Book Signing
First Taste Preview Dinner with Ruth Reichl – Monday October 26
Supper Restaurant, 926 South Street
6-9 pm
Food & Drink, Reading/Presentation, Book Signing
This event is sold out. Based on your interest in this event, you may also enjoy Edible World: Foobooz Burger Cruise, America Eats, and The Girl From Foreign
Gourmet Magazine editor-in-chief Ruth Reichl is the guest of honor at a sumptuous four-course dinner at highly-praised Supper restaurant–and you’re invited! You’ll sample fresh and local food prepared by chef Mitch Prensky, who offers his own take on recipes from the new Gourmet Now cookbook. As you drink and dine on fine cuisine, you’ll hear about Reichl’s fascinating life and get a “first taste” of the 2009 First Person Festival from one of the artists seated at your table. This palate-pleasing preview fills up fast, so purchase early!
Food & Drink, Reading/Presentation, Book Signing In advance: $20 (First Person Arts members) / $25 (general public) – $25/$30 after 10/25 Chitlin Feasts. Fish Fries. Box Supper Socials. Food rituals bring people together — especially in hard times. Resurrecting a Depression-era writers’ project that dispatched writers across America to document the roots of American regional cuisine, renowned food writer Pat Willard re-traced the steps of writers like Eudora Welty and Ralph Ellison to discover how those traditions are being carried forward today. Willard will serve up stories as they are meant to be heard — over a full plate at a family-style buffet from Jack’s Firehouse. Space for this event is limited, so purchase tickets early. Concert, presentation, Q&A, book signing, CD signing In advance: $20 (First Person Arts members) / $25 (general public) – $25/$30 after 10/25 Buy Tickets The songs of Woody Guthrie became the soundtrack for one of the most tumultuous periods in American history — times that were never more relevant than they are right now. Guthrie’s granddaughter Sara Lee Guthrie and her husband Johnny Irion, along with the storytelling folk duo Kim and Reggie Harris, present a concert of songs that inspired and empowered common folk through the hardest of times. Conversations with historian Julia Foulkes and author/scholar Morris Dickstein (Dancing in the Dark: A Cultural History of the Great Depression), and a multimedia presentation including photos and readings from first-person narratives, brings to life the rich documentary culture that came of age during the 1930’s. Hosted by Gene Shay. Screening and Q&A (Philadelphia premiere) In advance: $12 (First Person Arts members) / $15 (general public) – $15/$20 after 10/25 Lie with a straight face. That’s how you get away with posing as a top executive, manipulating the media, and fabricating announcements to force corporations to correct misdeeds, say the Yes Men. Andy Bichlbaum and Mike Bonanno (aka the Yes Men) are as irreverent about the stunts they pull as they are earnest about righting cultural wrongs. Brainstorm with them about how to effect change right here and now after watching how they do it in “The Yes Men Fix the World.” Presentation In advance: $12 (First Person Arts members) / $15 (general public) – $15/$20 after 10/25 When Brian Raftery first stepped up to the microphone, he had no idea it would be a life-altering event. Despite his terrible voice, he kept on singing. Soon he was traveling the world pursuing an infatuation that grew into a full-blown obsession. Brian will share a few highlights from that journey, then turn over the program to karaoke host Sara Sherr. Bring your posse and get ready to sing your favorite song – and remember, since we’re First Person Arts, we’d love to hear a story about the song you choose to sing! Interview, Q&A, book signing In Advance: $12 (First Person Arts members) / $15 (general public) – $15/$20 after 10/25 Bestselling author, filmmaker and journalist Mark Bowden, “a master of narrative journalism,” (The New York Times Book Review) sits down with Dan Sipe to discuss his life’s work as a creator of spellbinding stories about epic events. Go behind the scenes with Bowden as he investigates a high-profile news story and learn how he transforms it into a thrilling narrative. Panel discussion, Q&A, book signing In advance: $12 (First Person Arts members) / $15 (general public) – $15/$20 after 10/25 Ben Yagoda knows memoir. He has spent years exploring its history and analyzing its many different forms. A.J. Jacobs writes memoir — hilarious stories about unusual “experiments in living” that he undertakes. Rachel Simon takes on big personal challenges, then writes about what they teach her about life. Laurie Sandell writes and draws her stories. Her first graphic memoir about her difficult upbringing was published this year. Yagoda leads a conversation with the three authors, who will read excerpts from their recent releases, discuss their approaches to writing memoir, and talk about why and how they do what they do. A.J. Jacobs is the New York Times bestselling author of The Know-It-All and The Year of Living Biblically. Ben Yagoda has been an editor/writer at New Jersey Monthly and Philadelphia Magazine, movie critic at the Philadelphia Daily News, and has written for Slate and Esquire.
Rachel Simon is best known for her critically acclaimed, bestselling memoir Riding The Bus With My Sister, which was adapted as a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie. Presentation, Q&A, Book signing In advance: $12 (First Person Arts members) / $15 (general public) – $15/$20 after 10/25 Rita Mae Brown dedicated her newly-released memoir, Animal Magnetism, “to those who have been saved by an animal and who saved one in return.” Is this you? If so, come be part of the conversation when Ms. Brown makes a special appearance at the Festival to share the love and lessons she has learned through her lifelong relationship with animals.
Presentation, film screening, book signing FREE Payphones. Rolodexes. Cursive writing. The dustbin of modern history is overflowing with “once-common things passing us by.” Anna Jane Grossman joins us at the Festival to reminisce about the good old ways, documented in her quirky new encyclopedia, Obsolete. She shares program with Cecilia Smith, who screens her short documentary “The Art of Fine Whining” – about the Philadelphia Complaint Choir that premiered at 2008 Festival and lives on in cyberspace.
Presentation, Q&A, book signing In advance: $12 (First Person Arts members) / $15 (general public) – $15/$20 after 10/25 A.J. Jacobs, 40 year-old male journalist and author, posed nude, outsourced his life, mastered online dating and became a slave to his wife — all in the name of a day’s work. In a reading from his book of essays, he takes you through his hilarious adventures as a human guinea pig. Hear about his forays into the other personas, and (if you’re game to be a guinea pig yourself) volunteer for an experiment he devised for you. In advance: $20 (First Person Arts members) / $25 (general public) – $25/$30 after 10/25 Presentation, film screening, Q&A, book signing, lunch, concert Sadia Shepard, daughter of a Christian/American father and Muslim/Pakistani mother, understood the complexities of a multi-cultural household. What made her melting pot overflow was the discovery that her grandmother had been born Jewish. Compelled to reclaim her roots, she travelled to India to discover the history of the Jews of India, believed to be descendents of the lost tribes of Israel. She brings this journey to life in her memoir The Girl from Foreign and her film In Search of the Bene Israel, which she presents at the festival. Music by the Lenny Seidman Tabla Choir and a buffet by Ekta Indian Restaurant evoke the tastes and sounds of her unusual history. Presentation, Book signing and Q&A In advance: $12 (First Person Arts members) / $15 (general public) – $15/$20 after 10/25 In a staged reading based on his book Sweet Tea, performance artist and author E. Patrick Johnson gives voice to a group that has been politely concealed: gay, black men born, raised, and living in the South. The narratives he brings to life are based on interviews with men of different generations, showing how they navigate “good old” southern customs to legitimate themselves as members of southern and black cultures.
America Eats – Wednesday, November 4
6-7:30 pm
Songs for Any Depression –
Wednesday, November 4
8-10 pm
How to Fix the World – Thursday, November 5
8:30-10:30 pm
Karaoke-Obsessed – Friday, November 6
9-11:00 pm
Life/Story – Saturday, November 7
12:30-1:30 pm
Inside the Writer’s Notebook – Saturday, November 7
2-3:30 pm
Animal Magnetism – Saturday, November 7
4-5 pm
Obsolete and Whining – Saturday, November 7
5:30-6:30 pm
The Guinea Pig Diaries –
Saturday, November 7
7-8:30 pm
The Girl From Foreign – Sunday, November 8
Noon-2 pm
Sweet Tea – Sunday, November 8
6:00-7:00PM
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