The Associates of the Boston Public Library is pleased to invite you to the 29th Annual Literary Lights awards dinner.
Join the BPL on Sunday, April 23, 2017, at the Boston Park Plaza for a spectacular black tie (optional) evening honoring distinguished authors from the Northeast for their contributions to literature and the written word. The evening begins with a reception at 6:00 PM, followed by dinner and the awards program at 7:00 PM.
The Associates of the Boston Public Library are honored to recognize the following authors as their 2017 Literary Lights:
Presented by: Hentry Louis Gates, Jr.
Appiah is a philosopher, novelist, professor and cultural theorist. He grew up in Ghana and earned a Ph.D. in Philosophy at Cambridge University in London. Professor Appiah has lectured around the world and taught at Princeton, Yale, Cornell, Duke and Harvard Universities before moving to New York University where he now teaches in the Department of Philosophy. In 2009 Forbes Magazine named him one of the world’s most powerful thinkers, in 2010 he was on the list of Foreign Policy Magazine’s top global thinkers, and he was awarded the National Humanitarian Medal at a White House ceremony in 2012. Appiah, the author of numerous books and articles, has traveled around the world giving lectures on multiculturalism, global citizenship, courage, identity, and religion. One of his early books, In My Father’s House, which explores the role of African American intellectuals in shaping contemporary African life, won the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award and the Herskovits Award for the most important scholarly work on African studies published in English. Appiah is well known for his columns and podcasts as the Ethicist for the New York Times.
Presented by: Christopher Lydon
Faludi is a journalist and author who has written extensively on gender issues. In 1991 she was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Journalism for a piece on the leverage buyout of Safeway Stores, focusing on the “human cost of high finance.” After graduating from Harvard University, where she wrote for The Harvard Crimson, she was a contributor to the New Yorker, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, The Nation, as well as many other publications. In the 1980s Faludi wrote several pieces on the feminist movement and the resistance to it, resulting in her 1991 book, Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women, for which she won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction. She went on to write Stiffed: The Betrayal of the American Man, The Terror Dream, and, most recently, The Darkroom, which was inspired by her father’s transsexuality. She was a fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies in the 2008-2009 academic year and a 2013-2014 Tallman Scholar in the Gender and Women’s Studies Program at Bowdoin College.
Presented by: Andre Dubus III
Lamb is the best-selling author of She’s Come Undone, I know This Much is True, The Hour I First Believed, and Wishin’ and Hopin’. His first two books were selected for Oprah’s Book Club, were New York Times best-sellers, New York Times Notable Books of the Year and, between them, have been translated into 18 languages. His latest novel is We Are Water. Lamb has also edited two volumes of essays: Couldn’t Keep it to Myself and I’ll Fly Away, written by students in his writing workshops at a women’s prison in Connecticut. He has taught creative writing in the English department at the University of Connecticut, was founder and director of the Writing Center at Norwich Free Academy, has received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and Connecticut Commission for the Arts, and was honored with the Connecticut Center for the Book’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
Presented by: Gregory Maguire
Selznick graduated from RISD where he studied illustration and, while there, took classes in set design at Brown University. After graduation, he worked at a children’s book store in New York City while writing his debut book, The Houdini Box. In 2008 he won the Caldecott Medal from the American Library Association, for The Invention of Hugo Cabret, the first such award for a book this long; 533 pages with 284 illustrations. The book was adapted into a 2011 film, Hugo, directed by Martin Scorsese. He has also been awarded a 2002 Caldecott Honor for his illustrations of Barbara Kerley’s The Dinosaurs of Waterhorse Hawkins. In addition, Mr. Selznick has received the Texas Bluebonnet Award, the Rhode Island Children’s Book Award and the Christopher Award, given to media which “affirm the highest values of the human spirit.”
Chief Justice Margaret H. Marshall (Keynote Speaker)
Presented by: David Leonard
Marshall was born in South Africa where, as a student, she led the National Union of South African Students, working to end oppressive minority rule and achieve equality for all South Africans. Marshall first came to the US as a high school exchange student in Wilmington, DL in 1962, as the civil rights battles were beginning to boil over, and later returned to the US for graduate school, where she became involved with the anti-war and the women’s movements. After Yale Law School, she entered private practice, became President of the Boston Bar Association, Vice President & General Counsel for Harvard University, and then went on to the State’s Supreme Court, where she became the first female Chief Justice of the oldest continuously serving appellate court in the Western Hemisphere. Though she has had many accomplishments, Justice Marshall is most renowned for her 2003 opinion which led Massachusetts to become the first state in the nation to outlaw the ban on same-sex marriage. Although she loved her time on the bench, Justice Marshall stepped down in 2010. She now mentors young lawyers at her former law firm, Choate Hall & Stewart, and teaches at Harvard University.
In addition to celebrating the accomplishments of these outstanding writers, proceeds from Literary Lights support the David McCullough Conservation Fund, William O. Taylor Art Preservation Fund, Associates Endowment Fund, and the Associates of the Boston Public Library’s operations. The Associates created the McCullough Fund in 2001 to provide a consistent source of funding for the conservation and preservation of books, manuscripts, works of art and historic documents in the BPL’s Special Collections.
If you would prefer to receive a mailed invitation or for more information about sponsorship opportunities, please contact the Associates office at associates@bpl.org or (617) 536-3886. Thank you.
Join Fleming’s Boston for a special cocktail dinner featuring four extraordinary cocktails from A Wicked Fleming’s Dinner. This one-night-only event includes a perfectly prepared four course menu, expertly curated by Sous Chef Poi Ali. Tables are limited, so please reserve yours today.
First Course
Passed Hor D’oeuvres
Savory Apple Flatbread & Seared Ahi Tuna Crostini
Witches Death- Prosecco over Cotton Candy with a Pop Rock Rim
Second Course
Passion Fruit Shrimp
Seared Jumbo Shrimp served with a Passion Fruit Agrodolce Sauce
Land of AHHHS- Malibu Rum Mango Puree lemon juice with a sugared rim
Third Course
Filet and Scallop
Filet over Crispy Potato Pancake garnished Asparagus and a Gorgonzola Cream Sauce paired with Pan Seared Sea Scallops and a Red Pepper Lime Drizzle
Flying Monkey Sangria, Dreaming Tree Merlot Blood Orange Vodka Fruit Juice
Dessert
White Chocolate Mousse
Choice of Good or Evil White Chocolate Mousse
Emerald City- Lemoncello Liqueur
Fleming’s Boston Celebrates New Zealand and California Sauvignon Blanc
Join Fleming’s Boston for a special wine dinner featuring four extraordinary wines from New Zealand & California. This one-night-only event includes a perfectly prepared five course menu, expertly curated by Chef Partner Poi Ali. Tables are limited, so please reserve yours today.
First Course
Popcorn Crab
meyer lemon drizzle, stone fruit compote, pickled radish red onion
VILLA MARIA, Spring Fruit Sangria Marlborough New Zealand, 2015
Second Course
Seared Scallops
frisée, bacon, roasted tomato, lemon-chili vinaigrette
KIM CRAWFORD, Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough New Zealand, 2015
Third Course
Seared Chilean Sea Bass
valencia orange beurre blanc, served aside a butter lettuce bouquet
FROG’S LEAP WINERY, Sauvignon Blanc Rutherford California, 2015
Fourth Course
Iron-Crusted Tenderloin of Beef
duchess potatoes, maître d’hôtel butter
WHITEHAVEN, Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough New Zealand, 2015
Dessert
Passion Fruit Crème Brûlée
topped with fresh berries and chantilly cream
Coffee or Tea
Please call 617-292-0808 to reserve today!
Visit Fleming’s Boston at 217 Stuart Street or by clicking here.
