BREAKING: Touchstones at The Mount

I am very, very happy to announce that starting this August, and continuing every August from here on out, I'm hosting an on-stage literary interview series at Edith Wharton's country estate, The Mount, in Lenox, Massachusetts. Click here to view this summer's program and buy tickets; for more information, see the full press release, below.

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JUNE 12, 2014

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Rebecka McDougal
Communications Director
rmcdougall@edithwharton.org

The Mount Launches Author Interview Series This Summer with Kate Bolick as Host

Featuring conversations with Andre Dubus III, Joanna Rakoff, Scott Stossel, and Jennifer Finney Boylan, the new “Touchstones” series will premiere in August


Lenox, MA—This summer, The Mount, the home of Edith Wharton in Lenox, Mass., will premiere a new interview series featuring celebrated journalist Kate Bolick in conversation with leading authors. Debuting in August, the new “Touchstones” series will include writers Andre Dubus III, Joanna Rakoff, Scott Stossel, and Jennifer Finney Boylan. The one-hour conversations will begin at 6 pm on four successive Friday evenings: August 8, August 15, August 22, and August 29.

Kate Bolick’s 2011 cover story in The Atlantic, “All the Single Ladies,” sparked a national conversation and led to a headline-grabbing book deal. Her much-anticipated book—part memoir, part biography, part cultural criticism—explores how women’s roles, expectations, and personal goals have shifted over the last two centuries. It will be published by Crown next spring. 

The “Touchstones” series will feature Bolick conversing intimately onstage with her guests about the defining moments that shaped their creative lives, from disastrous setbacks to grand triumphs, and all the small decisions and twists of fate in between. “Artists are among their own best creations, Wharton herself being a prime example,” says Bolick. “To talk with my favorite living writers about the forces that shaped them, while at the home of one of my personal literary heroes—it’s incredibly exciting.”

“We are delighted to welcome to The Mount this lineup of literary all-stars,” says Susan Wissler, executive director of The Mount. “Kate brings high energy and great depth to everything she does; this series promises to be engaging, entertaining, and thought provoking.”

In recent years, The Mount has become the literary hub of the Berkshires. The cultural non-profit regularly hosts esteemed writers—including novelists, poets, biographers, scholars, and journalists—for readings and discussions. Other writers who have appeared at The Mount include Tom Reiss, Megan Marshall, Stacy Schiff, Simon Winchester, Mary Jo Salter, Adam Gopnik, Claire Messud, Mark Strand, Heidi Julavits, Matthew Pearl, Susan Orlean, John Berendt, Kati Marton, and many others.

A longtime admirer of Edith Wharton, Bolick forged a connection with The Mount after hosting two writer interviews in 2012. She recently spent time at The Mount as a writer-in-residence while she was writing her book. In the book, Bolick revisits the lives of Edith Wharton and five other women whose intellectual ambitions were considerably more pronounced than their marital ones—an attribute shared today by millions of American women, including Bolick, who have chosen to remain single.          

The Mount is located at 2 Plunkett Street in Lenox, Mass. For more information or to purchase “Touchstones” tickets, visit EdithWharton.org or call 413-551-5100.

The “Touchstones” events are as follows:

Friday, August 8, 6 pm (Doors open 5:30)

Touchstones: Kate Bolick in conversation with Andre Dubus III

The Mount welcomes journalist/author Kate Bolick for a series of interviews with leading writers. The August 8 program will feature Andre Dubus III, author of six books, including House of Sand and FogThe Garden of Last Days and his memoir, Townie. Tickets and information at EdithWharton.org.  $18 general; $15 Mount members.


Friday, August 15, 6 pm (Doors open 5:30)

Touchstones: Kate Bolick in conversation with Joanna Rakoff

The Mount welcomes journalist/author Kate Bolick for a series of interviews with leading writers. The August 15 program will feature Joanna Rakoff, author of the novel The Fortunate Age and the soon-to-be-released memoir My Salinger Year. Tickets and information at EdithWharton.org. $18 general; $15 Mount members.
 

Friday, August 22, 6 pm (Doors open 5:30)

Touchstones: Kate Bolick in conversation with Scott Stossel

The Mount welcomes journalist/author Kate Bolick for a series of interviews with leading writers. The August 22 program will feature Scott Stossel, editor of The Atlantic and the author of My Age of Anxiety: Fear, Hope, Dread, and the Search for Peace of Mind and Sarge: The Life and Times of Sargent Shriver. Tickets and information at EdithWharton.org. $18 general; $15 Mount members.


Friday, August 29, 6 pm (Doors open 5:30)

Touchstones: Kate Bolick in conversation with Jennifer Finney Boylan

The Mount welcomes journalist/author Kate Bolick for a series of interviews with leading writers. The August 29 program will feature Jennifer Finney Boylan, a widely praised author and professor. Her 13 books include three novels, a collection of short stories, three memoirs, and six young adult books. Her most recent book, Stuck in the Middle With You: Parenthood in Three Genders, is a memoir about the differences between fatherhood and motherhood. Tickets and information at EdithWharton.org. $18 general; $15 Mount members.


This series is generously sponsored by Canyon Ranch in Lenox, Mass.; The Amy Clampitt Fund, a fund of the Berkshire Taconic Community Fund; and the Xeric Foundation, Inc.

About The Mount:

The Mount is a National Historic Landmark and cultural center that celebrates the intellectual, artistic, and humanitarian legacy of Edith Wharton. We engage a diverse audience by providing context to Wharton's life and achievements through our educational and public programs and the conservation and preservation of her historic estate and gardens.

Each year, The Mount is host to over 40,000 visitors. Daily tours of the property are offered May through October, with special events throughout the year. Annual summer programming includes a joint exhibit with SculptureNow, Wharton on Wednesdays, Music After Hours, and the celebrated Monday Lecture Series. Exhibitions explore themes from Wharton's life and work.

For more information, please visit EdithWharton.org.

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