At the Library: Farwell to disucss struggles with ovarian cancer, evolution of art during Cultural Fest
Remember to save your Wednesday afternoons during March at 4:30 p.m. to attend the Captiva Memorial Library’s Annual Cultural Fest! Events will feature author presentations and book signings, art and history programs, or select independent and foreign films. All events are free of charge. For information about upcoming presenters, read this column each week, stop by or call the library at 533-4890.
On March 16, at 4:30 p.m. at Captiva Memorial Library’s Cultural Fest, renowned artist and Captiva resident Stella Farwell will present her talk, “Journey with Ovarian Cancer,” and show her thought provoking short film Stella’s Art and Ovarian Cancer:
“Stella has ovarian cancer. Her friend, Kathleen Blasé, who died of ovarian cancer, photographed Stella with her art work Magic Flute which permanently hangs at BIG Arts on Sanibel. The opening scene of Stella’s film features another piece of Stella’s work, Forward Motion, also a part of the permanent collection in Schein Hall at BIG Arts. Among Stella’s adventures; she has stood at both the geographic North and South Poles, has sky-dived and has visited all seven continents. Stella has always been an active volunteer. In 1984 she left the business world to become a full-time artist. Now she has become an advocate for ovarian cancer ‘The Silent Killer.'”
Framing Stella’s presentation will be her latest solo exhibition “Progression,” in which Stella shares three separate examples of the progressions and artistic transitions she’s made throughout her career so far. This is a rare opportunity to witness Stella’s unique blend of passion, art and the universal power that awareness holds in battling ovarian cancer.
There is still some really good reading waiting for you at the Captiva Memorial Library!
The School of Night: a Novel by Louis Bayard
“An ancient mystery, a lost letter, and a timeless love unleash a long-buried web of intrigue that spans four centuries.
In the late sixteenth century, five brilliant scholars gather under the cloak of darkness to discuss God, politics, astronomy, and the black arts. Known as the School of Night, they meet in secret to avoid the wrath of Queen Elizabeth. But one of the men, Thomas Harriot, has secrets of his own, secrets he shares with one person only: the servant woman he loves. In modern-day Washington, D.C., disgraced Elizabethan scholar Henry Cavendish has been hired by the ruthless antiquities collector Bernard Styles to find a missing letter. The letter dates from the 1600s and was stolen by Henry’s close friend, Alonzo Wax. Now Wax is dead and Styles wants the letter back. But the letter is an object of interest to others, too. It may be the clue to a hidden treasure; it may contain the long-sought formula for alchemy; it most certainly will prove the existence of the group of men whom Shakespeare dubbed the School of Night but about whom little is known. Joining Henry in his search for the letter is Clarissa Dale, a mysterious woman who suffers from visions that only Henry can understand. In short order, Henry finds himself stumbling through a secretive world of ancient perils, caught up in a deadly plot, and ensnared in the tragic legacy of a forgotten genius.” *
The Uncoupling by Meg Wolitzer
“When the elliptical new drama teacher at Stellar Plains High School chooses for the school play Lysistrata-the comedy by Aristophanes in which women stop having sex with men in order to end a war-a strange spell seems to be cast over the school. Or, at least, over the women. One by one throughout the high school community, perfectly healthy, normal women and teenage girls turn away from their husbands and boyfriends in the bedroom, for reasons they don’t really understand. As the women worry over their loss of passion, and the men become by turns unhappy, offended, and above all, confused, both sides are forced to look at their shared history, and at their sexual selves in a new light. As she did to such acclaim with the New York Times bestseller The Ten-Year Nap, Wolitzer tackles an issue that has deep ramifications for women’s lives, in a way that makes it funny, riveting, and totally fresh-allowing us to see our own lives through her insightful lens.” *
Daniel Stein, interpreted by Ludmila Ulitskaya
“Daniel Stein, a Polish Jew, miraculously survives the Holocaust by working in the Gestapo as a translator. After the war, he converts to Catholicism, becomes a priest, enters the Order of Barefoot Carmelites and emigrates to Israel. Despite this seeming impossibility, the life and destiny of Daniel Stein are not an invention, the character is based on the life of Oswald Rufeisen, the real Brother Daniel, a Carmelite monk. In Daniel Stein, Interpreter, Daniel’s ability and willingness to communicate with all cultures, to translate across linguistic and cultural divides, assures his freedom and stands as a symbol of love, humanity and tolerance. Author Ludmila Ulitskaya was born in the Urals. Shortly before perestroika she became Repertory Director of the Hebrew Theatre of Moscow. She is the author of fourteen fiction books, three children’s books and six plays. She is Russia’s bestselling novelist and was recently named a laureate of the Simone de Beauvoir Prize, an international human rights prize for women’s freedom.” *
An Evil Eye by Jason Goodwin
“When the admiral of the Ottoman fleet defects to the Egyptians, Investigator Yashim attempts to uncover the man’s motives. But Fevzi Pasha is no stranger to Yashim: it was Pasha, in fact, who taught the investigator his craft years ago. He is the only man whom Yashim has ever truly feared: ruthless, cruel, and unswervingly loyal to the sultan. What dark secret has led his former mentor to betray the Ottoman Empire? Unraveling Pasha’s curious history, Yashim is drawn ever deeper into the closed world of the sultan’s seraglio, an intimate household populated by the young ruler’s women, children, slaves, and eunuchs. It is a well-appointed world ruled by fear, ambition, and deep-seated superstitions — a lap of luxury where talented girls hold sway in the ladies’ orchestra. But as the women of that orchestra inexplicably grow ill and die, Yashim discovers that his investigations into the admiral’s defection have their roots in the torturous strictures of the sultan’s harem, where every secret is sacred: a place where the normal rules are suspended, and where women can simply disappear. Jason Goodwin is the Edgar Award-winning author of the Investigator Yashim series. The first three books — The Janissary Tree, The Snake Stone, and The Bellini Card — have been published to international acclaim.” *
* Indicates book jacket/publisher description