Performing New Lives: Prison Theatre by Jonathan Shailor book signing and presentation

Jonathan Shailor, Curt Tofteland and Meade Palidofsky will be at after-words books on Thursday, February 24^th from 5:30-7:30 p.m. signing copies of their book Performing New Lives.  There will be a wine reception following the presentation.  Performing New Lives: Prison Theatre (Jessica Kingsley Publishers, Paperback, $37.95)

Performing New Lives draws together some of the most original and innovative programs in contemporary prison theatre. Leading prison theatre directors and practitioners discuss the prison theatre experience first-hand, and offer valuable insights into its role, function, and implementation. A wide range of prison theatre initiatives are discussed, from long-running, high-profile programs such as Curt Tofteland's Shakespeare Behind Bars in LaGrange, Kentucky, to fledgling efforts like Jodi Jinks' Arts Aloud project in Austin, Texas.  Here in Chicago we have Meade Palidofsky’s Storycatchers Theatre.

This book is essential reading for drama therapists, theatre artists, and prison educators, as well as academics. Excerpts of interviews with inmates, and a conversation between practitioners in the final chapter, reveal the impact that prison theatre programs have on the performers themselves, as well as audience members, and the wider community.

Three national leaders in prison theatre will read from their new book, and will discuss how their theatre programs function behind prison walls as vehicles for prisoners' reintegration into society.

Jonathan Shailor (editor and author) has been teaching and facilitating The Theatre of Empowerment in Wisconsin prisons for over 15 years.  Jonathan's work has been celebrated in The New York Times and on Wisconsin Public Radio.  

Curt Tofteland (author) is a professional producer/director/actor and award-winning playwright, and the Founder and Producing Artistic Director of the internationally acclaimed Shakespeare Behind Bars (SBB) program (now in its 16th year). SBB has been featured in an award-winning documentary which premiered at the Sundance Festival: Shakespeare Behind Bars.  

Meade Palidofsky (author) is an award-winning playwright, lyricist, director, youth development specialist.  Meade is the Founding Director of Storycatchers Theatre (formerly Music Theatre Workshop) now in its 27th year.  It is dedicated to the healing and development of youth in juvenile detention centers and prisons in the Chicago area.  Storycatchers has been featured in the Emmy award-winning documentary, Girls on the Wall.

The Futures by Emily Lambert book signing

Emily Lambert will be at After-Words books on January 13, 2011 from 5:30-7:30 pm signing copies of her book and interviewing Bill Henner, a trader who was featured in her work The Futures: The Rise of the Speculator and the Origins of the World’s Biggest Markets.

Over the past century, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange flourished and transformed the way the world does business, and some might argue that these advances helped create the worst financial crisis of our lifetime. With The Futures, Lambert shows how the unique culture and limits of the Mercantile Exchange can serve as a useful blueprint for how exchanges ought to work—and perhaps a tonic for our current financial ills.

In the book, Lambert tells the story of how the men (and a few women) of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange struck it rich on butter and eggs, pork bellies and soybeans—and created a formidable competitor to the New York Stock Exchange. The result is an unexpectedly funny, fascinating account of the flesh-and-blood personalities behind this institution, not to mention the inspired business deals they made on their way to either fabulous wealth or utter penury (depending on how well they played the market).

Kirkus Reviews raves, “[Lambert] devotes loving attention to a parade of outrageous risk-takers… Although she provides lucid explanations of how the market works and how the various money-making strategies collide, the charm of her fast-paced, informal history comes from the book’s animating insight: ‘Finance is like biology: Everything is intertwined.’…A full-blooded introduction to an arcane world.”

Emily Lambert is senior writer for Forbes magazine, where she covers finance and trading. She has also written for the New York Post. She lives in Chicago.

Bill Henner is a third generation Chicago futures trader. He has spent over 25 years on the trading floors of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the Chicago Board of Trade. Bill has traded foreign currencies, metals, interest rates, and equity index futures over the course of his career. You can hear him every day at 8:05 am CST with his "View from Chicago" report in the Value Zone Trading Room. www.valuezonetrading.com

Please join us for wine and beer on Thursday, January 13, 2011 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.  The author will be signing following her interview with Bill Henner.

Live event coverage on BookTV

See coverage of our store during the event for Emily Lambert's book The Futures.

http://www.booktv.org/Program/12203/The+Futures+The+Rise+of+the+Speculator+and+the+Origins+of+the+Worlds+Biggest+Markets.aspx

The Price of Liberty by Keir Graff book signing

Local author Keir Graff will be at After-Words books on September 9, 2010 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. reading from and signing copies of his book The Price of Liberty.

Both personal and occupational problems beset Red Rock, WY, construction worker Jack McEnroe in this solid political thriller from Graff (One Nation, Under God). Jack's wife, Kyla, who's left him and taken their two young children with her, is now working for, and romantically involved with, his boss, Dave Fetters. A bar fight with Dave's spoiled, greedy son, Shane, jeopardizes Jack's job with Dave's construction company. Meanwhile, Halcyon Corporation, which won a no-bid contract to build Camp Liberty, a massive federal prison for terrorists, has subcontracted with Dave's company for much of the work. When Kyla uncovers ongoing fraud, she turns to Jack for help. Shane's clumsy but deadly attempts at damage control fuel carnage and cause Scott Starr, Halcyon's executive v-p, to order his own people to restore order. Graff's cynical take on government waste and corporate greed plays well. McEnroe is as rugged as the desolate country he lives in, and his gritty do-what-ya-gotta-do actions keep the pages turning easily. --Publishers Weekly, 14th June 2010

Keir Graff is the author of the novels The Price of Liberty (2010), One Nation, Under God (2008), My Fellow Americans (2007), and, under the pseudonym Michael McCulloch, Cold Lessons (2007). His short stories have appeared in a wide variety of publications, from the Portland Review to the Chicago Reader. A former freelance writer, he has written about topics ranging from books and publishing to billiards and cocktails. By day, he is the senior editor of Booklist Online. He lives in Chicago with his wife, two sons, two cats, two goldfish, and about two thousand earthworms. He enjoys drinking scotch whiskey, playing pool, running, and coaching soccer, but not all at once.

Please join us for hors d’oeuvres and wine on Thursday, September 9, 2010 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.   The author will be reading from his book The Price of Liberty (Severn House, $28.95) and signing copies afterwards.

50 Ways You Can Help Obama Change America by Michael Huttner book signing

You are invited to join us at the Chicago book signing of 50 Ways You Can Help Obama Change America, with the author and ProgressNow Founder Michael Huttner.

Michael Huttner is empowering a new generation of Americans to take action in their own communities. His book has been praised by progressives across America, including Gov. Howard Dean, Arianna Huffington and the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy.

50 Ways You Can Help Obama Change America just hit bookstores across the country September 1 and climbed to the #28 bestseller on Amazon.com during its first week.

Soldier Field: A Stadium and Its City by Liam Ford book signing at the Billy Goat Tavern

Liam Ford will be at Billy Goat Tavern on October 1, 2009 at 6pm for an event to launch his book Soldier Field: A Stadium and Its City (University of Chicago Press $30, 78 black and white photos).

Sports fans nationwide know Soldier Field as the home of the Chicago Bears. For decades its signature columns provided an iconic backdrop for gridiron matches. But few realize that the stadium has been much more than that. Soldier Field: A Stadium and Its City explores how this amphitheater evolved from a public war memorial into a majestic arena that helped define Chicago.

Chicago Tribune staff writer Liam Ford led the reporting on the stadium’s controversial 2003 renovation—and simultaneously found himself unearthing a dramatic history. As he tells it, the tale of Soldier Field truly is the story of Chicago, filled with political intrigue and civic pride. Designed by Holabird and Roche, Soldier Field arose through a serendipitous combination of local tax dollars, City Beautiful Boosters, and the machinations of Mayor “Big Bill” Thompson. The result was a stadium that stood at the center of Chicago’s political, cultural, and sporting life for nearly sixty years before the arrival of Walter Payton and William “The Refrigerator” Perry.

Ford describes it all in the voice of a seasoned reporter: the high school football games, track and field contests, rodeos, and even NASCAR races. Photographs, including many from the Chicago Park District’s own collections, capture these remarkable scenes: the swelling crowds at ethnic festivals, Catholic masses, and political rallies. Few remember that Soldier Field hosted Billy Graham and Martin Luther King Jr., Judy Garland and Johnny Cash—as well as the final show of the Grateful Dead.

One Nation, Under God by Keir Graff book signing

Keir Graff will be at After-Words books on September 4, 2008  from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. signing copies of his book One Nation, Under God.

For God and country or simply for God? - The United States is holding an election, and control of the country may be determined by a single seat in the Buckle of the Bible Belt: Tulsa, Oklahoma. In Tulsa, recovering methamphetamine addict Seth Stevens is trying to hold his fragile life together. But his decision to campaign for the church-supported candidate forces him to answer an age-old question: what do you do when following your faith means breaking the law?

Keir Graff is Senior Editor of Booklist Online, where he writes a popular blog about book reviewing (http://blog.booklistonline.com/).  His short stories have appeared in the Chicago Reader Fiction Issue, the Portland Review, Downstate Story, and elsewhere.  Before starting at Booklist, his byline was frequently seen in publications as diverse as Playboy.com, the Chicago Tribune, Billiards Digest, and NewCity.  He lives on Chicago’s lakefront with his wife and two young sons.

Please join us for hors d’oeuvres, wine and beer on Thursday, September 4, 2008 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.  The author will be reading from his book One Nation, Under God (Severn House, $28.95) and signing copies afterwards.