Mind the Gap: Rereading the Classics — A Literature Class
If you go for a ride on the “tube” (the London Underground), you’ll hear a recording telling you to “mind the gap” as the doors are closing. I’ve always loved that phrase! Here I use it not to warn you about train safety, but to address a different gap: the missing books in our education. There are so many classic books we always meant to read but never got around to. Or maybe we just didn’t read them quite as attentively as we might have when they were assigned in high school or college. Now is the time to revisit them and, this time, to really appreciate them! “Mind the Gap” is an ongoing series in which we’ll return to and reconsider a variety of literary classics and learn why these books live on and are as fresh and meaningful as when they were first published. We’ll also experience the pleasure of finding new meaning in an old work, a book we are reading now at a different time in our lives, with different experiences behind us which lead to new insights. The class will be led by Lynn Rosen, an experienced teacher, editor, and publishing expert. Lynn holds a Master of Arts in English and Comparative Literature from Columbia University, and an Honors Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from the University of Pennsylvania. She has taught writing and publishing at Drexel University, Temple University, and the University of Pennsylvania, and she previously ran the Graduate Publishing Program at Rosemont College. Lynn has spent much of her career in the New York publishing world working as an editor for Random House and other publishing houses, and running her own literary agency for eight years. She is the author of several books, including Elements of the Table: A Simple Guide for Hosts and Guests. She and her husband Evan Schwartz own and run the indie Open Book Bookstore in Elkins Park, PA. Lynn also runs the Open Book program of book discussion classes and author events, which includes the popular class “Hot Off the Press.” Each class meeting will focus on one author and one significant work by that author. Class will open with an introduction by Lynn Rosen in which she will provide a brief biography of the author’s life and an overview of their body of work. Lynn will touch on critical opinion and analysis of the author’s work and look at the overall impact of their life and work. Following this, the class will join Lynn in a discussion of the particular book selection. Class participants are asked to read the selected book to prepare for...
Local Authors are Guest Booksellers on Small Business Saturday November 28th
The Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend, November 28th, is Small Business Saturday. On this day, many indie bookstores invite authors to be guest booksellers. It’s fun for customers to come in and find the authors working in the store! Come meet some of the authors who live in our community as they take a shift guest bookselling at Open Book Bookstore on 11/28. Here’s the schedule: 11am to Noon: Daniel Sean Kaye, author of Never Underestimate a Hermit Crab Noon to 1pm: Jon McGoran, author he author of six novels, including the biotech thrillers Drift and Deadout 1pm to 2pm: Andy Schloss, author of cookbooks too numerous to mention here! 2pm to 3pm: Stephanie Feldman, author of the novel The Angel of Losses 3pm to 4pm: Karen Toz, author of many middle grade books, including Nate Rocks, and a novel for adults 4pm to 5pm: Christine Weiser, author of Broad Street and co-founder of Philadelphia Stories magazine Shop indie, shop local! Oh, and did we mention...
Cheltenham High School Vocal Arts Coffee House
Enjoy a variety of musical performances by members of Cheltenham High School’s fabulous music program! DATE: Friday, December 4th TIME: 7pm to 9pm PLACE: Open Book Bookstore, 7900 High School Rd., Elkins Park, PA 19027 Come hear some talented Cheltenham High School Vocal Arts students perform and, while you do, support them as they fundraise for a school trip to travel to Puerto Rico, where they will meet and perform with local...
Chat with the Chefs about their favorite cookbooks!
Join three local chefs and find out which cookbooks they use and rely on, and which ones they recommend for home chefs. In this season of both gift-giving and heavy-duty cooking, find out which cookbooks, new and old, are worth investing in. DATE: Tuesday, December 1st TIME: 6pm MEET THE CHEFS Owen Lee, Chef and Co-owner of Park Plates Aliza Green, author and chef‐manager of Baba Olga’s Café & Supper Club Andy Schloss, author and chef Aliza Green is a chef and food industry consultant. She has written 13 cookbooks, including a James Beard Award winner and four for Quarry Books: MakingArtisan Pasta, Soupmaker’s Kitchen, Fishmonger’s Apprentice, and Butcher’s Apprentice.Making Artisan Pasta was named by Cooking Light as one of their Top 100 Cookbooks ofthe Last 25 years. She is also the chef‐manager of Baba Olga’s Cafe & Supper Club inPhiladelphia, which marries global flavor with locally sourced, sustainably harvestedingredients. Andrew Schloss is a prolific teacher and author known by his readers and students for his inventive recipes and an ability to explain technical aspects of cooking in entertaining, understandable terms. He is the author of 23 cookbooks including: Mastering the Grill (winner of a World Gourmand Award and a New York Times best-seller) and The Science of Good Food (winner of an IACP Cookbook Award, a James Beard finalist, nominated by Le Cordon Bleu Food Media Awards as Best Food Book in the World), both co-authored with David Joachim; Fifty Ways to Cook Most Everything (a main selection for Book of the Month Home Style Club); Homemade Sodas; One-Pot Cakes; Fire It Up, The Art of the Slow Cooker, Cooking Slow and Homemade Liqueurs & Infused Spirits. Owen Lee is co-owner of Park Plates Restaurant in Elkins Park, PA. He is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, with 30 years’ experience in the food business. A native of Philadelphia, Owen found his passion for cooking at a young age. Through his Cuban ancestry and fluency in Spanish, as well as his travels through the United States, Thailand, Mexico and the Caribbean, Owen developed a keen interest in ethnic cuisines. After graduating from cooking school, he returned to Philadelphia and worked as a chef for various restaurants and catering operations. In addition, he worked as a traveling chef for The Rolling Stones, Neil Diamond, and Olympic gold medalists Brian Boitano and Katarina Witt. In 1992, Owen opened a catering business called “Uncommon Catering” in Philadelphia, arranging both corporate and social events. In 2000 Owen opened Cibucán, a Latin American style tapas restaurant in Philadelphia. Starting in 2004, Owen teamed up with filmmaker Mitchell Smith to produce a TV program about Latin American food, music...
Fiction Writing Class with Hilary Plum
Open Book is thrilled to announce a new fiction writing class taught by local novelist, editor and writing teacher Hilary Plum. This eight-week workshop will offer inspiration, guidance, and community to help you progress as a writer of fiction. In these eight weeks, we’ll undertake a rigorous exploration of all things fiction, while providing the support and structure that writers at all stages require. Each participant should come with a work in progress, whether a short story, a draft of a novel (partial or full), or some pages you don’t know yet how to define: projects of all lengths and genres are welcome, though we ask that you have at least 20 pages already written. At each weekly meeting, we will share and discuss several participants’ work, as well as occasional short additional readings. Our discussion will serve as a means to explore the issues of craft essential to narrative prose: conflict, characterization, dialogue, description, scene and exposition, syntax and style. We’ll ask participants to do a small amount of reading weekly, and please come prepared to try new experiments in writing. If you are working on a nonfiction project and think you might benefit from this workshop, we’d also be happy to hear from you. Click here to register. CLASS DETAILS AND LOGISTICS BELOW! Hilary Plum is the author of the novel They Dragged Them Through the Streets (FC2, 2013). She has worked for a number of years as an editor of international literature, including as co-director of Clockroot Books; currently she co-edits the Open Prose Series at Rescue Press and is a book-review editor with the Kenyon Review. She has taught creative writing and composition in a number of universities and community settings. Recent fiction, nonfiction, and criticism have appeared or are forthcoming in Fence, the Seneca Review, Consequence, the Los Angeles Review of Books, the Massachusetts Review, and elsewhere. www.hilaryplum.com Class will meet on Wednesday evenings from 7 to 9pm on the following dates: September 30 October: 7, 14, 21 November: 4, 11, 18 December 2 (Please note: this series is sequential except we will be skipping October 28th and skipping 11/25, which is the day before Thanksgiving.) Cost: $240 Location: class meets at Open Book Bookstore, 7900 High School Road, Elkins Park, PA 19027 Click here to...