Both Here and There
Enjoy
two authors who have made major contributions to the literature of the
evolution of immigrants into Americans. Gary
Shteyngart was born in Leningrad and now lives in NYC, and
his novel, The Russian Debutante's Handbook, was one of The
Washington Post's and Entertainment Weekly's Best Books of
2002. M. Kakatuni in The New York Times said, "his voice…is thoroughly
his own, by turns ironic and earnest, farcical and melancholy, as attuned
to the exhilarating possibilities of the English language as Martin Amis,
as deadpan funny as the young Evelyn Waugh."
The
large body of work by Helen Barolini
from Hastings-on-Hudson includes seven books, essays that have been cited
in annual editions of Best American Essays, and many short stories.
Her anthology of writings by Italian American women, The Dream Book,
won an American Book Award. Fred Misurella (Christian Science Monitor)
calls her "the dean of Italian American writers," saying that her novel
Umbertina, her book of essays Chiaroscuro, and her recent
story collection More Italian Hours and Other Stories "form a triptych
of Italian American culture evolving through the 20th century."
Suggested Donation: $5 ($3 for members)
The readings at the HVWC are made possible in part by a grant from the Bydale Foundation; the Taft Foundation; and the Thendara Foundation; with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a State Agency, and the National Endowment for the Arts; and by Westchester Arts Council with funds from Westchester County Government, corporations and individuals.