Announcing the 2016 Author Series

The 2016 Martha’s Vineyard Author Lecture Series brings to Chilmark this summer some of the country’s most acclaimed authors for talks on leading issues of the day and on great literature. The series of evening lectures, readings and discussions runs throughout the summer.

With seven evening events, a closing panel discussion and an extraordinary line up of authors, this series promises to offer something for book lovers of all genres and tastes. Carly Simon’s life and career is one of the few great untold stories of popular music. In Chilmark on August 4, on the island she calls home, Carly will discuss her long-awaited memoir, Boys in the Trees. Another local hero, Pulitzer Prize winner Geraldine Brooks will open the series on July 21 with her absorbing new novel on the life of King David, The Secret Chord. One of America’s most compelling and compassionate novelists, Richard Russo will discuss his just released and brilliantly reviewed novel Everybody’s Fool.

When Harvard sociologist and MacArthur fellow, Matthew Desmond’s piece on housing and poverty in the American city appeared in The New Yorker in February, it was a game changer on deepening understanding of what it means to be poor in America. Evicted, his landmark work that he will discuss here on July 24, will forever change the way we think about poverty. On August 7, journalist and professor Margo Jefferson will discuss Negroland, her award-winning memoir on the complexities and alienation of growing up upper class and Black in America. Beloved NPR radio host Diane Rehm comes to Chilmark on August 11 to share her memoir On My Own. And in the political season, we conclude the series on August 14 with The New Yorker writer Jane Mayer examining the origins, rise and dominance of the influence of money in conservative politics in her NY Times bestselling book, Dark Money.

Series Sponsorship Tickets Now Available -- By becoming a sponsor of the MV Author Series, patrons never have to worry about missing one of the events because tickets are sold out, they avoid lines for seats, tickets and books, and ensure that they get the best seats to all the events, all while supporting the Author Series and Book Festival. Sponsorship tickets are $700 and include 2 VIP tickets to all 7 series discussions, an autographed copy of all 7 books in the series, 2 VIP tickets to the closing panel discussion and reserved front row seating to all events. It is a great investment in ensuring intellectual stimulation this summer! Details are at www.mvbookfestival.com/2016-sponsor.

Individual ticket sales will begin online in June through www.bpt.me. Ticket prices that include purchase of the book provide a significant discount on the admissions price.

Event and Book Details

Authors' books will be available for sale at all events by Bunch of Grapes. Authors will sign their books at each event, but will only sign books purchased through the event. All programs, except the Closing Panel, are held at the Chilmark Community Center beginning at 7:30 pm.

Visit mvbookfestival.com/authorseries/ for further information.

The Program

Thursday, July 21, 7:30 pm
Geraldine Brooks, The Secret Chord
Pulitzer Prize winning novelist Geraldine Brooks discusses her absorbing novel about the life of King David. Brooks has an uncanny ability to hear and transform characters from history, and this beautifully written unvarnished saga of faith, desire, family, ambition, betrayal, and power will enthrall her many fans.

Sunday, July 24, 7:30 pm
Matthew Desmond, Evicted
Harvard sociologist and MacArthur "Genius," Matthew Desmond discusses his acclaimed and heartbreaking book Evicted, a landmark work on the housing crisis affecting the poor in America.

Thursday, July 28, 7:30 pm
Richard Russo, Everybody's Fool
One of America’s most compelling and compassionate storytellers, Richard Russo discusses his eagerly awaited new novel, Everybody's Fool. Russo is author of the Pulitzer Prize winning, Empire Falls, and That Old Cape Magic and Bridge of Sighs.

Thursday, August 4, 7:30 pm
Carly Simon, Boys in the Trees
Music legend Carly Simon discusses her acclaimed memoir Boys in the Trees. Simon insightfully recalls a childhood enriched by music and culture, but also one shrouded in secrets as well as her meteoric career, her relationships, her marriage to James Taylor and her enchantment with Martha's Vineyard. WMVY Radio host Barbara Dacey interviews Carly Simon.

Sunday, August 7, 7:30 pm
Margo Jefferson, Negroland: A Memoir
Margo Jefferson discusses her bestselling memoir on race, sex, and American culture through the prism of her rarefied upbringing and education among a Black elite in Chicago. Winner of the 2015 National Book Critics Circle Award for Autobiography.

Thursday, August 11, 7:30 pm
Diane Rehm, On My Own
Beloved NPR radio host Diane Rehm discusses her deeply personal and moving book, On My Own, examining the death of her husband of fifty-four years and of her struggle to reconstruct her life without him.

Sunday, August 14, 7:30 pm
Jane Mayer, Dark Money
New Yorker writer Jane Mayer examines the origins, rise and dominance of the influence on money in conservative politics. Dark Money is an essential book in understanding politics today. Pulitzer Prize winner Tony Horwitz interviews Jane Mayer.

Sunday, August 14, Farm Neck Golf Club, 11:00 am
Closing Panel Discussion and Light Brunch
The 2016 Election and the Future of Party Politics
Political journalists discuss the tumultuous election year and what it portends for the two parties. Sponsored with the Vineyard Gazette.

About the MV Author Series: Presented by the Chilmark Community Center in partnership with Vineyard Gazette and Bunch of Grapes Bookstore, the series is held every other summer. The alternate summers feature the Martha’s Vineyard Book Festival. Additional sponsors include WBUR-FM, Cape Air and Harbor View Hotel. The 2016 MV Author Series also received grant funding from the Permanent Endowment for Martha’s Vineyard. For series details go to www.mvbookfestival.com