Friday, January 21, 7pm – Non-Fiction

Tad Daley author of Apocalypse Never: Forging the Path to a Nuclear Weapon-Free World ($24.95 Rutgers University Press)

Tad Daley, J.D., Ph.D., is a writing Fellow with the Nobel Laureate group, International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, and a former speech writer for US Senator Alan Cranston and Congressman Dennis Kucinich. Mr. Dalesy will give a lecture, followed by Q & A, about nuclear weapons in the US, Iran, Pakistan, North Korea, the new START treaty and his vision for a nuclear-free world.

Saturday, December 11, 5pm – Non-Fiction

Thabiti Lewis author of Ballers of the New School: Racism and Sports in American Culture ($17.95 Third World Press)

Thabiti Lewis teaches English and Black Studies at Washington State University Vancouver. The former editor, radio show host, columnist, and freelance writer for The Source. The St. Louis American and News One lectures on topics ranging from images of African Americans in popular culture (sports and hip hop) to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the responsibility of youth. His forthcoming book Ballers of the New School: Race and Sports in America challenges to alter the landscape of race and sport culture.

Thabiti Lewis is an emerging, fresh, studied voice. Dr. Lewis has been sought to do lecture[s] at Vancouver University, Princeton University, University of Virginia, Lenoir-Rhyne, Evergreen State University, and Northern Arizona University, among others. He has served as a community member on the editorial board of The Statesman Journal newspaper. His work has also appeared in anthologies, journals, and newspapers such as Mosaic Literary Magazine, Oregon Humanities, and The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, AmeriQuests and book chapters.

In addition to teaching courses about African American literature and culture he teaches courses on hip-hop and film, black masculinity, and race and sport in America.

Dr. Lewis’s forthcoming book, Ballers of the New School: Race and Sports in America challenges the notion that sports culture has been a pioneer for racial progress. He contends that American sport has not contributed to racial progress as much as it is mythologized to have done. This is more media spin than truth, he contends; a figment of imagination aided by a modern technology armed with 24hour sports reporting, unlimited sports television channels, and a culture that cultivates anti-intellectualism.

Saturday, December 11, 7pm – Fiction

Valya Dudycz Lupescu author of The Silence of Trees ($14.99 Wolfsword Press)

“In The Silence of Trees, Nadya, the astonishing matriarch, war survivor, and narrator, weaves a remarkable life centered on fate, love, luck and choice while honoring the ghosts of her past. Her voice is an important and unforgettable addition to the post-war immigrant experience in this highly impressive and exquisite debut by novelist Valya Dudycz Lupescu.” –Irene Zabytko, author of The Sky Unwashed and When Luba Leaves Home
“Valya Dudycz Lupescu presents us an impressive novel debut with The Silence of Trees, in which she conjures a captivating story of the heroine, Nadya, across more than fifty years of secrets, truths, tales told and untold, quiet sacrifices, as well as memories of a difficult personal history she left behind in Central Europe. While letting go of her ghosts during her final years, she came closer to what was painfully lost to her and her people, even closer to the many small measures of happiness awaiting her . . . Will she embrace a present that renews and honors a heavy past? Like an enchanting tapestry of Ukrainian magic and folkloric images, this is a thoughtful and beautiful work.” Fiona Sze-Lorrain author of Water the Moon
“Lupescu weaves a magical tale in two senses: first, from the perspective of the craft of writing and, second, from that of sheer entertaining storytelling. It is the rare book that can bring the reader into the mystical side of folk religion without engaging the fantastical. Lupescu has done so. She has given us a window onto Ukrainian folk traditions that elegantly reveals the complexity of spirituality as it intertwines with politics, economics, folk traditions and formal or institutional religion. The story is captivating. The holocaust and the attempted demolition of the Ukrainian people is not an easy subject but Lupescu deftly frames her contemporary story against those shadow times without losing sight of the hopefulness, the determination and the spiritual faith of the survivors evidenced in their struggle to sustain their culture in America. This is a story that may make one laugh and cry, but, in the end, inspires readers to remember there are many ways of “knowing” and many perspectives on the notion of truth.” Monica M. Emerich, Ph.D. President, Groundwork Research & Communications Associate Researcher, Center for Media, Religion and Culture, University of Colorado, Boulder