Award-winning author and illustrator Jerdine Nolen, will discuss Irene’s Wish, a modern fable about the power of wishes at Writers Live Publisher: Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books 2014. Hardcover: 32 pages. Language: English

ART NEWS

As April begins Writers Converge at Enoch Pratt Free Library for Writers Live

BY KAZAD

BALTIMORE, MD— Writers Live, the educational program at the Enoch Pratt Free Library has a great lineup of writers for April. This month, the Library located in Baltimore will be bringing together young and seasoned writers from across the United States to present their work to a wider audience.

Writers Live program is a major feature of the Enoch Pratt Free Library, and has enabled the Library invite seasoned and emerging writers to present their work to library guests. April is bound to be an exciting time for the Writers Live program as many of the writers invited provide deeper insight into their areas of study research methodology. But more importantly, they address issues important to everyone.

Many of the Writers Live events will be held at the Enoch Pratt Free Library Central Library, Poe Room 400 Cathedral Street, Baltimore, MD 21201. Others are spread across the library branches across Baltimore City.

Here are some of the writers expected at April’s Writers Live event

Ronald C. Rosbottom, When Paris Went Dark: The City of Light Under German Occupation, 1940-1944

Tuesday, April 7 at 7:00pm

Central Library, Poe Room 400 Cathedral Street, Baltimore, MD 21201

Ronald C. Rosbottom, the Winifred L. Arms Professor in the Arts and Humanities and Professor of French and European Studies at Amherst College will go back in time to June 14, 1940, when German tanks entered a silent and nearly deserted Paris. It was a fierce battle, but the French lost. Eight days after the invasion, France accepted a humiliating defeat and foreign occupation. At the core of Rosbottom’s presentation at Writers Live is the struggle of coexistence between the occupiers and the occupied.

Maxine Clair, Imagine This: Creating the Work You Love

Wednesday, April 8 at 6:30pm

Central Library, Poe Room 400 Cathedral Street, Baltimore, MD 21201

Award-winning poet and author Maxine Clair, will be presenting her book titled Imagine This: Creating the Work You Love. Clair’s book delves into the life of the author, illuminating her life experience.

Part memoir, part guide to channeling creativity, Imagine This: Creating the Work You Love examines the author’s midlife career change from medical technologist to award-winning poet and author. Clair’s book is inspirational and filled with life advice for readers who want to make similar transitions.

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Maxine Clair taught English until 2008 at George Washington University where she currently holds the title of Professor Emerita. A brilliant writer, her novel October Suite, was a finalist for the Hurston-Wright Legacy Award for Fiction. It is expected that her Writers Live presentation will attract young writers from Baltimore and around the country.

David O. Stewart, Madison’s Gift: Five Partnerships That Built America

Wednesday, April 15 at 6:30pm

Central Library, Poe Room 400 Cathedral Street, Baltimore, MD 21201

Of all the founding fathers, James Madison is perhaps the lesser known for his contribution to laying the foundation for the United States of America. In Madison’s Gift, David Stewart restores James Madison to his proper place as the most significant framer of the new nation.

It is very clear from Stewart’s book that Madison was a man of great qualities who worked tirelessly with George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, and James Monroe to establish the foundation of the United States. What is even most compelling about this seemingly ordinary man, who is sometimes overshadowed by his fellow Founders is not just his intelligence, but also the fact that he cared more about achieving results than taking the credit.

Jerdine Nolen @ Writers Live 

Tuesday, April 21 at 10:30am

Central Library, Children’s Department 400 Cathedral Street, Baltimore, MD 21201

Jerdine Nolen, an award-winning author and illustrator is one of the writers who have come to capture the mind of every child. As part of Enoch Pratt Free Library Writers Live program Nolen will share her stories, including her latest book Irene’s Wish. She will also discuss her writing process. Irene’s Wish is a book that takes readers to the heart of a young girl who longed to see her father more. To achieve this, she made a wish. Her wish not only came true, it also took a dramatic turn. This is a modern fable about the power of wishes. It brings to the fore enduring love between parent and child and the power of imagination. As one of the celebrated writers of children’s books, there is great hope that her talk will inspire other writers to write children’s book.

Celebrating Earth Day: How Empowering Women Leads to Protecting the Environment in West Africa

Wednesday, April 22 at 6:30pm

Central Library, Wheeler Auditorium 400 Cathedral Street, Baltimore, MD 21201

The struggles and successes of getting sustainable development projects off the ground in many African countries is one issue that many have contended with through the years. While the struggles differ from one third world country to another, certain elements have remained fundamental.   As part of the Writers Live program, author Miranda Paul and Gambian activist Isatou Ceesay will examine the challenges of getting sustainable development projects off the ground in Gambian villages.

Isatou Ceesay, who was the 2012 recipient of a “World of Difference” award from The International Alliance for Women, has been at the forefront of encouraging Gambian women to recycle. In the late 1990s, Isatou Ceesay teamed up with Peace Corps volunteer Peggy Sedlak and four Gambian women to tackle the growing “plastic-bag problem.” Many skeptics laughed at them, but she and the women were very persistent. In almost two decades, the women have recycled countless plastic bags and formed a cooperative organization promoting health, education and environmental issues.

Noted as one of the most important writers and advocate on recycling, Miranda Paul is the author of One Plastic Bag: Isatou Ceesay and the Recycling Women of the Gambia. Over the past decade, she has traveled to the Gambia as a volunteer, teacher, and fair trade and literacy advocate.

Christopher McDougall, Natural Born Heroes

Saturday, April 25 at 12:00pm

Light Street Branch, 1251 Light Street, Baltimore, MD 21230

It is a well established fact that Greeks heroes were strong and creatures of extraordinary strength.  In stories and myths, there are reminders of their astonishing strength. In battles and  conflicts, it has been shown that Greek Heroes  showed remarkable  strength and were fearless.

In Natural Born Heroes,  Christopher McDougall, author of bestseller Born to Run, tries to unravel what made the Greek Heroes so fearsome.   In his search for  answers,  McDougall traveled to the Mediterranean and what he unveiled was very instructive.  He discovered that secrets of ancient Greek Heroes are still alive and well on the island of Crete and in the muscles and minds of fitness enthusiasts everywhere.

For all those interested in the Greeks Heroes  and what  made them so strong, this is the event to attend. During his Writers Live presentation, McDougall will bare that the ancestral techniques for extraordinary endurance, natural movement, and nutrition allowed ancient Greek soldiers and Cretan shepherds to race across mountains on all-night missions.

Natural Born Heroes is an inspiration book that will encourage casual athletes to leave the gym and take their fitness outside and be part of nature. Like the Greek Heroes, McDougall contends that doing cross-training, mud runs, parkour and free-running could help casual athletes attain heroic feats.

Sheree Franklin, Intuition: The Hidden Asset Everyone Should Learn How to Use

Wednesday, April 29 at 7:00pm

Central Library, Poe Room 400 Cathedral Street, Baltimore, MD 21201

What should everyone learn how to use intuition? This is the question Sheree Franklin tries to answer in her book The Hidden Asset Everyone Should Learn to Use. In her book, the Chicago -based intuitive coach and and counselor uses case studies from her practice as well as personal experience  to show how trusting one’s intuition can banish fear and help us lead worry-free lives . To make it easy for the readers guests at the Writers Live presentation, Franklin will explain how we can all learn intuition and effectively use it  in our daily activities.

Writers Live programs is an educational program at the Enoch Pratt Free Library. It brings together writers from across the country. While some of the writers are well-known, others are emerging writers. Although April has some of the outstanding writers, May also generating great excitement as more writers are getting ready to take the Writers Live stage