Q&A
First Taste Preview Dinner with Ruth Reichl – Monday October 26
Supper Restaurant, 926 South Street
6-9 pm
Presentation, book signing, dinner, wine, Festival artists
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! Tour starts at 1 South Broad Street 6-9pm Walking tour, dinner In advance: $45 (First Person Arts members) / $50 (general public) – $50/$55 after 10/25 Philadelphia is known for its gastropub phenomenon–bars serving top notch food and excellent beers in a casual atmosphere. And every gastropub worth its salt needs a good burger. Join Foobooz Editor Art Etchells as we tour Center City, sampling the best burgers and beers from bars and restaurants that have also gotten on board with the burger explosion. Space for this event is extremely limited, so buy your tickets early! Open bar, snacks, appearances by Festival Artists Free for members, $20 general public at door In the spirit of the 1930’s, First Person Arts recreates the electric atmosphere of the prohibition speakeasy. From Wednesday through Saturday, from 5-9pm, the Festival Speakeasy will host an open bar and snacks free for our members in your own private lounge, where you can meet and mingle and share a drink with First Person Arts staff and Festival artists. This special opening-night party features Tub Gin drinks and a delicious spread from Tria Café. The Speakeasy will be opening Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights FREE for members! 6-7:30 pm Presentation, Q&A, dinner, 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. 8-10 pm Concert, presentation, Q&A, book signing, CD signing In advance: $20 (First Person Arts members) / $25 (general public) – $25/$30 after 10/25 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. 6-8 pm Presentations by select memoir and documentary artists In advance: $12 (First Person Arts members) / $15 (general public) – $15/$20 after 10/25 Buy Tickets First Person Arts presents an evening of performances by four of the best emerging artists in the memoir and documentary arts, along with the winners of the “In These Hard Times” national competition! 8:30-10:30 pm 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.” 5-7 pm FREE Reception, exhibition, presentation Our First Friday reception introduces the work of the 14 artists and ten families who collaborated to create Shelter. After Rebuilding Together Philadelphia helped the families restore their homes, the artists documented the stories of the lives within those walls. Meet the artists and the families and learn what shelter means to each of them. Artist Damon Reaves will perform a new work combining that combines audio and physical action. The performance and his drawings reflect conversations about race and identity that he had with the collaborating homeowner, interpreting shelter as “feeling at home in one’s skin” with both its protection and restrictions. Exhibition runs through December 31 7-8:30 pm Presentation In advance: $12 (First Person Arts members) / $15 (general public) – $15/$20 after 10/25 Less than 11 months after setting the world record for a solo trek across Antarctica, Todd Carmichael (founder of La Columbe Coffee) will attempt the first man-haul traverse of Death Valley National Park. After he walks 250 miles through the second-driest place on earth — alone and without assistance, re-supplies, supplemental water or the aid of machine or animal — he comes to the First Person Festival to talk about his daring quests. And after the Festival? A trek across the Namib desert. Don’t miss this exciting conversation with one of the most intrepid adventurers in the world today. 7-8:30 pm Presentation In advance: $12 (First Person Arts members) / $15 (general public) – $15/$20 after 10/25 Less than 11 months after setting the world record for a solo trek across Antarctica, Todd Carmichael (founder of La Columbe Coffee) will attempt the first man-haul traverse of Death Valley National Park. After he walks 250 miles through the second-driest place on earth — alone and without assistance, re-supplies, supplemental water or the aid of machine or animal — he comes to the First Person Festival to talk about his daring quests. And after the Festival? A trek across the Namib desert. Don’t miss this exciting conversation with one of the most intrepid adventurers in the world today. 9 am-Noon Workshops In advance: $20 (First Person Arts members) / $25 (general public) – $25/30 after 10/25 Is your life one for the books? How about the stage or screen? Come with an idea for a personal story you’d like to tell, then spend the morning developing it. First we’ll introduce you to three ways to craft it: in writing, orally, or as a digital story. Then you’ll join one of three workshops, each led by a professional in a different discipline. Whether you attended a previous workshop or are just starting out, our leaders: Lisa Nelson Haynes, August Tarrier, and Tina Devine (all back by popular demand) will provide the inspiration and guidance you need to keep at it. 12:30-1:30 pm 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. 2-3:30 pm 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. 4-5 pm 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. 5:30-6:30 pm 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. 7-8:30 pm 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. 9-11 pm Performance In advance: $12 (First Person Arts members) / $15 (general public) – $15/$20 after 10/25 Winners of First Person’s much-adored, monthly StorySlams bring their best stories to the stage for the championship round. Be there as these top-notch raconteurs battle it out for the title of “Best Story Teller in Philadelphia”. Advance purchase recommended; this event is expected to sell out. Noon-2 pm 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. 2:30-3:30PM Film screening and Q&A (Philadelphia premiere) FREE In 1980, Kenneth E. Hartman was sentenced to life in prison for a brutal murder he committed at age 19. His violent behavior persisted for years behind bars until he eventually he transformed himself into to a student of philosophy, a reader of books, a self-taught authority on prison law, and became a husband and a father. He is now a writer and activist, devoted to the moral and practical necessity of reforming the American correctional system. Join us for a videotaped reading by Mr. Hartman from his memoir, Mother California, followed by a Q&A, phoned in live from the California State Prison in LA. 3:30-5:30PM Film screening and Q&A (Philadelphia premiere) In advance: $12 (First Person Arts members) / $15 (general public) – $15/$20 after 10/25 The name William Kunstler is cloaked in controversy. Revered by activists for taking on the establishment (the Chicago Seven, Attica, the stand-off at Wounded Knee), he was later reviled for defending people accused of rape, murder, organized crime and terrorism. David Rudovsky, one of the nation’s leading civil rights and criminal defense attorneys, joins filmmaker Emily Kunstler to discuss her father’s complicated legacy and the legal ethics questions they explore in her provocative new film: William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe. This program has been approved for two hours of ethics credit for Pennsylvania lawyers. Credits may be available in other jurisdictions as well. Attorneys seeking CLE credit should bring a check in the amount of $25, payable to the Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania, to the event. 6:00-7:00PM 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. 7:30-9:30PM Film screening, Q&A, concert (Philadelphia premiere) In advance: $20 (First Person Arts members) / $25 (general public) – $25/$30 after 10/25 Just the Two of Us. Ain’t No Sunshine. Lean on Me. The man who wrote the songs that defined a decade walked away from showbiz without a look back. For 23 years, Bill Withers shunned the spotlight and refused all interviews — until filmmakers Damani Baker and Alex Vlack convinced him to tell his surprising story. Still Bill gives us an inside look at Bill Wither’s life and personality, tells why he stopped performing at the peak of his career and who he is today. An amazing portrait of an icon who never gave up his soul. Includes a concert of Withers’ classics by the legendary Johnny Ingram of the Funk Brothers, and his band.
Edible World – Tuesday, November 3
Speakeasy Opening Night Reception – Wednesday, November 4
America Eats – Wednesday, November 4
Songs for Any Depression – Wednesday, November 4
Salon du Festival – Thursday, November 5
How to Fix the World – Thursday, November 5
Shelter Opening Reception –
Friday, November 6
Going to Extremes – Friday, November 6
Karaoke-Obsessed – Friday, November 6
WORKSHOPS – Saturday, November 7
Life/Story – Saturday, November 7
Inside the Writer’s Notebook – Saturday, November 7
Animal Magnetism – Saturday, November 7
Obsolete and Whining – Saturday, November 7
The Guinea Pig Diaries – Saturday, November 7
Grand Slam – Saturday, November 7
The Girl From Foreign – Sunday, November 8
L.W.O.P. (Life Without Parole) – Sunday, November 8
William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe – Sunday, November 8
Sweet Tea – Sunday, November 8
Still Bill – Sunday, November 8
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