News

South End Authors Book Festival returns with new faces, format

by Michele D.  Maniscalco
Wednesday Apr 3, 2019

This article is from the April 4, 2019 issue of South End News.


The South End Authors Book Festival is back this year in an expanded edition, with 32 authors, four speakers and a musical performance. Participants include past and present South End residents, collectively offering a wide range of literary genres and styles from history to humor; memoirs to mysteries; verse to visual art and more.

The festival will take place on Thursday, April 4 from 4:00-8:00 PM at the Harry Dow Community Room at Tent City, 130 Dartmouth Street. Fred Dow, son of the late Harry Dow, the first Chinese-American admitted to the Bar in Massachusetts and a longtime advocate for immigrants and the poor, will speak in the room named after his distinguished father. Since the festival coincides with the 51st anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., there will be remembrances of his life as well.

Returning authors include Alison Barnet, neighborhood historian and author as well as founding editor of the South End News; Gabriel Valjan, author of the successful "Roma" series of international thrillers; Mel King, lifelong South Ender, author, community activist and former state legislator, and Piano Factory resident and artist Thom Donovan, whose publications include "Yes, Pun Intended", a collection of verbal and visual humor and "Lennon at Sea", a graphic novel about John Lennon's burst of creativity during his final years.
Lorenz Finison will present "Boston's Twentieth-Century Bicycling Renaissance: Cultural Change on Two Wheels", the follow up to his 2014 book, "Boston's Cycling Craze, 1880-1900: A Story of Race, Sport, and Society".

Charles Caizzi will return with "Just So You Know", his first book of humorous yet straightforward reminiscences of his South End upbringing, as well as his new work, "Just for the Fun of it". First-time participants include Julia Glatfelter, whose children's art book, "The Little Glass Treasure House" is inspired by her tenure as a former teacher at the Children's Art Center on Rutland Street, and GrubStreet's Christopher Castellani, whose new novel, "Leading Men", published last month, intertwines literary jet-setters Truman Capote and Tennessee Williams and the setting of the Italian Riviera with characters of his own creation in a tale of love and loss.

This year's festival will also welcome Anthony Sammarco, who recently added to his extensive series of slim yet informative histories of Boston's neighborhoods and people.

Building on the warm reception for Fred Dow's spontaneous comments at the previous festival, the organizers decided to invite Dow and several other South Enders to talk about their part in South End history. The Rev. Ralph Kee, one of the founders of the Emmanuel Gospel Center on San Juan Street, will talk about the history of the Center.

Tributes to Dr. King will include remarks from Clennon King, a journalist and documentarian whose work focuses on the civil rights movement, will talk about Dr. King's life in Boston, and singer, artist and educator Veronique-Anne Epiter will perform "You Raise Me Up" to honor King in addition to promoting "Moon Fever", her book of poetry and prose.

The organizers also decided to expand the festival's scope by inviting authors of works in progress, such as Lisa Gordon, who is working on a history of Plymouth Hospital, a black hospital that operated on East Springfield Street from 1908 to 1920.

Explaining the decision, Barnet said, "To me, it is the spirit of the old South End; if they are interested, you include them." Many of the authors in the festival self-publish their works, and Barnet is troubled by the elitism toward them from some authors who work with publishing houses. "One time, a well-known author who shall remain nameless was invited, and he said, 'That's for self-published people.' I'm glad we have self-published people and works in progress. That's what it's all about."