Grammy Award-winning artist, producer, composer and Fugees co-founder Wyclef Jean will be this year’s headline performer for the VersoFest 2026 Friday night concert event.
Wyclef will be performing with his full band. The March 27 concert will start at 8 pm in the Library’s Trefz Forum; doors open at 7 pm. Tickets are $125 and available now at VersoFest.org.
Wyclef's performance will support Music Will, the largest nonprofit music education program for schools in the United States.
VersoFest is The Westport Library’s annual music and media conference and festival where knowledge is shared and inspiration is discovered — a forum for media creators, artists, and fans to converge.
This is the fifth year for VersoFest, which takes place at Verso Studios at The Westport Library, a media resource and production hub that serves as an empowered cultural and learning center. A library branch of the 21st century, Verso Studios provides programming and commercial services as well as educational and content creation opportunities.
Wyclef is the second act announced for this year’s festival. Formed in Connecticut and now playing out of New York, the rising rock band The Thing will perform the VersoFest kickoff concert on Friday, February 27. Click here for tickets and more information.
The music that Wyclef has written, performed, and produced — both as a solo superstar and as founder and guiding member of the Fugees — has been a consistently powerful, pop cultural force for more than two decades.
Hits include the Fugees’ indelible reinvention of Roberta Flack’s 1973 ballad “Killing Me Softly”; the chart-topping “Hips Don’t Lie” with Shakira, which he co-wrote, produced, and is featured on; Wyclef’s own “Gone Till November”; “Ghetto Superstar” (Pras feat. Wyclef); Carlos Santana’s No. 1 single “Maria, Maria” (featuring Jean); and the late Whitney Houston’s “My Love is Your Love.”
Wyclef has been rewarded for his creativity and adventurousness with three Grammy Awards, a Golden Globe nomination and an Emmy nomination, a spot on the cover of Rolling Stone’s “Top 50 Hip Hop Players,” and the opportunity to make music with such legends as Michael Jackson; Queen; Mick Jagger; Paul Simon; Earth, Wind & Fire; Kenny Rogers; and Tom Jones.
As a solo artist, Wyclef has released six albums that have sold nearly nine million copies worldwide, including his 1997 debut The Carnival, 2000’s aptly titled The Ecleftic: 2 Sides II a Book, and his 2017 album, The Carnival III: Fall and Rise of a Refugee.
And this is an opportunity to see him perform in an intimate venue, as one of just 700 concertgoers congregating in the Library’s unique Trefz Forum space.
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This is the fifth year for VersoFest, the Library’s annual music and media conference and festival where knowledge is shared and inspiration is discovered — a forum for media creators, artists, and fans to converge. VersoFest includes concert performances; conversations with leading lights in music and media; workshops that provide creators the opportunity to deconstruct, improve, and hone their craft; knowledge opportunities; art installations; and much, much more.
Past VersoFest guests include hip hop legend Chuck D; established hit-makers the Wallflowers, Spin Doctors, and the Smithereens; up-and-coming bands Sunflower Bean and the Lemon Twigs; the Roots lead emcee Black Thought; hardcore punk pioneer Henry Rollins; rockers Lez Zeppelin; famed producers Steve Lillywhite (U2, Dave Matthews Band) and Tony Visconti (David Bowie, T. Rex); Psychedelic Furs frontman Richard Butler; the Doors drummer John Densmore; Cramps drummer Miriam Linna; Alice Cooper Group bassist Dennis Dunaway; hip-hop originators Tony Crush and Grand Wizzard Theodore; David Letterman music director Paul Shaffer; SNL Beehive Queen Christine Ohlman; and a wide array of authors, photographers, artists, and thought leaders.
Jelani Cobb, the renowned journalist, scholar, and current dean of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, will be the guest of honor at Westport’s 20th annual Martin Luther King Jr. celebration.
The event will be held in The Westport Library’s Trefz Forum on Saturday, January 17, 2026, at 1 pm. Cobb will be in conversation with acclaimed novelist, playwright, and filmmaker Trey Ellis. Click here for more information.
The annual Martin Luther King Jr. celebration is a partnership between the Library, TEAM Westport, the Westport Country Playhouse, Westport Museum for History and Culture, and the Westport/Weston Clergy Association.
“We are thrilled to honor and welcome both Dr. Cobb and Trey Ellis at the Library for this 20th anniversary celebration,” said Bill Harmer, executive director of The Westport Library. “Dr. Cobb is a groundbreaking figure in his field as well as a decorated journalist and renowned scholar. Westport is incredibly fortunate to have him here to help us celebrate the life and memory of Dr. King.”
“Dr. King reminded us that ‘the day we see truth and cease to speak is the day we begin to die,’ said Harold Bailey, chair of TEAM Westport. “At a moment when the very idea of truth is under unprecedented pressure, there could be no more fitting focus than journalism. And there is no more powerful champion of its purpose and integrity than Jelani Cobb. We are truly fortunate to welcome him as we mark the 20th anniversary of the MLK Celebration here in Westport.”
Cobb is a Peabody Award winner, Pulitzer Prize finalist, MS Now political analyst, and The New Yorker staff writer who has written books on Barack Obama and the hip hop aesthetic, in addition to editing several other volumes and producing numerous documentaries. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences in 2023 and is a recipient of fellowships from the Ford Foundation, the Fulbright Foundation, and the Shorenstein Center at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.
Past Martin Luther King Jr. celebration keynote speakers include National Book Award winner and MacArthur Fellow Ibram X. Kendi; Pulitzer Prize winner James Forman Jr.; New York Times best-selling authors Heather McGhee and Layla Saad; Guggenheim Scholar Carol Anderson; American Book Award winner Tricia Rose; Quinnipiac Law School founder Marilyn Ford; author/artist/ filmmaker/multi-dimensional performance artist Junauda Petrus, former King speechwriter and advisor Dr. Clarence B. Jones; and last year’s guest, award-winning writer, producer, and Shondaland visionary Shonda Rhimes.
Those who approached the microphone were thoughtful, compassionate, and at times emotional, a wide cross-section of the Westport community gathered together to discuss one of the pressing issues of our time: antisemitism.
In all, nearly 400 people packed The Westport Library’s Trefz Forum on Thursday, November 13, for a special Westport Library Common Ground Initiative event focused on understanding Jewish identity, antisemitism, and allyship.
“The program was an important first step to opening up the conversation about antisemitism,” said Rabbi Jeremy Wiederhorn, the spiritual leader of The Community Synagogue (TCS) in Westport. “While many of us may not have agreed on every aspect of the approach, that's the beauty of Common Ground — a multiplicity of viewpoints listening and learning from each other.”
That community conversation was at the very heart of the evening — a one-hour presentation and 30-minute Q&A hosted by Eli Cohn-Postell and Kara Wilson of Project Shema, a training and support organization focused on addressing contemporary antisemitism.
“No doubt this is a complicated topic that triggers emotion and does not have a single point of view,” said event attendee Mark Altschuler. “But I thought the people from Project Shema were talented, committed, and prepared with slides that made a point and were supported by thoughtful comments. I especially liked the historical slides and education, and they managed the questions with sensitivity and respect. It was evident to me that they put a lot of time and thinking into the work.”
The focus for the evening: Creating a space for open conversation and respectful dialogue on issues of importance to the community. In that regard, the event was a resounding success.
“We live in a culture where people avoid hard conversations,” Westport Library Executive Director Bill Harmer said during the evening’s opening remarks. “That avoidance makes it harder to talk honestly, harder to recognize it when it appears, and harder to respond with clarity when it matters most.
“The challenge is fear, uncertainty, and a lack of shared language. When people do not feel confident or informed, they step back. And when we step back, misunderstanding grows in the space we leave behind. The purpose [of the antisemitism forum] is to help close that gap ... to move our community from hesitation to understanding, from intention to action, and from the comfort of silence to the courage of real dialogue.”
The presentation by Project Shema was far-reaching, centering on Jewish identity as cultural, national, and religious, as well as elucidating the historical context behind antisemitism and how it continues to plague our society, and discussing allyship and recognizing — and combatting, as a community — anti-Jewish harm.
At times in very personal ways, the conversation struck a chord with the audience — who represented the breadth of Westport, both Jewish community members and friends and allies — who stayed engaged throughout.
“Project Shema — inviting us to truly hear one another — provided me another building block for the Common Ground Initiative and its purpose: creating space for honest, respectful dialogue on difficult issues,” said Dennis Wong, chair of the Westport Sunrise Rotary Peace Committee and Rotary Peacebuilder Club. “By better understanding the slippery slope from dehumanization to violence, I am more committed than ever to being a Rotarian Peacebuilder — working to ensure that every person, every community, and every nation can live in safety, dignity, and well-being.”
Empathy and understanding were key topics of the evening — and also of the four-hour workshop the Library hosted earlier in the day, attended by town officials, civic leaders, business leaders, Library staff, and members of the Library’s board of trustees and Common Ground Initiative committee.
In both settings, Cohn-Postell and Wilson encouraged participants to move past binary thinking to transition from debate to dialogue: “How do you have a conversation not to agree,” said Wilson, “but to understand.”
“The workshop was a model of what The Westport Library’s Common Ground Initiative is designed to achieve: It encouraged attendees to engage in constructive, respectful conversation about a sensitive topic,” said Westport Library trustee Bruce Gaylord, who attended both sessions. “Getting people with potentially different perspectives together to talk about a difficult or sensitive issue is always helpful. Attendees get to hear thoughts from others that may challenge their own ideas, or they may learn things they had never thought of.”
The event was sponsored by Jon and Bobbi Roth and presented by the Library’s Common Ground Initiative, the Library’s forum for public dialogue on topical issues of importance to the community.
The Common Ground Initiative endeavors to host positive, productive conversations on how we work together to move forward as a civil society; encourage respectful, constructive dialogue; and tackle challenging and controversial issues.
“The Common Ground Initiative has been working toward the evolution of a framework by which Westporters and others with different perspectives on issues with significant nuance and complexity can discuss them in such a way that they reach common understandingof those different perspectives with civility and respect — even if they do not reach common agreement,” said Harold Bailey, chair of TEAM Westport and a Common Ground Initiative committee member. “Such understandingis critical to any progress toward fostering an engaged community and any ultimate resolution.”
Past Common Ground events have focused on bridging divides, social change, civil discourse, communicating to open minds, and global trade policy, and have included such guests as former Missouri Senator Roy Blunt, Pfizer Chief Corporate Affairs Officer Sally Susman, conflict resolution expert Ken Feinberg, author and CEO Fred Hochberg, and Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Tony La Russa.
To learn more about the Library’s Common Ground Initiative, including resources, news, and recordings of past events, please visit westportlibrary.org/about/common-ground-initiative.
And click here to learn more about Project Shema.
The Westport Library is getting an early jump on next year’s VersoFest, our annual festival celebrating music, media, and creativity.
The Thing, the rising rock band out of New York City with roots in Connecticut, will be performing the VersoFest Kickoff Concert on Friday, February 27, 2026, at 8 pm.
Presales for the concert begin on Tuesday, November 4, with the general on-sale on Friday, November 7. Tickets are $35. Click here for more information.
The full schedule for VersoFest’26 will be unveiled soon, with the four main days of the festival scheduled to run from Thursday, March 26, to Sunday, March 29, 2026.
This is the fifth year for VersoFest, the Library’s annual music and media conference and festival where knowledge is shared and inspiration is discovered — a forum for media creators, artists, and fans to converge. VersoFest includes concert performances; conversations with leading lights in music and media; workshops that provide creators the opportunity to deconstruct, improve, and hone their craft; knowledge opportunities; art installations; and much, much more.
Past VersoFest guests include hip hop legend Chuck D; established hit-makers the Wallflowers, Spin Doctors, and the Smithereens; up-and-coming bands Sunflower Bean and the Lemon Twigs; the Roots lead emcee Black Thought; hardcore punk pioneer Henry Rollins; rockers Lez Zeppelin; famed producers Steve Lillywhite (U2, Dave Matthews Band) and Tony Visconti (David Bowie, T. Rex); Psychedelic Furs frontman Richard Butler; the Doors drummer John Densmore; Cramps drummer Miriam Linna; Alice Cooper Group bassist Dennis Dunaway; hip-hop originators Tony Crush and Grand Wizzard Theodore; David Letterman music director Paul Shaffer; SNL Beehive Queen Christine Ohlman; and a wide array of authors, photographers, artists, and thought leaders.
The Thing’s sound is a throwback to rock and roll’s roots, with a traditional lineup of guitar, bass, and drums, with songs that nod to the Kinks and the White Stripes, among many others.
“We've kind of adapted the ethos of: with restriction comes creativity, old becomes new,” said guitarist/vocalist Jack Bradley. “And throughout every part of the process that remains true.”
The four members of The Thing come from intersecting backgrounds, lending to their rock-and-roll-as-melting-pot vibe. Bassist/vocalist Zane Acord grew up with a drummer dad who hipped him to bands like Led Zeppelin and Grand Funk Railroad; he met guitarist/vocals Michael Carter, an avid Beatles fan, in middle school. While in high school, the duo connected with Bradley, an aspiring producer with a studio in his basement and a yen for psych rock. Jazz drummer Lucas Ebeling linked up with the band when everyone found their way to New York in 2022.
Since that time, they’ve played more than 300 shows across the world, including a wide-ranging late 2025 European tour that will take them to Amsterdam, Berlin, Dublin, London, Paris, and Stockholm, to name just a few.
The group has put out three LPs in total: their 2023 debut Here’s the Thing, the 2024 follow-up The Thing Is, their self-titled third album, which came out in August 2025.
“It showcases all of us, all of our different personalities,” Acord said of the new album. “In The Thing, we’re a collective band. We hang our hats on being a true band — where we all have the spotlight. I think that gives us a different edge.”
Added Bradley: “We threw all of our different various influences throughout — all the decades of rock and roll and adjacent genres — and ended up with something of our own. Our contribution to the genre. Our style. Our… thing.”
StoryFest Saturday has something for everyone, with a full day of panel discussions, book signings, workshops, and live podcast recordings, headlined by an evening theatrical performance of Josh Malerman’s Incidents Around the House.
The day session is free and open to the public; register here. Tickets for Saturday night are $20 and available here.
The day session kicks off at 10 am at the Westport Museum for History & Culture’s Cobblestone Barn. The panel discussions at the Library start at 11 am and run until 5 pm.
More than 30 authors will be in attendance, including first-time in-person guests Charlie Jane Anders (All the Birds in the Sky), Christina Baker Kline (Orphan Train), and Cadwell Turnbull (No Gods, No Monsters), returning favorites Rachel Harrison (Black Sheep) and Lorien Lawrence (Fright Watch), and many, many more. There will also be a live recording of Jennifer Baker’s Minorities in Publishing podcast.
Saturday night at StoryFest will be a raucous affair. StoryFest favorite Clay McLeod Chapman kicks off the evening with a special live edition of his Verso Studios video podcast Fearmongers, live on the main stage featuring special guests, readings, spooky shenanigans, and a surprise or two.
Next, you’re in for a once-in-a-lifetime experience as New York Times best-selling author Malerman (Bird Box, Watching Evil Dead) and his theater troupe Wow Town present a theatrical reading of scenes from Malerman's instant best-seller, Incidents Around the House. Following the presentation, Malerman will sit down with best-selling author Gregory Galloway for an exclusive talk-back on the production.
Saturday Day Tickets:
Saturday Evening Tickets:
StoryFest is The Westport Library’s annual literary festival — the largest annual literary festival in Connecticut and one of the biggest in the Northeast. Now in its eighth year, StoryFest is a celebration of the story in all its forms and storytellers from across all media, each year drawing scores of authors and hundreds of readers, writers, and fans.
This year’s lineup includes Oscar-nominated filmmaker Julian Brave NoiseCat debuting his new memoir We Survived the Night on Monday, October 13; a special film and concert event on Friday, October 17, starring James Montgomery and Christine Ohlman; the Saturday day session of panel discussions and author signings; the Saturday night double feature with Chapman and Malerman; and a special evening celebrating the 10th anniversary of Year of Yes with the incomparable Shonda Rhimes on Monday, October 20. (Tickets for the Shonda Rhimes event have sold out.)
Here's a closer look at Saturday at StoryFest:
SATURDAY DAY SESSION
10 am: Spooky Stories in the Cobblestone Barn (for kids)
Story Fest Saturday morning kicks off with spooky storytelling for the whole family at the Westport Museum for History & Culture! Get in the Halloween spirit with award-winning and best-selling authors Lorien Lawrence, Cody Daigle-Orians, and Dan Poblocki, plus a special appearance by Washington Irving himself!
11 am: Writing the Self and Others: Turning Lived Experience into Art
How do writers transform personal history, their own and others, into compelling stories? Explore how writers mine the truth and histories of their own lives and the lives of others to create stories as bold as life itself. With Nabil Ayers, Cody Daigle-Orians, Mariah Fredericks, Koren Shadmi, and Bonnie Tsui. Moderator: Sonya Huber.
12 pm: Becky Spratford Presents: ‘Why I Love Horror’
Librarian and horror expert and critic Becky Siegel Spratford gathers some of the most celebrated contemporary horror writers to discuss why they love the genre. With Clay McLeod Chapman, Rachel Harrison, Josh Malerman, Hailey Piper, and EC Hanson.
1 pm: Coming of Age: Writing Youth, Identity, and the Search for Belonging
Stories of youth are stories of transformation. Hear how children’s and YA writers explore the heartbreak, hopes, hilarities, and horrors of growing up. With Charlie Jane Anders, Derrick Barnes, Lorien Lawrence, and Hailey Piper. Moderator: Charnaie Gordon.
2 pm: Working on Both Sides of the Page: Live Minorities in Publishing Podcast Recording
Publishing professionals and dynamic authors Lauren Morrow (Little Movements) and Amber Oliver (When the Music Hits) join host Jennifer Baker in Brooks Place for a fun and engaging conversation about their electrifying debut novels — both of which reflect characters experiencing the darker side of ambition — as well as the realities of balancing a writing life while working full-time in the publishing industry.
2 pm: Fiction Without Borders: Storytelling Beyond Limits
What happens when writers cross boundaries — cultural, structural, or imaginative. This panel explores fiction that resists categorization, expands perspectives, and reminds us of the limitless power of storytelling. With Martin Cahill, Jordan Castro, Gabi Coatsworth, Nalini Jones, Joan Silber, and Cadwell Turnbull. Moderator: Heather Frimmer.
3 pm: Nevertheless, She Persisted: Writing Strong Women
From trailblazers to everyday heroines, literature has long offered a space to reimagine women’s roles and voices. In this discussion, authors explore the craft of writing complex female characters who reflect resilience, vulnerability, and the full range of human experience. With Sharbari Ahmed, Christina Baker Kline, Anne Burt, Brigitte Dale, Kirsten Miller, and Sarah Stewart Taylor. Moderator: Liz Matthews.
4 pm: Ellen Datlow Presents: Night and Day
Horror’s preeminent editor and StoryFest favorite Ellen Datlow sits down with writers from her new anthology, Night and Day, with one side featuring stories about what haunts the night while the other side showcases the terrors that can exist in the light of day. With Brian Evenson, Rachel Harrison, Clay McLeod Chapman, and Josh Malerman.
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SATURDAY WORKSHOPS
12 pm: Writing Heroes & Villains: A Screenwriting Crash Course with Claire Ayoub, Writer/Director of Empire Waist
In this 90-minute session held in Room 216, screenwriter and film director Claire Ayoub will speak with attendees about their favorite films and then break those films down into a clear understanding of the hero’s journey. This session will discuss how to build a three-dimensional hero with clear wants and fears, as well as how to create challenges for that hero to go against and grow by the end of the film — including how to build a most excellent villain. Great for all ages, especially middle school and up. (Parents are invited to join the fun to tell their own stories!)
4 pm: Book Bedazzling: A Course in Creativity & Fun with Allie Joy, Board Certified Art Therapist and Licensed Counselor
Would you like to get crafty? Join us in Brooks Place and select a favorite book to bedazzle with gems, glitter, and other embellishments. Although it may not be possible to bedazzle an entire book in an hour, you will be provided with instructions to start you on your path! We simply ask that you select a book with a cover that is appropriate for bedazzling. Simpler designs with bold text or minimal details work best (think Emily Henry–style covers). You may bring an extra book option, and we will help you with your selection. De-stress, unwind, and enjoy a little fun, creative time designed for relaxation and rejuvenation!
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SATURDAY NIGHT DOUBLE FEATURE
Clay McLeod Chapman Presents: Fearmongers… LIVE at StoryFest!
The StoryFest tradition returns — Fearmongers is back on the main stage! Join Clay McLeod Chapman and friends for readings, spooky shenanigans, and even a surprise or two.
Chapman is the author of Wake Up and Open Your Eyes, Kill Your Darling, Stay on the Line, What Kind of Mother, Ghost Eaters, Whisper Down the Lane, The Remaking, and miss corpus; story collections nothing untoward, commencement, and rest area; as well as The Tribe middle-grade series: Homeroom Headhunters, Camp Cannibal, and Academic Assassins.
Upcoming books include the short story collection Acquired Taste (September 2025), the YA sci-fi/horror novel Shiny Happy People (November 2025), the novella Bodies of Work (April 2026) and the Harlequin “horrormance” novel Devil Inside (August 2026).
Chapman has been nominated for the Bram Stoker Award and the Shirley Jackson Award.
Quiet Part Loud, a 12-part horror podcast from Jordan Peele/Monkeypaw Productions, written by Chapman and Mac Rogers, is available on Spotify.
Josh Malerman’s Incidents Around the House: LIVE at StoryFest!
You’re in for a once-in-a-lifetime experience, as New York Times best-selling author Josh Malerman and Wow Town present a theatrical reading of scenes from Malerman's instant best-seller, Incidents Around the House.
Wow Town mixes narration, props, actors, and a live score from Jim Byrne (multi-instrumentalist), Tessa Stransky (violin), and Chad Stocker (bass). And as Malerman always reminds the troupe: "It's not a play, it's still a reading. But it's a lot more than me alone at a podium."
Stick around after the program for an exclusive talk back with Malerman and best-selling author Gregory Galloway.
Malerman is The New York Times best-selling author of Bird Box, Incidents Around the House, and Watching Evil Dead. He's also a filmmaker, cartoonist, and one of two singer-songwriters of the Michigan rock band The High Strung, whose song "The Luck You Got" can be heard as the theme song to the Showtime show "Shameless." He lives with his wife, the artist/musician Allison Laakko, and their gazillion pets.
Wow Town is a theatrical troupe co-founded by Malerman and Laakko. Thus far they've primarily done performances of almost all of Malerman's book launches, performing in chapels (Inspection), gymnasiums (Daphne), theaters, and bars. Laakko is pressing for the troupe to do a play and Malerman envisions a movie starring the entire troupe. Laakko does almost all the props, effects, stage sets, and much more, including acting and singing.
The main players are voice actor/narrator Kristi Billings, magician/actor James Driscoll Hall, actors Jeannine Coughlin and Erin Driscoll Hall, and actor/director Lilli Bishop. The theatrical readings are always scored live by Byrne and Stransky, and Byrne has written two albums worth of original songs based on the Malerman books the troupe performs.
Galloway is the author of the crime novels All We Trust and Just Thieves, as well as the Alex Award-winning As Simple As Snow. His short stories have appeared in Burning Down the House, Rush Hour, and Taking Aim. He is a graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop and currently resides in northwest Connecticut.
The Westport Library has officially launched its 2025-26 annual appeal, its annual fundraising campaign, with the goal of raising $335,000 to secure full funding for the Library’s operations and allow us to continue to provide the vast majority of our programming for free or at low cost.
The Town of Westport funds approximately 75% of the Library’s operating budget. The remaining 25% is raised through special events like BOOKED for the evening and private donations like those provided during the annual appeal.
This year’s annual appeal will run from October 1, 2025, through January 31, 2026. Donations will be accepted throughout the appeal on the Library’s donation page.
The theme for this year’s appeal will once again focus on lifelong learning, a core part of the Library’s mission, as evidenced through our Verso University lifelong learning and education initiative; our book- and author-focused programming and talks; Verso Studios, the media and multimedia training arm of the Library; our amazing kids and teen programming that engage and inspire; and much, much more.
Every day, patron support brings the Library to life:
This is the power of lifelong learning — and the money raised by the annual appeal makes it possible.
Support from our community ensures that learning remains accessible to all, regardless of age, background, or circumstance. It allows us to expand programs, update technology, and much more, ensuring that this library will continue to be a place where curiosity sparks, knowledge grows, and lives are enriched every single day.
We will promote the appeal through a robust fundraising drive aimed both to raise money and to thank the community for its longtime and ongoing support. Elements of the campaign will include dedicated social media headlined by video testimonials from patrons of all ages, banners in and around the Library and on Main Street, inclusion in our 2024-25 annual impact report, robust email marketing, and letters to donors.
StoryFest, The Westport Library’s annual literary festival, has always been about celebrating storytelling in all its forms, dating back to its inception in 2018. And this year it’s adding something new: A special screening of the renowned documentary, Bonnie Blue: James Cotton’s Life in the Blues, followed by a concert featuring songs from the film.
Legendary bluesman James Montgomery produced the film alongside Judy Laster, Jacklyn Hairston Cotton, and Bestor Cram. His band, the James Montgomery Blues Band, will be performing the after-film concert, joined by SNL Beehive Queen Christine Ohlman, celebrated saxophonist Crispin Cioe of the Uptown Horns (Rolling Stones, J Geils Band), and other special guests.
The event will kick off StoryFest’s main weekend on Friday, October 17. Tickets are $30 and can be purchased here. Doors open at 6 pm, with the film starting at 6:30 pm and the concert to follow.
StoryFest 2025 runs October 13 to October 20, featuring the debut of Oscar-nominated Julian Brave Noisecat’s memoir, We Survived the Night, on Monday, October 13; followed by the screening and concert on Friday, October 17; a full day of panel discussions, author signings, book talks, and podcast recordings on Saturday, October 18; and the 10th anniversary celebration of Shonda Rhimes’ memoir, Year of Yes, on Monday, October 20.
Now in its eighth year, StoryFest is the largest annual literary festival in Connecticut and one of the biggest in the Northeast. It is a celebration of the story in all its forms and storytellers from across all media, each year drawing scores of authors and hundreds of readers, writers, and fans.
Past participants include National Book Award finalist Jason Reynolds; Goosebumps author R.L. Stine; acclaimed essayist and memoirist Roxane Gay, New York Times best-selling authors Michael Lewis, Mitch Albom, Claire Messud, Angie Kim, Stephen Graham Jones, and Caroline Kepnes; young adult superstars Nic Stone, Tiffany Jackson, and L.L. McKinney; Emmy Award winner Sheila Nevins; best-selling memoirist Isaac Fitzgerald; Kirkus Prize recipient Saeed Jones; and Pinkalicious author/illustrator Victoria Kann.
Bonnie Blue: James Cotton’s Life in the Blues is an emotionally evocative feature documentary that portrays the untold story of James Cotton, a legend whose musical influence shaped the Chicago Blues style.
Cotton’s life tracks a swath of America’s history — from the post-depression cotton fields of the Mississippi Delta to tough Chicagoland’s era of brilliant artistic reinvention to today’s live music scene in Austin, Texas. In between are tours with Janis Joplin, Paul Butterfield, and sessions with the Rolling Stones, Grateful Dead, Led Zeppelin, Santana, Steve Miller, B.B. King, and many more.
“Blues music was really a music of empowerment,” said Montgomery. “Cotton is one of the first guys to say, ‘I’m not going to play just 12 bar blues anymore. I’m going to play soul music.’ He is one of the pioneers. He masters Sonny Boy, he masters Little Walter, he plays with Muddy [Waters]. I mean, the best credentials in the world — you can’t get better blues cred than that.”
Said Ohlman: “The blues was perhaps America’s first storytelling genre. It has certainly proven to be one of our country’s most enduring — and the legendary James Cotton was one of its masters.”
The lead singer, blues harp player, frontman, and bandleader of The James Montgomery Blues Band, Montgomery has collaborated with a host of star performers and recording artists throughout his remarkable career, a who’s who of musicians that includes Johnny Winter, Mick Jagger, Bruce Springsteen, Steven Tyler, and B.B. King. In addition, Montgomery has toured with the Allman Brothers Band, Aerosmith, Bonnie Raiit, the J. Geils Band, the Steve Miller Band, and more.
Together, the James Montgomery Blues band has recorded 12 albums, with Montgomery recording three more solo records. Past and current band members include Billy Squier, Wayne Kramer, Jeff Golub, Jim McCarty, Nunzio Signore, Steve Strout, Jeff Pevar, Bobby Chouinard, Ted Nugent, Jeff Levine, Tom Gambel, George McCann, and David Hull.
Ohlman, nicknamed the Beehive Queen for her towering blond hairdo, has been a featured vocalist with the SNL Band for 34 years, appearing on the 25th, 40th, and 50th Anniversary SNL telecasts. She has also been a regular guest and host at the Library’s annual VersoFest music and media celebration, including serving as host for this year’s oral history podcast with Paul Shaffer.
Dedication to preserving the soul in rock n’ roll has been the hallmark of Ohlman’s work. In total, her band, Christine Ohlman & Rebel Montez, has released six albums to date: The Hard Way (1996), Radio Queen (1997), Wicked Time (2000), Strip (2003), Re-Hive (2008), and The Deep End (2010).
BOOKED for the evening celebrated its 26th edition in the highest of style, welcoming Emmy Award-winning actor, producer, publisher, and businesswoman Sarah Jessica Parker to The Westport Library’s Trefz Forum on Wednesday, September 10.
It was a magical evening, with more than 650 supporters on hand for the Library’s largest annual fundraiser. A cocktail hour, furnished by Marcia Selden Catering, preceded the evening’s main event, which featured a performance by Broadway star Kelli O’Hara (supported by renowned pianist Dan Lipton), remarks from two-time Tony Award winner James Naughton and Zando publishing founder Molly Stern, and a series of video tributes — from TV personality Andy Cohen; Sex and the City co-stars Kristin Davis, Cynthia Nixon, and Mario Cantone; Wendy Whelan, New York City Ballet associate artistic director; a host of authors from Parker’s literary imprint, including Kim Coleman Foote and Alina Grabowski; and many more.
Parker was gracious and eloquent on stage. In conversation with library trailblazer and former Westport Library Executive Director Maxine Bleiweis, she spoke openly about her passion for books, her first memories of reading and visiting her childhood library in Cincinnati, informal book clubs with her daughter, and much, much more. She also demurred at being celebrated on stage, ceding the spotlight whenever possible to the joy of reading and the importance of libraries.
“I prefer not to receive awards, because generally speaking, I don’t believe that I’ve earned them or that I’m deserving or that I’m worthy, so I always like to find someone I can hand the award off to as the rightful owner,” Parker said. “But when a library calls, my response, my instinct, is to say yes, no matter what. The only reason I was slow to say so was simply scheduling. And I thought maybe I could plot a way to not have to be the recipient of any of this, and just simply talk about libraries. But that was not to be — you all had a larger master plan which I could not compete with.”
BOOKED for the evening annually honors an individual whose work reflects the purpose of the Library: to nurture a love of learning and to enhance our understanding of the world.
In that, Parker was an ideal honoree. While best known for playing Carrie Bradshaw, the New York City-based newspaper columnist and fashion icon on Sex and the City and And Just Like That, Parker is also a passionate advocate for books and libraries. In 2023, she launched SJP Lit, a literary imprint of Zando focused on underrepresented voices, after previously serving as the editorial director for SJP for Hogarth.
In addition to receiving The Westport Library Award, Parker received the PEN/Audible Literary Service Award earlier this year, and she is also serving as a judge for the 2025 Booker Prize, a role she spoke of with awe Wednesday evening, while also noting that it has required her to read more than 170 books in a year — “the greatest burden in the world if you’re a greedy reader,” she noted.
Parker’s commitment to literature extends beyond publishing. She has served as honorary chair of the American Library Association’s Central Book Club and as a board member of United for Libraries. The two-time Emmy Award winner and four-time Golden Glove Award recipient also executive produced The Librarians, a film about the fight against book bans which premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.
Parker covered much of that ground and more during her conversation with Bleiweis, three books from her SJP Lit imprint separating them, and closed the evening by receiving a Westport Library card from Westport Library Executive Director Bill Harmer — “You’re one of us now, and we couldn’t be happier about that,” he said — and also a special gift: a crossword puzzle designed by renowned puzzle constructor Robyn Weintraub and presented by legendary New York Times puzzle master Will Shortz.
“I’m so stunned and embarrassed and completely tickled,” Parker said. “This will put me in good stead with a lot of people who do the puzzle in pen, so thank you. And to everybody here, I’ve said it earlier and it’s worth repeating, thank you so much for your hospitality and for spending this much time. I know it’s because you love your library, and it’s awfully deserving of that. We should have these kinds of communities — libraries that are supported like this — across the country. And it’s enormously inspiring to make sure that’s the case in every town, in every city, in every village, in every parish.”
Harmer said in wrapping up the evening: “Nights like this remind us of the power of the public library and what defines not just this library but every library. At their core, libraries are about lifelong learning and creating access for all — and in the power of libraries to ignite our imaginations.”
Previous BOOKED for the evening award recipients include 2024 guest of honor Billie Jean King, as well as luminaries such as Tom Brokaw, E.L. Doctorow, Calvin Trillin, Wendy Wasserstein, Pete Hamill, Martin Scorsese, Arthur Mitchell, Doris Kearns Goodwin, David Halberstam, Oscar Hijuelos, Adam Gopnik, Will Shortz, Patti Smith, Barry Levinson, Jon Meacham, Nile Rodgers, Lynsey Addario, Ron Chernow, Alan Alda, Justin Paul, Frederic Chiu, Itzhak Perlman, Shonda Rhimes, and Laura Linney.
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Photos: Dave Dellinger Photography for The Westport Library
The Edge of Water, the miraculous, multi-generational debut novel by Olufunke Grace Bankole, is the winner of the 2025 Westport Prize for Literature, awarded annually to an original work of literary fiction that is both relevant and timeless.
Bankole will be honored at The Westport Library on Thursday, November 6, at 7 pm. (Click here to register.) She will be awarded the prize in a ceremony held in the Trefz Forum and take part in a special conversation with The Yale Review editor Meghan O’Rourke.
There will be copies of The Edge of Water available for purchase at the event, with Bankole signing afterward.
This is the third year for the $10,000 prize, whose inaugural grant was bestowed in 2023 to renowned novelist Zadie Smith for The Fraud, named as one of the best books of the year by The New York Times, The Washington Post, The New Yorker, and The Independent. In 2024, Alejandro Puyana was also honored for his acclaimed debut novel, Freedom is a Feast.
In addition to The Edge of Water, the 2025 Westport Prize finalists were O Sinners by Nicole Cuffy and Rabbit Moon by Jennifer Haigh.
“We are thrilled that the nominating committee and judging panel have honored Grace's skillful, mesmerizing debut novel, The Edge of Water, by naming it the winner of this year’s Westport Literary Prize,” said Molly Stern, founder and CEO of Zando, whose imprint, Tin House, published Bankole’s book. “This generous recognition of a work of uncompromising beauty is a true testament to Grace's achievement, and to all that the Tin House list strives to represent with its publishing.”
Bankole is a graduate of Harvard Law School and a recipient of a Soros Justice Advocacy Fellowship. Her work has appeared in various literary journals, including Ploughshares, Glimmer Train Stories, AGNI, Michigan Quarterly Review, New Letters, The Antioch Review, and Stand Magazine.
The Nigerian American writer, who currently lives in Portland, Oregon, won the first-place prize in the Glimmer Train Short-Story Award for New Writers and was the Bread Loaf-Rona Jaffe Scholar in Fiction at the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference. She has been awarded an Oregon Literary Fellowship in Fiction, a Ludwig Vogelstein Foundation grant, a residency-fellowship from the Anderson Center at Tower View, and has received a Pushcart Special Mention for her writing.
The Edge of Water follows Amina, who moves from Nigeria to New Orleans to forge her own path. But just as Amina begins to find her way, a hurricane threatens to destroy the city, upending everything she’d dreamed of and the lives of all she holds dear. Years later, her daughter is left with questions about the mother she barely knew, and the family she has yet to discover in Nigeria.
The book has received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, Booklist, and Foreword Reviews, and Goodreads included it as a “hottest debut novel of 2025.” In addition, Kirkus Reviews called The Edge of Water a “global, multigenerational novel suffused with heart, feeling, devastation, and hope” and Pen America said it is “a provocative story of mothers, daughters, and adopted family on both sides of the Atlantic.”
“The Edge of Water is a beautifully realized epic tale following the lives of three generations of women across two continents,” said Maurice Carlos Ruffin, author of The American Daughters. “Bankole expertly explores tenderness and heartache without sentimentality. This is a stunning addition to the canon of diasporic tales.”
Submissions for the 2025 prize were read and vetted by a team of volunteer readers — numbering nearly 50 for this year — with the best-reviewed manuscripts advancing to the jury that selected this year’s winner.
The jurors for 2025 are playwright and author Tommy Greenwald, book blogger and aggregator Suzanne Leopold, publishing industry veteran Erica Melnichok, The Lifeboat author Charlotte Rogan, and nonfiction writer and former Book of the Month Club judge Nina Sankovitch.
StoryFest is bigger and better than ever before, expanding to a full week of events, author talks, panel discussions, and more for 2025.
A bigger StoryFest needs a big finish, of course, and Shonda Rhimes will deliver that on Monday, October 20, when the award-winning producer and Shondaland visionary takes the stage at The Westport Library to celebrate the 10th anniversary of her New York Times best-selling memoir, Year of Yes: How to Dance It Out, Stand in the Sun, and Be Your Own Person.
The event will kick off at 7 pm. Rhimes will be joined by special guests and share the new moments that shaped her life over the past 10 years, as well as the fears she conquered and the unexpected joy of embracing life with an open mind.
Tickets are $30 and include a signed copy of the 10th-anniversary hardcover edition of Year of Yes, which features updates and exclusive new chapters. It is the same price for one seat and a copy of the book or two seats and a book.
This event is presented by the Library in partnership with RJ Julia Booksellers of Madison, Connecticut.
“This book is the same as before, but it also is not,” said Rhimes. “It is brand new. It has changed. Transformed. Evolved. Grown. Just like me.”
StoryFest 2025 runs October 13 to October 20, with individual evening events on Monday, October 13, and Friday, October 17, and the talk with Rhimes on Monday, October 20. Saturday, October 18, will feature a series of events and panels starting at 10 am and going until 6 pm.
Now in its eighth year, StoryFest is the largest annual literary festival in Connecticut and one of the biggest in the Northeast. It is a celebration of the story in all its forms and storytellers from across all media, each year drawing scores of authors and hundreds of readers, writers, and fans.
Past participants include National Book Award finalist Jason Reynolds; Goosebumps author R.L. Stine; acclaimed essayist and memoirist Roxane Gay, New York Times best-selling authors Michael Lewis, Mitch Albom, Claire Messud, Angie Kim, Stephen Graham Jones, and Caroline Kepnes; young adult superstars Nic Stone, Tiffany Jackson, and L.L. McKinney; Emmy Award winner Sheila Nevins; best-selling memoirist Isaac Fitzgerald; Kirkus Prize recipient Saeed Jones; and Pinkalicious author/illustrator Victoria Kann.
StoryFest marks a return trip to the Library for Rhimes, who served as the BOOKED for the evening honoree in 2022. She also held a special screening of her critically revered documentary Black Barbie last year and served as the guest of honor for Westport’s 19th annual Martin Luther King Jr. celebration, held at the Library in January of this year.
“We are thrilled to welcome Shonda Rhimes back to The Westport Library to celebrate her seminal memoir, Year of Yes,” said Bill Harmer, executive director of The Westport Library. “This book has meant so much to so many people, and Shonda has meant so much to our Library community. We can’t think of a more perfect capstone to a remarkable week of events celebrating the power of stories and storytelling.”
About Year of Yes
In 2015, Rhimes, the CEO of global media company Shondaland and the trailblazing creative force behind some of television’s most beloved series, took on a challenge that would change her life forever. She decided to say yes to everything for a year, and the results were exhilarating. Hailed as “honest, raw, and revelatory” (The Washington Post) and “as fun to read as Rhimes’s TV series are to watch” (Los Angeles Times), Year of Yes quickly became a New York Times best-seller, captivating readers and inspiring them to undertake their own YES journeys.
In this celebratory and expanded anniversary edition, you’ll find more candid and transformational chapters that reveal how Rhimes, once a self-described introvert, achieved badassery worthy of a Shondaland character — and how you can, too.
About the Author
Rhimes is an award-winning television creator, producer, and author. She is the first woman to create three television dramas — Grey's Anatomy, Private Practice, and Scandal — that achieved the 100-episode milestone.
In 2017, Rhimes shifted the entertainment industry's business model by leaving network television for an exclusive Netflix partnership. Bridgerton, her first Netflix series, became a worldwide franchise with seasons holding three of Netflix's Top 10 English-language spots. She also created Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, Inventing Anna, and executive produced The Residence and the documentaries Dance Dreams: Hot Chocolate Nutcracker and Black Barbie.
In addition, she founded The Rhimes Foundation supporting arts, education, and activism, and serves on boards including the American Film Institute, Debbie Allen Dance Academy, Dartmouth College, Lincoln Center, and Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Rhimes also serves on special committees for the USC Film Council and Obama Foundation.
A three-time Time 100 honoree, Rhimes has been appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire as well as inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame.
In 2021, Verso Studios, the media arm of The Westport Library, kicked off its Crew Call program to give community members the opportunity to be trained in live, hands-on video production.
Just four short years later, they’re already bringing home hardware.
Crew Call was recently honored with four Telly Awards, earning three silvers and one bronze in the general-student category for its production of Library events.
The Telly Awards showcase the best work created within television and across video, for all screens, encompassing efforts from advertising agencies, television stations, production companies, and publishers from around the world. The awards recognize work that has been created on behalf of a client, for a specific brand and/or company, or self-directed as a creative endeavor. There are more than 13,000 entries annually for the Telly Awards, from six continents and all 50 states.
The silver medals were awarded for “Read to Grow: 25 Years of Building Literacy from Birth”; “Andrew Wilk Presents, The Westport Library Medical Series Part III: Cardiac Valve Disease”; and “The Night a Library Got Stoned,” which celebrated Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards receiving the Governor’s Award of Excellence at The Westport Library.
The bronze medal was awarded for “BOOKED for the evening with Billie Jean King.”
Crew Call began as a six-week training course led by Emmy Award-winning Verso Studios Video Producer David Bibbey. The idea was to train the Crew Call community members in a live, hands-on environment, recording and editing the programming and events produced on the Library’s Trefz Forum stage and occasionally on location.
“Our mission is to create content for the community, by the community, and share it with the world,” Bibbey said.
The Crew Call program welcomes community participants from all levels of experience and age, with participants currently ranging from 14 to 80. Complimented by a world-class programing department and audio recording team, an ever-growing number of its participants have weekly opportunities for hands-on training in production.
“Having just come back from the US Open and then working and being trained as crew for an event featuring Billie Jean King, I mean, hello, who gets to do that?!” said Eva Slossberg, a Crew Call high school student.
Said Westport Library Executive Director Bill Harmer: “Crew Call is an absolute success in every way. It fulfills a critical component of our mission as a library by offering hands-on training and practical skills, and it engages our community members in an actionable way. Crew Call is such an important part of making our in-person and online experiences first-rate. We absolutely couldn’t do what we do without their great work.”
Although there are occasional off-site video production training activities, Verso Studios training is primarily for video production of live, on-stage events.
“The program is an opportunity for teens to seniors to gain real-world experience in video recording and live production in a real Broadcast Control Room setting,” said Bibbey.
Those looking to learn more and/or are interested in joining Crew Call can express interest by filling out this online form.
For his new podcast with Verso Studios at The Westport Library, groundbreaking journalist Jay Schadler set out to tell the stories of Westporters’ life transitions — each podcast focusing on a different story, with Schadler serving as the interviewer and a town resident as the guest.
The result was something special, five intimate interviews with a range of community members at all stages of their lives.
All five episodes are now available for listening on the Verso Studios podcast page, via the Turning Point webpage, and through regular podcast distributors such as Spotify, Apple, and Amazon.
“Turning Point is dedicated to capturing and sharing the impactful stories of Westporters,” said Schadler, a two-time Emmy Award winner and a seven-time nominee. “These interviews will delve into the unique experiences of the remarkable people who compose this remarkable town, offering valuable insights and wisdom derived from their life transitions. The shared narratives will serve as guiding beacons for others facing similar milestones.”
Schadler is a journalist, photographer, and artist. For more than three decades, he traveled the world as a correspondent and anchor for ABC News, 20/20, Nightline, Good Morning America, National Geographic TV, and others, and his work has also been featured on Bravo and Discovery. He was honored with an Emmy for Best Investigative Journalism (Network News Magazine) and Best Feature Hour (Network News Magazines), in addition to winning the National Environmental Media Award.
In the five episodes of Turning Point Season 1, he explores living a life with no memory with Doug and Patti Brill, the grief of loss and the gift of love with Jenny and Anthony Capalbo, a new heart and a new life with Gerardo Lambert, turning tragedy into legacy with Jim Kudzo, and exploring talent and opportunity with Andrew Wilk. Each is as memorable as it is unique.
“These five episodes are some of the most moving and captivating we’ve ever recorded at Verso Studios,” said Verso Studios Audio Producer Travis Bell. “Jay is a master storyteller, and in this series, he’s truly discovered unforgettable stories to tell.”
Verso Studios is the media arm of The Westport Library. The Library created the Verso Studios Community Producer Partnership initiative in keeping with the studio’s mission to produce content with the community.
To learn more about Verso Studios’ mission and offerings, visit the Verso Studios page on the Library website.
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Schadler is also looking to expand the podcast in Season 2. To be considered as a guest for the series, please fill out the form below. Completing it should take 5-10 minutes. Those selected will then be contacted, with a goal of scheduling the podcast interviews later this year.
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