'Dinner with Friends' to benefit Libraries
The Friends of the UMass Amherst Libraries will host the seventh annual “Dinner with Friends” on Saturday, April 4 at 6:30 p.m. in the Learning Commons at the W.E.B. Du Bois Library.
The event features talks by three notable speakers: author-illustrator Tony DiTerlizzi, novelist and short story writer Valerie Martin and poet and NPR commentator Lloyd Schwartz, as well as a champagne and hors d’oeuvre reception with the Jay Messer Trio, and a gourmet dinner.
DiTerlizzi has created several award-winning picture books for children, including “Kenny & the Dragon,” “The Spiderwick Chronicles,” “G is for One Gzonk!,” and the 2003 Caldecott Honor book, “The Spider & the Fly.” DiTerlizzi’s art has graced the work of such well-known writers as J.R.R Tolkien, Anne McCaffrey, Peter Beagle and Jane Yolen. “The Spiderwick Chronicles” was made into a motion picture.
Martin, who earned her MFA through the English Department in 1974, is the author of several books, including the novels “Trespass,” “Property,” “Italian Fever” and “Mary Reilly” as well as the biography “Salvation: Scenes from the Life of St. Francis.” “Mary Reilly” was made into a film in 1996. Martin is the winner of Britain’s Orange Prize for Fiction for “Property,” which is set against a backdrop of slavery in the South. Her collection of short stories, “Love,” contains the story “Surface Calm,” which was made into a movie in 2001. A former faculty member in the English Department, Martin has taught writing at Mount Holyoke College, Sarah Lawrence College, Loyola University in New Orleans and the University of New Orleans.
Poet and commentator on NPR’s “Fresh Air,” Schwartz is also the Frederick S. Troy Professor of English at UMass Boston and the classical music editor of The Boston Phoenix. Schwartz’s books of poetry include “Cairo Traffic,” “Goodnight, Gracie” and “These People.” He is an internationally recognized authority on Elizabeth Bishop’s poetry and editor of “Elizabeth Bishop and Her Art.” Schwartz’s poems, articles and reviews have appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, Vanity Fair, The New Republic, The Paris Review, and The Best American Poetry. In 1994, he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for criticism. In 1995, the associates of the Boston Public Library chose him as one of Boston’s “Literary Lights.” Schwartz has taught at Queens College and Harvard University.
The evening is a key fundraising event for the Libraries, with all proceeds going to the Library Facilities Fund. Last year, attendees and sponsors raised more $32,000 for the Libraries.
Tickets are $125 per person or $225 for two (of which $90 is tax-deductible, $155 for two). Complimentary passes for the parking garage will be provided. Handicapped parking is available next to the Library. For more information and to make reservations, contact Emily Silverman at 545-0995 or via e-mail at friends@library.umass.edu.
Corporate sponsors of this year’s “Dinner with Friends” include Accounting & Tax Associates, Inc.; Amherst Books, Bonbons de Bourguignon; Brattle Book Shop; EBSCO; Elsevier; Ex Libris, Gale, a part of Cengage Learning; MicroTek, Inc.; Prime Time Plus, Inc.; Springer; Taylor Rental; Thomson Reuters, Science; UMass Catering; and the University Store/Follett.
More Information
Event website
March 24, 2009.
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