From left to right: Alchemy of Light by Claudia Mengel, Westport Skies by Jason Pritchard, and Journeys in Collage by Christine Timmons
Art is as much an amorphous sensation as it is a tangible form, inspiring highly individual experiences that transcend the boundaries of medium. This winter, The Westport Library aims to invoke such feelings with its three new art exhibits running from December 14, 2024, to February 4, 2025, in the Library’s Sheffer, South, and Jesup Galleries.
The Sheffer Gallery brings the idea of transcendence to life with Claudia Mengel’s Alchemy of Light, a series of paintings inspired by the essential mysticism at the heart of alchemy’s expression in the Middle Ages.
With its intention of turning metal into gold, alchemy was as equally associated with chemical experimentation, as it was with the spiritual belief in ultimate transformation. Thus, the viewer is invited to lend their own voice to the collection’s broader narrative by offering both an initial reaction to the individual works, including paintings New Beginnings and Moving Into Stillness, as well as the group as a whole. Only then can the viewer see the “gold” in this transformation, thanks to the artist’s role as alchemist.
Alchemy of Light epitomizes this duality with washes of pastels, layers of impasto, and the occasional collage, physically creating and capturing light on the surface, as well as in the eye of the beholder. Their patterns and textures create relationships that bring an energy — and perhaps even a magic — to the narrative they impart.
An opening reception will celebrate Mengel’s work on December 18 at 6 pm, followed by a conversation between Mengel and Miggs Burroughs at 7 pm.
Claudia Mengel with her painting, New Beginnings
In the South Gallery, Jason Pritchard’s Westport Skies exhibits a sense of connection, weaving together a collective narrative among this season’s three artists that echoes their individual understanding of the world and the environments from which they draw inspiration.
Using the medium of oil and the practice of en plein air painting to capture atmospheric coastal scenes, Pritchard's work serves as a love letter to his New England home. He creates with the intention of illustrating a sense of space and connection to the region’s landscape, evident in his paintings Compo Beach and Riverside Park — which invite viewers to connect to their own experiences.
"It’s important for me to visit the location to access the feeling of what it’s about to help replicate my sense of reaction back onto the canvas," Pritchard said. "Few things make me happier than taking a nice long walk along a beach, hearing the sound of the tide crashing nearby as I explore both physically, then later in my mind’s eye, the thoughts of my experience back into my painting. I embrace the process of unpacking those memories and calibrating the colors, the shifting light, and the changing weather as elements back in my studio. These variables prompt the brush movements, hues, and tones I enlist, which are often wrapped under an impressionistic skyline, intended to heighten the mood of my paintings further."
Pritchard will showcase his exhibit, along with fellow artist Christine Timmons, at their shared reception on January 9 at 6 pm, followed by an artist conversation with Pritchard, Timmons, and Burroughs at 7 pm.
Riverside Park by Jason Pritchard
Timmons’ Journeys in Collage, in the Jesup Gallery, offers a different approach to the enigmatic quality of art, with pieces like Evita’s Eyes and Cornell-ish Box. Both works exhibit mixed-media collage composed of materials such as various papers, vintage buttons, dead leaves, wire, and ticket stubs on wood panels.
Stemming from a lifelong interest and involvement with art, craft, textiles, design, and an enjoyment of working with her hands, Timmons began learning to work with encaustics (pigmented hot wax), which contain a "mysterious quality" that both intrigues her and informs her art.
"I love getting past the initial uncertainty of beginning a new piece and gradually discovering a path through the labyrinth of building a collage," Timmons said. "While working on a piece, I'm always looking for a visual tension and harmony among the elements ― many of them pieces torn from my trove of old monoprints and papers that I've painted."
The layers of each exhibit give their respective works a rich philosophy that colors not only the art itself, but the experience of the viewer as well. Observe and indulge in The Westport Library’s art exhibits this winter season and pose the question: What feelings do these works inspire in you?
Cornell-ish Box by Christine Timmons
Among other storytelling mediums, books offer an extraordinary immersive experience, comparable to the joy of traveling to a new destination or engaging with a friend. Despite the solitude of reading, the act of getting lost in a good book is an enduring force of imagination that brings communities together to discuss, debate, and delight in its wonder.
In the Distance by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Hernan Díaz isn’t just a good book, it’s a great book — and even better than that, it is the WestportREADS 2025 book selection.
The Westport Library is thrilled to announce this year’s selection and even more excited to welcome Diaz to the Trefz Forum on Thursday, February 13, for a conversation about his first novel, the story of a poor Swedish immigrant’s transformation into a legendary outlaw in the American West.
Limited copies of the book are available for borrowing now, with the full allotment of volumes arriving Friday, December 13. In the Distance is also available as a digital copy (e-book).
Part book club, part reading challenge — and more than anything, a season of literary revelry brought to life by the Library’s dynamic happenings — WestportREADS is a special community experience that is entirely its own. Created in 2002, this landmark event serves as an occasion to bond over a great book and is designed to deepen our community’s engagement in literature throughout Westport and across Fairfield County.
Each winter brings a new WestportREADS book selection, with unique events and programs that connect readers to the story — and each other — in thematically captivating ways. Throughout January and February, get ready to head out west and experience an unconventional hero’s journey in the age of the Gold Rush with book discussions, crafts for all ages, and other immersive events centered around In the Distance.
A lecture led by U.S. historian Kris Klein Hernández kicks off the WestportREADS festivities on Thursday, January 16, followed by a film series screening First Cow (2019), The Gold Rush (1925), and Meek’s Cutoff (2010) on Fridays, January 17 and 24, and February 7, respectively.
Discussion groups are recurring throughout January and February, with a Book Pub at Walrus Alley on February 4 offering a chance to meet new people, form connections, and unite in our shared love of reading. Take this opportunity to not only read a great book, but to engage with your community as well.
In the Distance was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the PEN/Faulkner Award and the winner of the Saroyan International Prize, the Cabell Award, the Prix Page America, and the New American Voices Award, among other distinctions. It was also a Publishers Weekly Top 10 Book of the Year and one of Lit Hub’s 20 Best Novels of the Decade.
Much like his own journey growing up between Argentina and Sweden, and later settling down in New York, Díaz intended to subvert traditional stereotypes and story structures within the western genre.
Håkan Söderström, In the Distance’s protagonist, travels east in search of his brother, moving on foot against the great current of emigrants pushing west. Driven back again and again, he meets naturalists, criminals, religious fanatics, swindlers, Indians, and lawmen, and his exploits turn him into a legend. In the Distance defies the conventions of historical fiction and genre, offering a probing look at the stereotypes that populate our past and a portrait of radical foreignness.
Diaz told The Paris Review, "The experience of foreignness has determined my entire life. I wanted to recreate that feeling. In doing so, I tried to transcend the obvious fact that the protagonist is a foreigner. I tried to make genre and even language itself feel foreign. But at the same time, this is a very American story, which makes us remember that foreignness is part of the American experience to begin with ... I couldn’t think of a better way to say what I think about this country — which I love despite its enormous flaws — than through this book."
Past WestportREADS selections include The Art Thief by Michael Finkel, Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab, Towards a More Perfect Union: Confronting Racism by Layla Saad, and Exit West by Moshin Hamid, among others.
For more past WestportREADS selections, and to learn more about the annual event, visit the WestportREADS homepage on The Westport Library website.
WestportREADS is supported through a generous bequest by the estate of Jerry A. Tishman.
Books may be our mainstay at The Westport Library, but we also carry a wide array of media offerings. From DVDs and Blu-rays, to board games, electronics, and other useful equipment, we’re committed to expanding our diverse media catalog — and now we even offer vinyl records and video games!
The vinyl collection is on display in the Hub near the Reference desk. Vinyl records can be taken out for 10 days, with an allowance of three records to be taken out at a time.
Currently, we carry classics like Bob Dylan’s Blonde on Blonde and Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon, as well as newer releases like Hozier’s Unreal Unearth and Beyonce’s Renaissance. With 100 records across nine genres — rock, pop, R&B, hip hop, jazz, folk, blues, country, and even local artists, including Verso Records: Volume One, a limited press compilation of emerging Connecticut and tri-state area artists recorded in the Library’s own Verso Studios — our collection offers something for everyone.
Whether you’re someone who appreciates classic media, a curious hobbyist, or you’re interested in hearing your recent favorites in a new (old) way, we’ve got you covered. Let us know which albums you’d like to see in our collection next!
For more information on vinyl records, check out our Collecting Vinyl Resource Guide.
For the audiophiles and media preservationists among our ranks, you can pair your favorite album with one of the Crosley Cruiser Turntables available in our Library of Things, and you’ve got everything you need for a listening party.
The Library of Things has much to offer in the media realm, including two Nintendo Switch consoles — and now we have Switch games available for borrowing as well, making The Westport Library your one-stop shop for gaming.
Our collection of games is on display by the Patron Services desk. Games can be taken out for one week; holds and renewals are not available at this time.
If interest grows, so will our collection. We currently have 50 games, including fan favorites like Mario Party, Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Pikmin 4, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and many more.
They're going fast — grab your must-plays before they're gone!
The Westport Library invites you to an illuminating initiative: Join us in utilizing one of our state-of-the-art 3D printers to create solar-powered lanterns for Open Doors, a homeless shelter in Norwalk.
Learn valuable skills and build community while providing a meaningful and practical lighting solution for unhoused individuals, improving their safety and well-being during nighttime hours.
This maker activity is free to attend and will take place on Sunday, November 10, from 1 to 2 pm in the Library’s Board Room (Room 210). Register to attend here. No experience is necessary to participate; 3D printing training sessions will be held at the Library over the next couple of weeks.
For children under 12, a caregiver must remain in the library during the program.
Created and designed by Staples High School students Rohan Sareen, a sophomore, and Shreyas Gorre, a senior, using the Library’s Ultimaker S5 and brand-new Bambu P1S 3D printer, these lanterns incorporate lights, wires, batteries, and solar panels for sustainable illumination.
“We came up with the idea when we wanted to use our engineering skills to help out our local community,” Sareen and Gorre said. “We immediately started to think about how we could 3D print essentials for people in need. After more research, we realized that the best way to help would be to give them something that they could use for a long time. This led us to build a 3D-printed, solar-powered lantern.”
In addition to learning more about 3D printing technology, this workshop will foster tactile and technical skills and provide an opportunity to collaborate with coaches and other volunteers in the Library’s MakerSpace during the assembly process, exploring circuitry, soldering, and other pivotal engineering skills — all while making a tangible difference in the community.
The Holiday Shop at The Westport Library is officially open for business, now through the end of the year.
The holiday items have arrived at The Westport Library Store, located in the Hub on the Library’s main level. And with so many items to display, the Library Store has been expanded for the season, by making the Writing Center a Holiday Shop.
You can find something for everyone on your list from the Holiday Shop’s curated collection of fun and unique items: There are scarves, hats, and gloves, many of which are handmade. Humorous socks and unique dish towels. Large selection of notebooks, journals, and planners. Handmade desert bells and many other unique decorative items, like paper lanterns, felt baskets, planters, and birdhouses, as well as sparkling snow globes. Captivating jewelry and festive candles. Fun games, puzzles, toys, art supplies, and novelty items for kids.
This season, make The Westport Library Store your first stop for gift shopping.
Library Store purchases are always tax-free, and all proceeds support Library services and programs.
Reading is a fundamental part of the learning experience and a favorite pastime for many, especially in the library world. But for some learners, the joy of reading can be mixed with frustration, with triumphs and challenges along the way.
Jennifer Bernheim — advocate, entrepreneur, and mom to a dyslexic learner — takes on these topics and more in her new Verso Studios at The Westport Library community partnership podcast, Right to Read, named after the organization she founded to offer advocacy services, IEP coaching, and informational workshops, as well as a corporate HR benefit that provides educational resources and advocacy coaching. Additionally, Right to Read Advocacy offers membership for advocates and related professionals.
“The Right to Read podcast supports today’s dyslexic thinkers by bringing listeners relevant information on community resources, best practices for dyslexic learners, legislation that supports the Right to Read, and personal and professional success stories,” said Bernheim. “Through our actionable insights, you will learn something that will empower a dyslexic thinker today.”
The podcast debuts Tuesday, October 29 — in conjunction with Dyslexia Awareness Month — with three episodes, each about 20 minutes long. Additional episodes will come out every other week (Episode #4 will arrive November 12). The show will be available on the Verso Studios community partnership podcast page and through regular podcast distributors such as Apple and Spotify.
Bernheim founded Right to Read Advocacy to help parents demystify what can be an overwhelming process and to empower them to support their child's needs. She has completed the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates’ (COPAA) Special Education and Advocacy Training (SEAT) 1.0 and 2.0 courses. Her education also includes the Orton-Gillingham Academy Subscriber Course and WrightsLaw Special Ed Law & Advocacy Training.
Prior to founding Right to Read Advocacy, Bernheim, who holds a master’s degree in communication studies from the University of Rhode Island, spent 20 years as a public relations practitioner, providing strategic communications support for purpose-driven companies.
“Jennifer has such a passion for helping others, and that comes through in each episode,” said Verso Studios Producer Travis Bell, who recorded each episode with Bernheim. “Having served as both an advocate and a parent, she is remarkably well-versed in the subject matter and aware, in an incredibly kind and empathetic way, of the challenges that parents of dyslexic learners face. What I really love about this podcast, though, is that it celebrates the joys as well as the challenges, and listeners come away from each episode with actionable steps to help themselves and their children along the journey.”
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.
Former Special Master of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund Ken Feinberg will be The Westport Library’s guest for its latest Common Ground Initiative conversation, sharing his experience and expertise in bringing people together to analyze, understand, and resolve complex disputes.
Feinberg will be in discussion with moderator Steve Parrish.
The event will be held Tuesday, October 15, at 7 pm in the Library’s Trefz Forum. Registration is free and strongly encouraged.
The Common Ground Initiative is The Westport Library’s forum for public discourse on topical issues of importance to the community. The aim of the initiative is to host a positive, productive conversation on how we work together to move forward as a civil society; encourage respectful, constructive dialogue; and build capacity to tackle challenging and/or controversial issues. The program planning for the initiative is led by The Westport Library in conjunction with community leaders representing a wide array of constituents and ideological standpoints.
Previous Common Ground guests include former Missouri Senator Roy Blount and Pfizer Chief Corporate Affairs Officer Sally Susman.
Tuesday night’s event is designed to provide insight into conflict resolution that attendees can apply to their professional or personal lives and to serve as an opportunity to learn from an expert in the field who has successfully mediated some of the most challenging disputes in modern American history. It will focus on techniques for fostering civil discourse and conflict resolution.
During more than 40 years of public service, Feinberg has established himself as the nation’s leading expert in bringing conflicting parties together to reach acceptable resolution of their complex disagreements. That work includes his appointment with the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, where he served for 33 months. Feinberg wrote about the experience in his best-selling book What is Life Worth?, which was the basis for the 2005 movie Worth, starring Michael Keaton.
Feinberg currently serves as the court-appointed mediator in the Imerys/Cyprus talc bankruptcy in Delaware and was formerly the court-appointed mediator in the Hess-Honx asbestos bankruptcy in Texas. In addition to his work with the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund, Feinberg has served in a variety of public compensation and related funding programs over the past 25 years, was appointed by the Obama Administration to oversee compensation of victims of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion and BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and was the mediator in the successful effort to return an original Chagall painting from the Museum of Modern Art in New York City to its original family owners in Europe.
Parrish is the founder of Steve Parrish Consulting Group, LLC, which specializes in crisis management, corporate social responsibility, public affairs, and communications for senior executives of corporations, law firms, and nonprofit organizations. Previously, Parrish was senior vice president, corporate affairs, of Altria Group, Inc., and served as secretary of the Public Affairs and Social Responsibility Committee of the board of directors of Altria Group, Inc.
Parrish is a member of the board of directors of Orchestra Lumos. He also is a board member emeritus and past board chair of Safe Horizon, an internationally recognized leader in the field of victim assistance, as well as a board member emeritus of Carleton College.
How much do we know about the world around us, about our environment and how we interact with it. This is the theme of Verso Studios at The Westport Library’s newest podcast, Real World, a collaboration with expert real estate negotiator and acclaimed problem solver Marisa Manley.
“The goal of the Real World is to explore, celebrate, and help listeners understand and possibly improve the built and created environment which surrounds us,” Manley said. “We examine what the world is made of, how it came to be this way, and how it functions — in sometimes surprising ways.”
The podcast will debut October 9 with three episodes, each about 15 minutes long, with an additional episode coming out every other week (Episode #4 coming out October 23). The show will be available on the Verso Studios community partnership podcast page and through regular podcast distributors such as Apple and Spotify.
Individual episodes focus on everything from high-rise buildings to street signs, and from leggings to rocking chairs, exploring how they were designed, how they can be improved, and how they benefit and can better benefit you. The first season will run 12 episodes in all.
“We invite listeners to understand that the built and created environment is designed and can be re-designed and modified,” Manley said. “When you know a bit more about the real world, you can understand it, use it, possibly challenge it, and maybe even enjoy it a bit more.”
Manley has a bachelor's degree in architecture from Cornell and a law degree from Harvard. She is the president and founder of Health Care Real Estate Advisors and Commercial Tenant Real Estate Representation, working with fast-growing companies that seek to maximize the value they receive for the real estate dollars they spend.
In her estimable career, Manley has spoken nationwide before the American Corporate Counsel Association, the New York State Bar Association, and other legal and professional organizations; written extensively on how corporate space users can structure and negotiate more cost-effective real estate transactions, with articles appearing in The Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review, Barrons, Inc. Magazine, and other publications; and has been quoted on industry trends in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Crain’s New York Business, CFO, Bloomberg, and other media.
“Marisa has a remarkable ability to take an everyday object or routine process and explain its utility in a really interesting, innovative way,” said Verso Studios Producer Travis Bell, who recorded each episode with Manley. “You come away from each episode feeling like you learned so much, and the information is delivered in a comprehensive but digestible snapshot that really engages the listener. It’s hard to find that sweet spot, and Marisa has nailed it.”
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.
The Westport Library has officially launched its 2024-25 annual appeal, with the goal of raising $325,000 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 theme for this year’s appeal is “Invest in Lifelong Learning,” a nod to the Library’s mission of empowering the individual and strengthening the community through dynamic interaction and the lively exchange of ideas, and also our ongoing commitment to Verso University and the many programs we run regularly to promote personal growth and educational exploration.
The Town of Westport funds 77% of the Library’s operating budget. The remaining 23% is raised through special events and private donations like those provided during the annual appeal.
“This campaign is foundational to everything we do as a Library,” said Bill Harmer, Westport Library executive director. “It raises the funds we need to continue to provide exceptional programming and services. The contributions from our incredible patrons empower us to be the heart of our community, ensuring we can offer the majority of our events and lifelong learning initiatives free of charge or at a significantly reduced cost.”
Click here to donate today to support the annual appeal.
“Our annual appeal is a time-honored tradition that unites us in a common purpose: to ensure the vibrancy and vitality of the Library,” said Westport Library Development Director Robin Powell. “We hope this year the whole Westport community will join us in this tradition of giving. Please know that your contribution, no matter the size, makes a world of difference.”
The Library welcomes 350,000 visitors each year, making it one of the most highly trafficked destinations in Westport.
In the past year alone, the Library hosted an unforgettable Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration featuring Rev. Clarence B. Jones, the esteemed advisor to Dr. King who co-wrote the iconic “I Have a Dream” speech; a discussion with Pulitzer Prize winner Doris Kearns Goodwin; our Summer Learning program that engaged 1,000 children from grades 1-8 in STEAM activities, workshops, and lessons; multiple joint initiatives with StartUp Westport to empower local entrepreneurs; a series of career coaching programs to help individuals achieve gainful and meaningful employment; regularly scheduled Anyone Can Use classes covering topics from social media marketing to how best to utilize Library resources and services; and an array of Verso University courses across diverse fields of study, including media, technology, literature, art, health, wellness, music, film, history, business, and lifestyle.
All told, hundreds of community members attended these courses, illustrating the Library’s commitment to providing accessible educational opportunities for all. The Library has also embraced Westport students, welcoming preschoolers through high schoolers and providing a safe study space and educational support.
“Our dedication to lifelong learning transcends age and geographical boundaries, encompassing the entire community and acknowledging that education is an enduring pursuit,” Harmer said. “We have evolved into a dynamic learning hub that offers an extensive array of programs, services, and resources to meet the diverse needs of our community members, from the very youngest to the most senior.”
In addition to its unparalleled reference librarians, remarkable children’s librarians, extraordinary patron services team, IT professionals, and more, the Library hosts more than 1,000 programs each year — programs that run the gamut from book groups and language groups to chess clubs and children’s reading programs. The Library also features Verso Studios, our in-house media and production hub, complete with a postproduction suite, plus a dazzling Library store, a fully stocked café, three separate art galleries that exhibit quarterly, a robust digital library that is available 24/7, a seed library, a Library of Things, 3D printing, a vinyl collection, DVD collection, audiobooks, board games, videogames, and more.
There are also regular evening offerings covering a wide variety of topics. Formats include lectures and author talks as well as performances and focused programming on particular topics of interest, not to mention StoryFest, VersoFest, BOOKED for the evening, WestportREADS, the spring and fall book sales, and the Library’s other tentpole programs, a great many of which are organized and executed alongside partner organizations from throughout the town.
All of which foster lifelong learning and enrich the Westport community, and all of which are supported by your gift to the 2024-25 annual appeal.
The annual appeal will run through January 2025. We will promote the appeal through a robust fundraising drive aimed both to raise money and to thank the community for its longtime support, with a social media campaign headlined by video testimonials from patrons of all ages, banners in and around the Library and downtown, inclusion in our 2023-24 annual report, select email marketing, and letters from the Library with handwritten notes of appreciation from members of both the Library staff and our board of trustees.
For three wondrous days, the authors who create them brought The Westport Library’s books to life, with more than 50 writers from a vast array of genres gracing the Library’s varied spaces to celebrate stories, books, writers, and readers at StoryFest 2024, the Library’s seventh annual literary festival.
As visiting author Genna Rose Nethercott so aptly said during her Saturday evening storytelling session, “This is such a fun weekend of literary marvels.”
The festival, a celebration of the story in all its forms and of storytellers from across all media, kicked off Friday night with the unveiling of Jesse Freidin’s remarkable art exhibit, Are You OK? The Disappearing Faces of America’s Trans Youth, and the StoryFest keynote conversation between acclaimed author, editor, and essayist Roxane Gay and Oliver Radclyffe, whose highly anticipated new memoir, Frighten the Horses, about coming of age in the fourth decade of one’s life, came out this fall on Gay’s imprint.
The evening drew more than 250 to the Library’s Trefz Forum for a celebration of diversity and becoming your truest self — and of writing, reading, editing, and books, themes that carried into Saturday’s jam-packed day of panels, podcasts, author conversations, and book readings.
Saturday was a true celebration of storytellers and storytelling, with more than 1,200 fans packing the Library starting with the first panel discussions at 10 am and staying until the day wrapped up 11 hours later.
Photos by KT Kaminski, Westport Library
There was truly something for every reader and book lover:
Nine panels in all — five in the Trefz Forum, three in Brooks Place, and a cartooning panel held in the Sheffer Gallery, currently hosting the exhibit, Cartoon County: The Golden Age of Cartooning in Connecticut. After each panel, the authors congregated in the StoryFest Book Store to sign books and chat with admirers.
A series of children’s book readings held in the Children’s Library, featuring Diana Sussman, Isi Hendrix, Karen L. Swanson, Hal Johnson, and Lisa Korsten Price.
Two live podcast recordings — Fearmongers (one of the Library’s community partnership podcasts) with host Clay McLeod Chapman and guests Rachel Harrison and P. Djèlí Clark, and Minorities in Publishing with host Jennifer Baker and guests Shannon C.F. Rogers and Don P. Hooper.
A moving tribute to the late Westport literary icon Sybil Steinberg, with books from her personal collection on sale in the StoryFest Book Store.
The awarding of the 2024 Westport Prize for Literature to Alejandro Puyana for Freedom is a Feast, his dazzling debut novel, a multigenerational saga of love and revolution set in the author’s native Venezuela.
And the evening closed, fittingly, with the Lundberg Masters storytelling event: The Power of Story, featuring a puppet show and tale from Nethercott, short stories from Chapman and Gabino Iglesias, a preview of her new project by May Cobb, a poem from Cynthia Pelayo, a recounting by Freidin of the most impactful stories from his book project, and a recollection from Northeast Storytelling President ChaChanna Simpson, all moderated by Kerstin Rao.
StoryFest officially wrapped Sunday, with a PitchFest workshop delivered by Bloom Writers’ Studio, a day for potential future StoryFest writers to get experience pitching their projects to publishers and learning what it takes to get their stories told to wider audience.
You unlock this door with the key of imagination. Beyond it is another dimension — a dimension of sound, a dimension of sight, a dimension of mind. You're moving into a land of both shadow and substance, of things and ideas. You've just crossed over into... Westport, Connecticut.
Award-winning author and resident Twilight Zone expert Arlen Schumer presents Westport in The Twilight Zone: A Symposium, a four-day event series that will explore Westport’s unique place in the unsettling, cerebral, and often macabre world of The Twilight Zone — and celebrate 100 years of Twilight Zone creator and iconic 20th century broadcast voice Rod Serling.
Starting Thursday, September 26, and running through Sunday, September 29, The Westport Library will host screenings of landmark episodes and films inspired by Serling’s signature series, punctuated by insightful discussions of all aspects of his life and work — including facts you never knew about Westport’s critical role in The Twilight Zone.
Thursday and Friday night’s presentations are 6 to 9 pm, Saturday is 5 to 9 pm, and Sunday is 1 to 5 pm. Tickets for this event are free. Register to attend here. Attendees are encouraged to come dressed in their best black and white Twilight Zone outfits — and enjoy black and white cookies throughout the symposium.
Schumer will spearhead the proceedings, along with fellow authors and Serling scholars Nick Parisi (Rod Serling: His Life, Work, and Imagination and America’s Twilight Zone: How Rod Serling Foreshadowed the Age of Trump) and Mark Dawidziak (Everything I Need to Know I Learned in The Twilight Zone.)
Schumer’s intention for Westport in The Twilight Zone is to enlighten local attendees with thematic elements drawn from Serling’s own life, particularly regarding his time in Westport.
“Serling lived in Westport for three years during the mid-50s, when he won three Emmy Awards three years in a row,” Schumer said. “That creative clout enabled him to go out to Hollywood to create The Twilight Zone — and some of its greatest episodes might have been influenced by his time in Westport!”
Those episodes include ones like, “A Stop at Willoughby” and “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street,” which Schumer delved into in his new book, The Five Themes of The Twilight Zone. In it, Schumer described Westport’s influence in Serling’s alternate dimension as “traces of the town's suburban, commuter and pastoral elements, as well as its dark underbelly.”
Advanced hardcover copies are available for purchase through online registration or during the event prior to the book’s official date of publication on October 2, which marks the 65th Anniversary of The Twilight Zone’s debut.
Thursday, September 26, will kick off the symposium with “A Stop at Willoughby,” followed by the 1968 Burt Lancaster film, The Swimmer, based on John Cheever's 1964 New Yorker short story of the same name. The Swimmer was partially filmed in Westport.
Friday delivers “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street,” followed by “The Shelter,” its sister episode. The evening ends with a rare one-hour episode that was truly ahead of its time: “He’s Alive,” starring Dennis Hopper.
Saturday’s double feature is the Oscar-winning episode (Best Short Film) “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” and the 1990 cult classic film Jacob’s Ladder, inspired by that same episode.
Sunday closes out the symposium in style with a pop-up art show of Staples High School students’ artworks, inspired by one of the most memorable Twilight Zone episodes, “Eye of the Beholder.” A screening of that same episode will precede another thematically similar one: “Number 12 Looks Just Like You,” complete with original commercials from its airdate in 1964. The 1975 film The Stepford Wives, also partially filmed in Westport, will tie it all together.
Westport? Whatever it is, it comes with sunlight and serenity… and is a part of The Twilight Zone.
The Westport Library will hold a special dedication ceremony on Thursday, September 26, to honor Julie and Rob Haroun for their charitable investment in improving and maintaining the landscaping around the Library.
The ceremony will be held from 4 to 5:30 pm on the Library’s Riverwalk Level. A plaque recognizing the Harouns has been placed at the front of the building, near the police parking lot.
Among the many improvements are a new irrigation system and new plantings along Jesup Green, the Riverwalk path to Library, and the hill below the café deck, with plans to maintain these areas moving forward.
“Julie and Rob have always been great friends of the Library, and throughout my tenure, I’ve appreciated their advice, counsel, and enduring support,” said Westport Library Executive Director Bill Harmer. “This gift is truly special. It ensures that the grounds around the Library are representative of the world-class, five-star Library we endeavor to be every day. We couldn’t be more appreciative of their donation and how it will benefit our shared community for years to come.”
Julie and Rob Haroun
The Harouns worked diligently to see the project through to completion, coordinating with town officials and the Library to ensure all regulations were in full compliance.
Outdoor Design and Living was commissioned to execute the makeover, completing the work at a discount as a generous donation to the Library.
“Having worked as a real estate developer for over 30 years, primarily focusing on properties in Westport, I was intent on ensuring that the exterior of the building was properly landscaped to reflect the first-class facility that we all enjoy in this town,” said Rob Haroun, who served as a member of the Library Board of Trustees from 2016 to 2023.
“We are confident that these funds will cover the maintenance for the next five to 10 years. We have lived in town since 1992, raised three children, and have built a business in town. It is our way of giving back to an institution that is near and dear to our hearts.”
