'Shakes-Beer' Festival Among November Events At Pequot Library

Information from Pequot Library:

FAIRFIELD, CT — Pequot Library is eagerly preparing for a robust lineup of November programs, most of which are free and open to the public. Highlights include the November 4 Shakes-BEER Festival, which begins at 4:00 p.m. This fundraiser features Elizabethan music, libations from local breweries, and snacks from Super Duper Weenie. Also of note, bestselling author Fiona Davis returns to the library on November 18 at 3:00 p.m. She’ll promote her new novel, The Spectacular, a look inside the hallowed halls of Radio City Music Hall. A ticketed meet-and-greet follows at 4:30 p.m. Finally, don’t miss the Black Friday/Saturday Book Sale on November 24 and 25. Read on for details about these programs and much more.

Tune in for Hollywood, Home, Heart, and Healing: A Virtual Conversation with Actor John Stamos on November 1 at 8:00 p.m. Join us for an intimate chat with Full House star John Stamos as he leads us through his incredibly moving and vulnerable memoir, If You Would Have Told Me. This talk is produced in partnership with the Library Speakers Consortium.

On November 4 at 2:00 p.m., bring a four-footed friend and join writer Denis O’Neill and illustrator Cy Quadland outside the library for a reading and discussion of their new picture
book, Bradford’s Walk, a story in verse about an energetic dog’s daily walk through Westport.
The first ten families to register will receive free copies of the book.

Also on November 4, at 4:00 p.m., celebrate the works of Shakespeare at Pequot Library’s Shakes-Beer Festival. Join area breweries to raise a glass to the Bard of Avon and sample delicious local light bites. Entertainment will be provided throughout the event from Richard Pitssinger, a Juilliard-trained opera singer who has received positive reviews from the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, as well as Gwendolyn Toth, the artistic director of New York City’s ARTEK, who is recognized as one of the nation’s leading early music performers. Tickets cost $75 and include three drink tickets as well as food provided by Super Duper Weenie. This program is produced in conjunction with the library’s latest exhibition, How William Became
Shakespeare: Four Hundred Years of the First Folio, on view through February 10, 2024. Tickets
are available at: https://www.pequotlibrary.org/event/shakes-beer-festival/.

On November 7 at 2:00 p.m., powerhouse Tiffany “The Budgetnista” Aliche joins the library for a virtual talk produced in partnership with the Library Speakers Consortium. Aliche’s New York Times bestseller, Get Good with Money introduced the powerful concept of building wealth through financial wholeness: a realistic, achievable, and energizing alternative to get-rich-quick and over-complicated money management systems.

Children in grades 3 to 5 can learn how to write with a quill pen on November 8 at 4:30 p.m. Trim feathers into quills and dip them into ink to write on parchment. Like the Shakes-beer Festival, this program is produced in conjunction with the library’s latest exhibition, How William Became Shakespeare: Four Hundred Years of the First Folio, on view through February 10, 2024. Another related program comes on November 11 at 2:00 p.m. Using the First Folio edition of Macbeth, Geoffrey Sheehan, Co-founder and Artistic Associate of Capital Classics Theatre Company, and his fellow Shakespeare performers Marie R. Altenor, Sam Lundstorm, and Laura Sheehan, will present a demonstration of the clues found in Shakespeare’s Folio text that reveal the character’s very human thinking, passions, and actions. They’ll speak about how to create dynamic performances of Shakespeare’s works.

Next up, on November 16 at 4:00 p.m., watch Why She Writes – An Afternoon Chat with Joy
Harjo, Internationally Renowned Performer, Writer and Poet of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. The U.S. Poet Laureate and winner of the 2022 Academy of American Poets Leadership Award, Harjo chats about her most recent memoir, Catching the Light, and discusses her rewarding lifetime as a writer and poet.

Also on November 16 at 6:00 p.m., Pequot Library hosts a talk by Patricia Wareh, Ph.D., associate professor of English at Union College, who will read from her forthcoming book on Shakespeare’s 17th-century readers and emerging ideas on the importance of courtesy, racial difference, and religious identity. This program is presented with generous support from the Bennett Center for Judaic Studies at Fairfield University. All ages are welcome.

On November 18 at 11:00 a.m., the library presents an interactive Shakespeare-inspired marionette show followed by a puppet-making craft. Children (grades K to 3) and adults will enjoy the zany retelling of a Shakespearean story told through modern language sprinkled with the original text.

That same day, November 18, at 3:00 p.m., Pequot Library is thrilled to welcome New York Times bestselling author Fiona Davis back to the library’s stage. She will be promoting her new
novel, The Spectacular, a look inside the hallowed halls of Radio City Music Hall. This program
is free and open to the public. An exclusive ticketed reception follows the program starting at 4:30 p.m.

The popular Black Friday/Saturday Book Sale arrives on November 24 and 15 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Start your holiday shopping at the annual Black Friday/Saturday Book Sale. Enjoy a
selection of thousands of books and media items in “like new” and “gently used” condition, ideal for gift-giving. Admission is free and all items are priced as marked. All sale proceeds support Pequot Library’s annual programs for adults and children, exhibitions, and library services, serving over 45,000 participants a year.

Tune in on November 30 at 3:00 p.m. for a chat with bestselling and award-winning author, Naomi Alderman, who’ll talk about her new book, The Future. This new novel delivers a
dazzling tour de force where a handful of friends plot a daring heist to save the world from the tech giants whose greed threatens life as we know it.

On November 30 at 5:00 p.m., gather at Pequot Library for a screening of the November 16 Library Speakers Consortium discussion with acclaimed U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo. Afterward, join area poets, including Westport’s Poet Laureate Jessie McEntee, Pequot Library’s marketing associate, for a workshop inspired by Harjo’s words and wisdom.