Harley, who laid the groundwork for Ohio stadium. It is also the story of the building of America’s greatest athletic institution, the OSU program. A Dispatch sports columnist since 1993, Hunter’s popular Friday “Rumblings” column has been a paper mainstay since 1997. He also has a blog called The Daily Hunter.

It’s not too late to get your tickets for the reading. Purchase them online at
http://www.thurberhouse.org or call (614)-464-1032. Hope you can join us August 3rd at 6:15 for the reading and discussion.

Summer is in full swing and so is our Summer Picnic series! We hope you’ll join us on Wednesday for the third annual New Voices picnic– an evening of literary and musical pieces from some of Ohio’s up-and-coming talent.

Students with ProMusica Chamber Orchestra will perform before the readings. Pictured from left to right is Paige Sibeveih, Alina Wungsirivesh, Jason Ng.

As an added bonus, we excited to collaborate with ProMusica Chamber Orchestra who will kick off the evening with a performance by a string quartet comprised of Hilliard Davidson High School students from ProMusica’s Student Advisory Board, and participants in the Musicians in the Schools program. The students will play Presto from Mozart’s String Quartet No. 4 in C Major as well as a few short duets.

The event will also feature the following emerging Ohio authors: Amanda Flower debuting her novel Maid of Murder; Ellen Waddell presenting from her book of essays, She Said, Looking Forward; and Lee Kravitz sharing a novel based on a year of his life called Unfinished Business.

The picnic begins at 6:15 pm on the Thurber House lawn. Tours of the house are available before and after dinner. Tickets are $15 for the reading. You’re welcome to bring some snacks and beverages. For more information about the New Voices Picnic and to purchase tickets, click here or call 614-464-1032.

We hope to see you there!

This summer seems to be flying by … probably because we’re having so much fun with our annual programming! Things will continue to heat up through July, with a Special Summer Event and two more picnics in our annual Summer Literary Picnic series.

Special Summer Event with Tess Gerritsen

On July 12^th, Thurber House will host international bestselling author Tess Gerritson, whose brand new novel, The Silent Girl, will hit bookstores just days before she comes to Columbus. The Silent Girl is the latest installment in Gerritsen’s popular suspense series featuring Detective Rizzoli and medical examiner Isles. The books have been translated into 37 languages and have sold 20 million copies worldwide. Plus, the TNT-TV series based on the books, Rizzoli and Isles, just entered its second season. The Silent Girl is sure to follow in Gerritsen’s bestselling tradition.

The special event begins at 7 p.m. at the Canzani Center Auditorium at the Columbus College of Art and Design. Tickets for this event are $15 in advance and $18 at the door. Visit http://www.thurberhouse.org/tess-gerritsen.html for more details and ticket information.

Summer Picnic Series

In the third event of this year’s Summer Picnic Series, Leah Stewart will make her way to Thurber House on July 6^thto read from and discuss her newest novel, Husband and Wife. A happily married mother of two children, Sarah Price’s world gets turned upside down when she finds out that her husband has been unfaithful.

Next, the New Voices picnic takes place on July 20th. This picnic will celebrate three emerging Ohio authors: novelist Amanda Flower, essayist, and former Thurber House young docent, Ellen Waddell, and non-fiction writer Lee Kravitz.

Flower’s novel, Maid of Murder, was nominated for a 2010 Agatha Award for Best First Novel, and tells the story of a college librarian in Ohio who must hunt down the person who murdered her childhood friend and framed her brother for the crime. Waddell, who just graduated from New Albany High School and will be entering John Hopkins University in the fall, will read from her senior project, a published book of essays entitled, She Said, Looking Forward. Lee Kravitz, from Cleveland, will finish up the evening discussing his first book, Unfinished Business, which records an entire year doing the most important things in his life and reconnecting with those close to him.

Both picnics begin at 6:15 pm and takes place on the Thurber House lawn, with tours available before and after dinner. Tickets are $15 for the reading only or $25 for both dinner and the reading. More details and ticket information can be found at http://www.thurberhouse.org/2011-season.html.

Will we see you there?

This annual tradition continues as a part of the 2011 Thurber House Summer Literary Picnic Series.  Local authors, of any age, are invited to submit entries to the Thurber Treat writing contest. For this year’s contest, pick one of the following cartoons, create a caption for that particular cartoon and then elaborate on the caption with a fun story (limited to 1000 words).  Entries must be submitted to Thurber House no later than Friday, May 27 by 5:00 p.m.  If mailing, envelope must be postmarked by Friday, May 27.

The three winning authors will be guests of Thurber House for dinner at the Wednesday, June 8 Literary Picnic, and will read their sage or silly entries.

Take a look at the three cartoons below and then click here to head on over to the Thurber House website to read up on the full rules and download bigger versions of the cartoons.

“Ingeniously plotted and executed, Print the Legend is an epic masterpiece from Craig McDonald. Beginning to end, I was riveted by this story of character, history and intrigue.”

–Michael Connelly

Mystery, murder and an FBI conspiracy surround the next Summer Literary Picnic, when Edgar nominated author Craig McDonald comes to Thurber House on Wednesday, July 28 to read from his latest Hector Lassiter mystery, Print the Legend.

Print the Legend takes place four years after Ernest Hemingway’s death, where Hector Lassiter, Hemingway’s oldest and best friend, arrives in Idaho to meet with the widow Mary Hemingway. Lassiter is interested in the mystery surrounding Hemingway’s lost manuscripts. But Lassiter is not the only one interested in meeting with the widow. Professor Richard Paulsen has arranged a meeting with Mary under the guise of writing her biography, but is secretly trying to prove that she murdered Hemingway.  While Lassiter is searching for the manuscripts, he uncovers a conspiracy linked to J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI. The characters converge at the famed Topping House where secrets unfold, and conspiracies are revealed.

Craig McDonald is an award-winning journalist and crime writer. Print the Legend is the third novel in his Hector Lassiter mystery series, which also includes Head Games and Toros & Torsos. McDonald has also written Art in the Blood and Rogue Males, which are compilations of his interviews with other crime novelists including Michael Connelly, Lee Child, Elmore Leonard, and James Ellroy.

Dinner for the evening from Party Panache is a teriyaki chicken breast with provolone cheese on a fresh sesame roll, an Asian broccoli salad, and raspberry almond bars. A vegetarian option is available and must be requested when dinner is ordered. Dinner must be ordered by 4:00 p.m. Monday, July 26.

Don’t forget to bring your lawn chair, blanket, wine or other favorite beverage, and enjoy an evening of fun and friends. For more information on the full Literary Picnic season schedule, menus and to order tickets, visit our website or call (614) 464-1032, ext 11.

Thurber House is pleased to bring you a global pandemic, the contemplation of nature, and an insider’s look at foster care living…ON THE PAGE THAT IS! On Wednesday, July 14, our popular New Voices picnic makes a triumphant return with three new emerging writers of fiction, poetry, and creative non-fiction. Carla Buckley’s novel will infect you, Sarah Gridley’s poetry will relax you, and Paula McLain’s memoir will inspire you.

Carla Buckley will read from her debut novel, The Things that Keep us Here, a chilling look at what could happen when a virulent pandemic hits the United States. A unique strain of the avian flu has crossed the ocean, and its killing one out of every four people it touches. As her town goes on lockdown, Ann Brooks is forced to answer the unsettling question “How far would you go to protect your family?” Using her home city of Columbus as a backdrop, Buckley tells the story of how one family struggles to survive facing unimaginable horror.

Sarah Gridley structures her books of poetry around emblems. Her first book, Weather Eye Opener, was arranged around a windmill. Her latest book, Green is the Orator uses the emblems of Osiris–the Egyptian god of the afterlife, veils and the Oratrix.  Her poems have appeared in numerous print and online journals, including Crazyhorse, jubilat, New American Poetry and Slope. She currently teaches at Case Western Reserve University.

After both parents abandoned her, Paula McLain became a ward of the California Court System with her sisters. In her memoir, Like Family: Growing Up in Other People’s Houses, McLain describes how she and her sisters were shuttled from foster home to foster home captures the loneliness, uncertainty and odd pleasures that are the very nature of adolescence. McLain teaches at John Carroll University.

Dinner for the evening from Party Panache is an Italian club sandwich with Cappicola ham, pepperoni, salami provolone cheese and pesto on petit rolls, a ranch pasta salad, and gourmet cookies. (Vegetarian option available.) Dinner must be ordered by 4:00 p.m. Monday, July 12.

Don’t forget to bring your lawn chair, blanket, wine or other favorite beverage, and enjoy an evening of fun and friends. For more information on the full Literary Picnic author schedule, menus and to order tickets, visit our website or call (614) 464-1032, ext 11.

Join us for great food, great friends, and great authors at the 2010 Summer Literary Picnics!

The picnics are on every other Wednesday on the Thurber House lawn. Picnic dinners are served at 6:15 p.m. and the readings start at 7:00 p.m. Come early for special tours of Thurber House by our Young Docents, which start at 5:20 p.m!

Here’s the schedule:

• June 14: A Thurber Treat, hosted by Cheri Mitchell, Executive Director, BalletMet
• June 30: Carrie Bebris, The Intrigue at Highbury (or Emma’s Match)
• July 14: New Voices: Carla Buckley, Sarah Gridley, and Paula McLain*
• July 28: Craig McDonald, Print the Legend
• August 11: Sharon Davies, Rising Road: A True Tale of Love, Race, and Religion in America

Pat Baker at Party Panache caters our Picnics. If you’re interested in the catered dinner, please call: (614) 464-1032, Ext 11 by 4 o’clock the Monday before each picnic. You are also welcome to bring your own dinner.

In case of rain, join us at State Auto Insurance, 518 E. Broad Street. *The New Voices rain site is the Thurber Center.

Bring your lawn chair, blanket, wine or other favorite beverage, and enjoy an evening of fun and friends. For more information on the full Literary Picnic author schedule and dinners, visit our website or call (614) 464-1032, ext 11.