A Conversation with Antonya Nelson - Antonya Nelson, Angela Elam
Tuesday, October 20 | 6:30 p.m. | Plaza Branch, 4801 Main St.
Award-winning writer Antonya Nelson, a Kansas native, discusses her work with KCUR radio's Angela Elam in the latest installment of the Writers at Work series.
Nelson is the author of four novels and seven short story collections and has published her writing in The New Yorker, Esquire, Harper's, Redbook, and other magazines. She is the recipient of a USA Artists Award, a Rea Award for the Short Story, and National Endowment for the Arts and Guggenheim fellowships. The conversation will be taped for later broadcast on KCUR's New Letters on the Air, for which Elam is producer and host.
Writers at Work is organized by Whitney Terrell, assistant professor of creative writing at UMKC, and co-sponsored by the Writers at Work Round Table, the Carolyn Benton Cockefair Chair at UMKC, and the UMKC English Department.
Immigrant Tales - Christine Boutros, Martin Okpareke, Leo Prieto
Tuesday, October 20 | 6:30 p.m. | Central Library, 14 W. 10th St.
As America continues to wrestle with the subject of immigration, three Kansas Citians — all immigrants — discuss their own journeys, reflect on why they settled in KC, and weigh in on the current immigrant experience.
On the panel are Christine Boutros, manager of community programs at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art; Martin Okpareke, outreach coordinator for Jewish Vocational Services; and Leo Prieto, director of community outreach for Truman Medical Centers.
Jesus' Parables in Their Jewish Content - Amy-Jill Levine
Wednesday, October 21 | 6:30 p.m. | Central Library, 14 W. 10th St.
Jesus was a perceptive teacher and skilled storyteller who taught in short stories — parables — using everyday images to speak about the Kingdom of Heaven. But life in first-century Galilee and Judea was very different from our world today.
Renowned New Testament scholar Amy-Jill Levine discusses how traditional interpretations of Christ's teachings not only ignore the disparity but also inject anti-Jewish and sexist views. Author of the book Short Stories by Jesus: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi, the Vanderbilt University professor shows how hearing the parables in their Jewish context allows us to recover their original provocation and thus recognize what they might say to 21st-century listeners.
Co-presented by the Oppenstein Brothers UMKC Judaic Studies Outreach Program Fund.
Exhibit: Visions of Excellence
Opening Saturday, October 24 | Central Library, 14 W. 10th St.
Fifty of the most arresting images of the past year, captured by the world's leading photojournalists and spotlighting an array of news events, political trends, and social issues, are featured in the 72nd annual Pictures of the Year International exhibition.
One photo starkly depicts the horror of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17. Another reflects a family's unease - written in their eyes - after the first night of violence in Ferguson, Missouri. More buoyantly, there is Derek Jeter taking the field at Yankee Stadium for the final time in his decorated baseball career.
The Pictures of the Year contest is administered by the Missouri School of Journalism's Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute. The exhibit remains on display through November 29, 2015.
Programming is free at the Kansas City Public Library and free parking is available at all Library locations. Event attendees can RSVP at kclibrary.org or at 816.701.3407.