Discussion Groups

The Based On The Book discussion group meets the fourth Tuesday of every month from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. This group meets using a hybrid solution. You can attend in person or connect remotely.

Each month this group discusses a book of fiction and a movie based on the book. Each discussion is moderated by one of the group members. The book and movie pairs are selected by the discussion group. Some examples of book and movie pairs are Jane Austen Emma (1815) and the 1995 movie Clueless with Alicia Silverstone; Pierre Boulle, The Bridge on the River Kwai (1952) and the 1957 movie with Alec Guinness; Norman Maclean, A River Runs Through It (1976) and the 1992 movie with Brad Pitt; Mario Puzo, The Godfather (1969) and the 1972 movie with Marlon Brando; Ian Fleming, Casino Royale (1953) and the 2006 movie with Daniel Craig; Ian McEwan, Atonement (2001) and the 2007 movie with Keira Knightley.

Thank you for your interest in this group! Unfortunately they are currently at capacity, but if you’d like to be contacted once space becomes available, please join our waitlist.

What We’re Reading

• Apr. 25: Richard Ford, Wildlife, 2018 film
• May 23: Thomas Savage, Power of the Dog, 2021 film
• Jun. 27: Edith Wharton, House of Mirth, 2000 film
• Jul. 25: Charles Portis, True Grit, 2010 film
• Aug. 22: Raymond Chandler, The Big Sleep, 1946 film
• Sep. 26: William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet/West Side Story, 2021 film
• Oct. 24: Mark Harris, Bang the Drum Slowly, 1973 film
• Nov. 28: Muriel Spark, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, 1969 film
• Dec. 26: Isak Dinesen, Babette’s Feast, 1987 film
• Jan. 23: Daphne du Maurier, Rebecca, 1940 film

Past Readings

Children are invited to join our small friendly group for new friends and a shared love of reading! We enjoy a lively discussion about the month’s book, followed by a themed craft or activity. Participants vote on which book the group will read next, and past titles include a mix of beloved classics and new favorites from a variety of genres.

We meet on the third Saturday of the month at 3:00 p.m. Recommended for children ages 8–12.

There’s no ongoing commitment: whether you can come every time or just once, we’re happy to see you! Please email Youth Services Librarian Shay Glass at glass@bostonathenaeum.org to register or for more information.

What We’re Reading:

Feb. 18: Daniel José Older, Dactyl Hill Squad

Mar. 18: E. L. Konigsburg, From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler

Apr. 15: Mordicai Gerstein, The Old Country

May 20: Carlie Sorosiak, Always Clementine

Jun. 17: Zetta Elliott, Dragons in a Bag

Jul. 15: Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

The Civil War Discussion Group meets the fourth Wednesday of every month at 6:00 p.m. as a remote only group. 

The group meets to discuss themes of the war broadly, such as leadership, battles, military matters, civilian and home front people and events, slavery, and pre-war and post-war politics. Come and enjoy a group that welcomes new members. Everybody learns something every time: a group of members, by the members, for the members.

What We’re Reading

• Jan. 25: E.L. Doctorow, The March
  
• Feb. 22: James McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom
• Mar. 22: James McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom
• Apr. 26:  David Dixon, The Lost Gettysburg Address: Charles Anderson’s Civil War
• May 24: Brian H. Reid, The Scourge of War: The Life of W.T. Sherman
• Jun. 28: Jon Meacham, And There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle
• Happy Summer!
• Sep. 27
• Oct. 25
• Nov. 22
• Dec. 27

Past Readings

The Ancient Greco-Roman Classical Literature Reading Group (“Classics”) will meet the second Tuesday of every month from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. This group meets using a hybrid solution. You can attend in person or connect remotely.

The group will focus on Greek and Roman Literature in Translation and the Classical Tradition. Greco-Roman Literature encompasses epic poetry, love elegiacs, odes,  dramatic works, historical narratives, etc.

Participants must sign up in advance for the year. There is an annual fee of $100.

What We’re Reading

• Jan. 10: Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War, book 3
• Feb. 14: Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War, book 4
• Mar. 14: Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War, book 5
• Apr. 11: Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War, book 6
• May 9: Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War, book 7
• Jun. 13: Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War, book 8

Past Readings

The Dickens discussion group will meet the first Thursday of every month from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. This group meets using a hybrid solution. You can attend in person or connect remotely. 

Taking its keynote from the memorable Nabokov introduction in which he announced, ‘We are now ready to tackle Dickens. We are now ready to embrace Dickens. We are now ready to bask in Dickens,’ the group seeks to create a welcoming literary space where members may tackle, embrace, and bask in Dickens for years to come. 

The group is open to all levels of experience and interest in Dickens, from those who have never had the pleasure of meeting him at all, to those who had a brief acquaintance with him in school, to those many for whom he has become an old and very dear friend.

What We’re Reading

• Jun. 6 (joint meeting with Trollope group, N.B. this is the First Tuesday): Wilkie Collins, Armadale, part II
• No July or August meetings. Happy summer!
• Sep. 7: Sketches by Boz: Sketches of Young Gentlemen; Sketches of Young Couples; The Mudfog and Other Stories
• Oct. 5: Pickwick Papers I (Chaps 1–29)
• Nov. 2: Pickwick Papers II (Chaps 30–end)
• Dec. 7: Reading of A Christmas Carol (using Dickens’s abridgment)
• Jan. 4: Charlotte Brontë, Shirley
  
• Feb. 1: Oliver Twist
• Mar. 7: Elizabeth Gaskell, Ruth
• Apr. 4: Nicholas Nickleby I
• May 2: Nicholas Nickleby II

Past Readings

The Fiction Discussion Group meets on the first Monday of each month at 6:30 p.m. This group meets using a hybrid solution. You can attend in person or connect remotely. Titles are suggested by members and then chosen to obtain a variety of authors, publication dates, themes, and lengths.

Thank you for your interest in this group! Unfortunately they are currently at capacity, but if you’d like to be contacted once space becomes available, please join our waitlist.

What We’re Reading

• May 1: Geraldine Brooks, People of the Book
• Jun. 5: Kingsley Amis, Lucky Jim
• Jul. 10 (N.B. this is the second Monday): Italo Calvino, Mr. Palomar
• Aug. 7: Henry Green, Loving
• Sep. 11 (N.B. this is the second Monday): Jaimy Gordon, Lord of Misrule
• Oct. 2: Tom McCarthy, Remainder
• Nov. 6: Gustave Flaubert, Sentimental Education
• Dec. 4: Nikolai Gogol, The Nose
• Jan. 8 (N.B. this is the second Monday): Dezso Kosztolanyi, Skylark
• Feb. 5: J.F. Powers, Morte D’Urban
• Mar. 4: Shirley Hazzard, Transit of Venus

Past Readings

This thriving, 25-year old discussion group meets at 6:00 p.m. on the third Monday of each month to discuss works of literature selected by the group, from the ancient classics to contemporary best sellers. Members take turns leading the discussions and engage in active e-mail correspondence about the book currently being read. Our Literary Conversations continue at a local restaurant following the meeting, and all members are invited. This group meets using a hybrid solution. You can attend in person or connect remotely.

Thank you for your interest in this group! Unfortunately they are currently at capacity, but if you’d like to be contacted once space becomes available, please join our waitlist.

What We’re Reading:

May 15: Mikhail Bulgakov, The Master And Margarita

Jun. 20 (N.B. this is the third Tuesday): Shirley Hazzard, The Transit Of Venus

Jul. 17: Natsume Sōseki, Botchan

Aug. 21: Multatuli, Max Havelaar

Sep. 18: Helen Vendler, Dickinson

Oct. 16: Haruki Murakami, The Wind-up Bird Chronicle

Nov. 20: Jung Chang, Wild Swans

Dec. 18: George Eliot, The Mill on the Floss

Jan. 15: Italo Svevo, Zeno’s Conscience

Feb. 19: Thomas Mann, Confessions of Felix Krull, Confidence Man

Mar. 18: Frederick Douglass, The Life and Times of Frederick Douglass

Apr. 16 (N.B. this is the third Tuesday): Italo Calvino, Invisible Cities

Past Readings

The Mathematics, Technology & Society discussion group will meet the first Saturday of every month  from 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and will consider mathematics and technology topics from historical and social perspectives. This group is remote only. 

Participation is encouraged by anyone interested in the history and impact of technology — no mathematics or computing expertise is required. Each meeting will focus on a different topic and background reading.

What We’re Reading

• May 6: Erik Asphaug, When the Earth Had Two Moons: Cannibal Planets, Icy Giants, Dirty Comets, Dreadful Orbits, and the Origins of the Night Sky
• Jun. 3: Henry Petroski, Force: What It Means to Push and Pull, Slip and Grip, Start and Stop
• No July meeting
• Aug. 5: Siddhartha Mukherjee, The Song of the Cell
• Sep. 2: Seirian Sumner, Endless Forms: The Secret World of Wasps
• Oct. 7: James Vincent, Beyond Measure: The Hidden History of Measurement from Cubits to Quantum Constants
• Nov. 4: David Hone, How Fast Did T.rexRun?: Unsolved Questions from the Frontiers of Dinosaur Science
• Dec. 2: Matthew Shindell, For the Love of Mars: A Human History of the of the Red Planet
• Jan. 6: Ed Yong, An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realm Around Us

Past Readings

Unless otherwise specified, the Mystery Discussion Group meets the last Monday of the month at 5:30 p.m. This group is remote only. Titles are democratically selected and range from popular thrillers to quiet country investigations to literary prizewinners with a mystery element.

What We’re Reading

• May 22 (N.B. this is the Fourth, but not the Last, Monday): Michael Dibden, Ratking
• Jun. 26: William Kent Kreuger, Ordinary Grace
• Jul. 31: Charles Todd, Watchers of Time
• Aug. 28: Tana French, The Likeness
• Sep. 25: Sulari Gentill, Woman in the Library
• Oct. 30: Stuart Kaminski, Rostnikov’s Corpse/Death of a Dissident
• Nov. 27: Arnaldur Indrithason, Jar City
• Dec. 18 (N.B. this is the Third Monday): Anne Perry, A Christmas Beginning
• Jan. 29: Archer Mayor, Open Season
• Feb. 26: Louise Penny, All the Devils Are Here
• Mar. 25: Stuart Turton, The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle
• Apr. 29: C.J. Box, Open Season

Past Readings

The New England Seminar meets on the first Monday of the month at 6:00 p.m. This group is remote only. The Group reads fiction and non-fiction written about Boston and New England. Past selections include Santayana’s The Last Puritan, Louis Menand’s The Metaphysical Club, Dorothy West’s The Living Is Easy, William Dean Howells’, The Rise of Silas Lapham, Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick, and Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Collected Short Stories.

What We’re Reading

• Jun. 5: John Taylor Williams, Shores of Bohemia
• Jul. 3: Andrew Greer, Less
• No August meeting
• Sep. 4: Louise Erdrich, The Night Watchman
• Oct. 2: Nathaniel Hawthorne, Twice Told Tales
• Nov. 6: Malcolm Gaskill, The Ruin of All Witches
• Dec. 4: Christopher C. Gorham, The Confidante
• Jan. 1: Tracy Kidder, Rough Sleepers
• Feb. 5: Celeste Ng, Our Missing Hearts
• Mar. 4: Elizabeth D. Leonard, Benjamin Franklin Butler
• Apr. 1: Ann Petry, The Street
• May 6: Zadie Smith, On Beauty

Past Readings

The Philosophy Group meets on the third Thursday of every month at 6:00 p.m. unless otherwise specified. This group meets using a hybrid solution. You can attend in person or connect remotely.

This discussion group is for people who wish to step back from their daily routines and take some time to examine the whys and hows in life. We will cast a wide net, from the Classics to current politics, and participants will be invited to suggest authors and topics of interest.

What We’re Reading

• Jan. 19: Kieran Setiya, Life Is Hard: How Philosophy Can Help Us Find Our Way
• Feb. 16: Simon Blackburn, Think: A Compelling Introduction to Philosophy
• Mar. 16: Roger Scruton, Beauty: A Very Short Introduction
• Apr. 20: Friedrich Nietzsche, The Gay Science
• May 18: Dennis C. Rasmussen, The Infidel and the Professor: David Hume, Adam Smith, and the Friendship That Shaped Modern Thought
• Happy Summer!
• Sep. 21: A. J. Ayer, Hume: A Very Short Introduction
• Oct. 19: David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding
• Nov. 16
• Dec. 21

Past Readings

The Poetry Study Group meets from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. on the third Wednesday of each month. This group meets using a hybrid solution. You can attend in person or connect remotely. . A selection of poems will be distributed prior to each meeting.

What We’re Reading

Jan. 18: Robert Frost

Feb. 15: Richard Wilbur

Mar. 15: H.D. (Hilda Doolittle)

Apr. 19: Kenneth Rexroth

May 17: Gerard Manley Hopkins

Jun. 21: WWI through the poetry of Wilfred Owen

Past Readings

Boston Athenæum members who are already Proust enthusiasts, and those who are aficionados-in-the-making, are invited to join The Proust Reading Group. Meetings generally take place on the last Tuesday afternoon of each month, from 12:00 to 1:30 p.m. This group meets using a hybrid solution. You can attend in person or connect remotely.

In September 2022, we will begin The Captive in the Modern Library Edition. The Yale University Press edition of this volume will not have been published by September.

The Modern Library Edition is volume 5 of the series, and also includes The Fugitive. The text is translated by C. K. Scott Moncrieff and Terence Kilmartin, and revised by D. J. Enright. The ISBN is 0-375-75311-7.

The group is led by Proust scholar Dr. Hollie Markland Harder, who is the director of language programs and Associate Professor of French at Brandeis University. Her work on Proust includes articles on Françoise’s cooking (“Proust’s Novel Confections: Françoise’s Cooking and Marcel’s Book,” which appeared in Modern Language Studies) and the function of humor in Proust’s novel (“Proust’s Human Comedy,” published in The Cambridge Companion to Proust).

Participants must sign up in advance for the year. There is a fee of $100 per year. Anyone interested should contact the Circulation Desk at (617) 227-0270 x279 or email harder@brandeis.edu.

What We’re Reading

• Jan. 31: pp. 246–313
• Feb. 28: pp. 313–372
• Mar. 28: pp. 372–433
• Apr. 25: pp. 433–497
• May 23 (N.B. this is the Fourth, but not Last, Tuesday): pp. 497–559

Boston Athenæum members who are already Proust enthusiasts, and those who are aficionados-in-the-making, are invited to join The Proust Selected Studies Group. The group typically meets the second Tuesday of some months, from 12:00 to 1:30 p.m. This group meets using a hybrid solution. You can attend in person or connect remotely.

The group is led by Proust scholar Dr. Hollie Markland Harder, who is the director of language programs and Associate Professor of French at Brandeis University. Her work on Proust includes articles on Françoise’s cooking (“Proust’s Novel Confections: Françoise’s Cooking and Marcel’s Book,” which appeared in Modern Language Studies) and the function of humor in Proust’s novel (“Proust’s Human Comedy,” published in The Cambridge Companion to Proust).

Participants must sign up in advance for the year. There is a fee of $100 per year. Anyone interested should contact the Circulation Desk at (617) 227-0270 x279 or email harder@brandeis.edu.

This group is on hiatus for the current 2022/2023 season but will likely return for the 2023/2024 season.

Reading Recap is a new series of occasional discussion groups offered in connection to Athenæum events, anniversaries, etc. No need to make a long-term commitment! Choose which topics suit you and your schedule.
The happenings will be listed here, on the Events calendar, and announced in our newsletter. We will meet in different spaces, depending on the subject.
These are free to members, but registration is required in order to prepare.
Have suggestions? Please let us know:  warnement@bostonathenaeum.org.

Reading Recap: Lydia Maria Child: A Radical American Life

April 4, 2023 at 6:00 p.m.

Join us Tuesday, April 4, at 6pm in the Gordon Room to discuss Lydia Moland’s biography Lydia Maria Child: A Radical American Life. As part of our Salon Series, Ms. Moland spoke March 20 about her compelling biography of Lydia Maria Child, one of nineteenth-century America’s most courageous abolitionists.

Whether you were able to attend the author’s talk or not, now you’ve had a chance to read the book, come and discuss the subject in greater depth with your Athenæum community.

Keep an eye on the Program calendar to register!

**********************

In-person Event: The Boston Globe’s 150th anniversary
March 10, 2022, 6:00–7:30 p.m.

The Boston Globe first appeared in print on March 4, 1872 at a cost of 4 cents. Join us in the Gordon Newspaper Reading Room at 6 pm for a conversation moderated by Dan Breen about its history, impact on Boston, and what it means to you. Francis Storrs, editor of the Globe Magazine, will be on hand to offer insights, or should we say the Globe’s two cents!

All fiction presents imagined people, places, and plots. Science fiction imagines broader realms than we experience day-to-day. Come every fourth Saturday at 2:00 p.m. to explore those worlds and how they touch upon our encounters.

This group meets using a hybrid solution. You can attend in person or connect remotely.

What We’re Reading

• Feb. 25: Martha Wells, All Systems Red
• Mar. 25: Isaac Asimov, Caves of Steel
• Apr. 22: Gabrielle Zevin, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow
• May 20 (N.B. this is the third Saturday): John Barnes, Orbital Resonance
• Jun. 24: Annie Leckie, Ancillary Justice
• Jul. 22: C.J. Cherryh, Hunter of Worlds
• Aug. 26
• Sep. 23
• Oct. 28
• Nov. 25
• Dec. 23

The Shakespeare Discussion Group meets the second Wednesday of the month at 6:00 p.m. This group meets using a hybrid solution. You can attend in person or connect remotely.

Every year we select a range of plays, each of which is read over two months. A play leader pre-circulates background readings, talking points, and questions, as well as the scenes to be read in plenary. Everyone has a chance to read, although anyone who would prefer not to is free to pass. Reading aloud helps to take us off the page and breathes life into the words themselves. Discussions are guided by the play leader and group moderator and generally flow organically.

There is no requirement of familiarity with Shakespeare’s works in order to join our discussions. We recommend the Arden edition if you are acquiring a new text.

Thank you for your interest in this group! Unfortunately they are currently at capacity, but if you’d like to be contacted once space becomes available, please join our waitlist.

What We’re Reading

• Jan. 11: The Two Gentlemen of Verona
• Feb. 8: The Two Gentlemen of Verona
• Mar. 8: King Lear
• Apr. 12: King Lear
• May 10: Henry VIII
• Jun. 14: Henry VIII
• Jul. 12: Sonnets

Past Readings

Short & Sweet meets remote only the fourth Thursday (with exceptions noted below) of each month at 6:00 p.m.

“If I had more time, this would be shorter.” Just because something is a quick read does not mean it can be easily appreciated.

During the stay-at-home advisory, we initiated a new weekly discussion group, Short & Sweet, to connect via videoconference with readers while respecting social distancing. Now that we move toward a “new normal,” we’ll plan to meet once a month, on the fourth Thursday of the month when possible, via videoconference for the foreseeable future.

What We’re Reading 

• Jan. 26: Willa Cather, “The Sentimentality of William Tavener”
• Feb. 23: Eudora Welty, “A Worn Path”
• Mar. 23: Dorothy Parker, “A Telephone Call”
• Apr. 27: Octavia Butler, “Bloodchild”
• May 25: Allegra Goodman, “A Challenge You Have Overcome”
• Jun. 22: Te-Ping Chen, “Shanghai Murmur”

Past Readings

Sponsored by the Boston Athenæum Diversity, Equity, Access, and Inclusion Working Group.

Interested in social justice issues? So are we! The Boston Athenæum’s Diversity, Equity, Access, and Inclusion (DEAI) Working Group invites you to join our Social Justice Initiative. We’ll meet once a month to discuss a variety of materials and resources aimed at deepening our understanding of social justice and increasing our cultural competencies. Join us each Second Monday at 6:00 p.m. This group meets remote only.

The Social Justice Initiative welcomes new participants, so please, join us! You can join by clicking the button below.

What We’re Reading

Jun. 12: Matthew Desmond, Evicted

Past Readings

Teens and tweens are invited to join our small friendly group for new friends and a shared love of reading! We enjoy a lively discussion about the month’s book, followed by a themed craft or activity. Participants take turns leading the discussion and vote on which books the group will read.

We meet the Fourth Saturday of alternate months at 3:00 p.m. Recommended for children ages 12–18.

There’s no ongoing commitment: whether you can come every time or just once, we’re happy to see you! Please email Youth Services Librarian Shay Glass at glass@bostonathenaeum.org to register or for more information.

The Thought for Food group meets on the Fourth Thursday of each month at 6:00 p.m. Because the group may opt to enjoy a meal or drinks outside Athenæum grounds after the meeting is over, meetings will only be in-person so that all attendees have the option of the full communal experience.

Literature for Thought for Food could include both modern and historical literature and recipes based on the members’ current interests. We plan to focus on not just current food science and literature but also on historical recipes and literature and their impact on the food we eat today. In the instance where recipes or texts are hard to find, the discussion organizer will furnish copies as required.

What We’re Reading

Mar. 23: inaugural meeting; we’ll discuss a touch about cocktails and more about attendees’ culinary interests

Apr. 27

May: 25

The Trollope Discussion Group meets the first Tuesday of every month at 6:00 p.m. This group meets using a hybrid solution. You can attend in person or connect remotely. Over the past several years, Boston Athenæum Trollope enthusiasts have completed all of Trollope’s novels, yet many have decided to read them all over again. Sometimes the group complements their reading list with another contemporary novelist or a biography.

What We’re Reading

• Jan. 3: Lady Anna

For the winter/spring, we may read, in an order to be determined:

• Feb. 7: He Knew He Was Right: This is a controversial book, and we should discuss whether we will read it.
• Mar. 7: The Golden Lion of Granpere
• Apr. 4: Dr. Wortle’s School
• May 4 (joint meeting with the Dickens group, N.B. this is the First Thursday): Wilkie Collins, Armadale, part I
  
• Jun 6 (joint meeting with the Dickens group): Wilkie Collins, Armadale, part II

Past Readings

The Ulysses Discussion Group will meet the second Thursday of every month from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. remote only. 

Reading Challenge: Ulysses 

James Joyce’s Ulysses turns 100 in 2022. The torturous story of its publication and subsequent banning seems almost as complicated as the text itself has seemed to generations of students. Always wanted to give it a(nother) try? Take the time to explore this classic by reading aloud and discussing with fellow curious members. The Ulysses group will meet once a month at 6:00 p.m. on the Second Thursday of the month from January through December—or whenever finished.   

There are many editions of Ulysses  (and discussing those may be part of the fun), but as a starting point, we suggest using the Random House 1961 version. 

This group decides what they are reading from month to month. 

Thank you for your interest in this group! Unfortunately they are currently at capacity, but if you’d like to be contacted once space becomes available, please join our waitlist.

What We’re Reading

• Jan. 12
• Feb. 9
• Mar. 9
• Apr. 13
• May 11
• Jun. 8
• Jul. 13
• Aug. 10
• Sep. 14

This discussion group was established in honor of the centenary of the August 1914 outbreak of World War I. Titles will be chosen democratically by group members. The group will meet the first Saturday of each month from 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. This group meets using a hybrid solution. You can attend in person or connect remotely.

What We’re Reading

May 6: Chad Williams, The Wounded World: W.E.B. Du Bois and the First World War

Jun. 3: Alan Moorehead, Gallipoli

Jul. 1: Nick Lloyd, The Western Front: A History of the First World War

Aug. 5: reading t.b.d.

Sep. 16 (this is a joint meeting with the WWII group at WWII’s ordinary day and time, i.e. Third Saturdays at 10:30 a.m.): E. H. Carr, The Twenty Years’ Crisis: 1919–1939

Past Readings

On September 1, 1939, Adolf Hitler ordered the invasion of Poland and set the world ablaze. World War II would bring destruction, terror and death to millions. However, the world would also be a witness to incredible bravery, fortitude and brilliance. Today, we read and exchange ideas about the events, people, and strategies so we may learn from the past and be a bit wiser in our every day life.

The group meets on the third Saturday of the month at 10:30 a.m. using a hybrid solution. You can attend in person or connect remotely. Afterwards, at noon, we go to lunch and share some laughter and friendship. Please join us. 

What We’re Reading

• Jan. 21 meeting cancelled
• Feb. 18: Walter Ford Carter, No Greater Sacrifice, No Greater Love
• Mar. 18: Virginia Cowles, Looking For Trouble
• Apr. 15: Joseph Balkoski, Omaha Beach: D-day June 6, 1944
• May 20: Malcolm Gladwell, The Bomber Mafia
• Jun. 17: Michael Neiberg, When France Fell: the Vichy Crisis and the Fate of the Anglo-American Alliance
• Jul. 15: Srinath Raghaven, India’s War: World War II and the Making of Modern South Asia
• No August meeting
• Sep. 16 (joint meeting with WWI group): E. H. Carr, The Twenty Years’ Crisis: 1919–1939

Past Readings

The Writers’ Workshop meets the second Saturday of every month from 9:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. remote only. 

How are things? That latest piece talking to you yet? Or perhaps you’re talking to yourself? It gets lonely in that writing corner after a while with nobody to bounce ideas off of. Maybe it’s time to come up for air, commune with other writers, and discuss the work in an informal and encouraging atmosphere. Writers of all stripes are welcome!

Each season is divided into trimesters, allowing members to join in September, January, or May, with the understanding that they will be committed to the group for the following four months. Sign-ups are on the first day of each trimester, and we will receive submissions from members in the previous group for that first meeting.

Thank you for your interest in this group! Unfortunately they are currently at capacity, but if you’d like to be contacted once space becomes available, please join our waitlist.

• Jan. 14 Session 4 Fall/Winter Trimester
• Feb. 11 Session 1 Winter/Spring Trimester
• Mar. 11 Session 2 Winter/Spring Trimester
• Apr. 8 Session 3 Winter/Spring Trimester
• May 13 Session 4 Winter/Spring Trimester
• Jun. 10 Session 1 Spring/Summer
• Jul. 8 Session 2 Spring/Summer
• Aug. 12 Session 3 Spring/Summer
• Sep. 9 Session 4 Spring/Summer

The group meets on the Last Monday of the month from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. using a hybrid solution. You can attend in person or connect remotely.

This is a group for prose writers of fiction and non-fiction (including memoirs) to give and receive feedback on their work and that of their peers, while exploring the form intellectually.

For the first half hour there is a quick writing exercise and brief lesson and conversation. For the final hour, two attendees will share a portion of their work and then receive feedback from the rest of the group. The works to be discussed will be disseminated to attendees in advance of the meeting so that people have time to prepare their helpful critique. Poetry, song, plays, screenwriting, etc. are outside the purview of this group. Writers in these formats should consider the Writers Workshop.

• Jun. 26
• Jul. 31
• Aug. 28
• Sep. 25
• Oct. 30
• Nov. 27
• No December meeting