GrubStreet presents “Who Are We When We’re At Home: The Black Experience”
Friday, May 5th
The eve of their annual Muse and the Marketplace Conference, GrubStreet hosts a panel moderated by Boston Globe columnist Renee Graham, bringing together area writers, historians, and activists to explore the idea of code-switching and the experience of being black in Boston. Boston is a city that was at once the birthplace of the abolitionist movement, the site of the busing riots in the 1970s, and the site of segregation and gentri cation today. How does the city’s complicated and contradictory historical legacy impact the African American experience? This event is being co-presented by the Mayor’s Of ce of Resilience & Racial Equity. GrubStreet.org
The Boston Athenaeum presents “A Composer’s Sense of Place”
Monday, May 8th
The concert by the New England Philharmonic Chamber Players, is offered in conjunction with the Athenæum’s current exhibition, New England on Paper: Contemporary Art in the Boston Athenæum’s Prints & Photographs Collections, an exploration of the way local artists interpret the region. “A Composer’s Sense of Place” will demonstrate that music, like works of art on paper, is permeated by a sense of place and context. Players will perform and discuss works by Charles Ives, Bela Bartok, Matt Aucoin, and New England Philharmonic composers Jason Coleman and Emily Koh. BostonAthenaeum.org
The Boston Book Festival Presents “Women of Letters”
Tuesday, May 9th
In a not-to-be-missed event, some of the best and brightest women celebrate the lost art of letter writing as a means to revealing one’s innermost self. Host So ja Stefanovic welcomes guests reading “A letter to my secret.” Among the writers who will be on stage together for the rst time ever: Claire Messud, acclaimed author of The Emperors Children, Marianne Leone, actress, screen- writer, and author of the memoir Ma Speaks Up, and revered host of WGBH’s Under the Radar Callie Crossley. Tickets at bostonbookfest.org/year-round-events/womenofletters/
The Boston Public Library: “Who We Are: Boston Immigration Then and Now”
May 27 through August 27
Boston’s foreign-born population, hailing from over 100 countries, now accounts for nearly 28% of the city’s total population. The neighborhoods that make up Boston often tell unique stories of diversity and change. This exhibition, running May 27 through August 27, 2017, and co-presented by the Norman B. Leventhal Map Center, compares the landscape of today’s “new” Boston with that of over 100 years ago. The maps and graphics on display will show where Boston’s foreign-born residents originate from, and where newer immigrant groups have settled, while celebrating “who we are” and the vibrant diversity that is Boston. bpl.org