Adult Events

The Oliver Wolcott Library offers a wide range of programming for adults, from continuing series like Monday Scholars,

to lectures, book discussions, and author talks. All events are free and open to all.

Continue your journey of lifelong learning with us!

"A Poem in Your Pocket"

Celebrate National Poetry Month and William Shakespeare's birth month with A Poem in Your Pocket! For the entire month of April, we will dedicate a display to The Bard himself. In addition to admiring our wide selection of Shakespearean books and DVDs, all are welcome to snatch up a "pocket poem," which features a rhyming couplet from one of Shakespeare's many plays and sonnets.

Can you recall the lines right off the dome?

Or do you need to check out Shakespeare's poems?

Can you recall who said the rhyme?

Come to OWL for a grand old time!

 Mystery Puzzle Kit - Murder in the Mountains

In honor of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s 165th birthday, this month’s take and make allows you to play Sherlock! Assume the role of detective and decipher the clues to solve a murder.

You will play as Daphne, a detective who is embarking on a long-awaited getaway at a cabin in the mountains with six of your old childhood friends. When one of your friends is suddenly found dead on the first night of your stay, you take it upon yourself to figure out who is responsible for the murder.

It is up to you to follow the clues included in your kit and uncover the mystery of your friend’s death. This activity can be completed on your own or with a small group. 
*While supplies last

A William Faulkner Seminar - With Mark Scarbrough

Zoom Participants:  Zoom Link - click here on Fridays at 10:30 AM beginning April 5 to Zoom to this seminar.

There’s nothing like a Faulkner novel: breath-taking yet suffocating, untamed yet structured. The prose is haunting; the diction, erudite yet home-spun. And the plots strike at the heart of the tragedy and comedy that is our U. S. project. Then there’s the man: an uneducated alcoholic, ill-prepared to be a Nobel laureate. The mere mention of Faulkner strikes fear into undergrads! But skip the jitters and join us to explore one of the greatest American authors. In six weeks, we’ll cover three masterworks written within a ten-year span. We’ll discuss the art, history, and culture surrounding the novels. We’ll also get a too-close-for-comfort glimpse at U. S. rancor, Southern defeat, and the happy ending Faulkner believed was the sum of human existence. (Note that the first novel should be read in its entirety for the first session.)

• Reading Schedule:
  4/05/2024 -  The Wild Palms (If I Forget Thee, Jerusalem 1939)
  4/12/2024 -  The Wild Palms (If I Forget Thee, Jerusalem 1939)
  4/19/2024 -  Light in August (1932), chapters 1 – 11
  4/26/2024 -  Light in August (1932), chapters 12 – 21
  5/03/2024 - The Sound and the Fury (1929), first two chapters 
  5/10/2024 - The Sound and the Fury (1929), completed 
  

Books are available at OWL to borrow plus instant e-book and e-audio copies are available as well.

Look for the texts available through Vintage/Vintage International. Faulkner’s novels are prone to typos, editorial errors, and prose misalignments. Scholars have recently taken on the daunting task of bringing the works into sync with Faulkner’s typescripts and hand-written corrections. The library should have copies of the three novels. If you’re purchasing them, please support a local bookstore. 

Land & Sky in Printmaking & Photography

In-Person Registration: Click here to attend in-person.

Come and enjoy a discussion with artists Sally Frank and Wendy Costa who will talk about what inspires their work and the various printmaking and photography techniques they use to create images.

Click here to read about Sally and Wendy's joint exhibit in the Jamie Gagarin Gallery on exhibit through May 30.

Fair Weather Walkers

No registration required.

The weather looks fair and that means the Fair Weather Walkers will start a group walk again beginning Friday, May 3.

We meet in the OWL parking lot at 9:00 AM for a gentle 1-2 mile walk around town. Remember we don’t walk in the rain or extreme heat! Registration is not necessary. Meet us when you can.

*No meeting June 14 & 21

Non-Fiction Discussion Group

Thursday, May 9

Meeting will be held in the Library's Jamie Gagarin Community Room.

Caste: The Origin of our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson

Beyond race or class, a powerful caste system influences people’s lives and the nation’s fate. Linking the caste systems of America, India, and Nazi Germany, the author explores what underlies caste systems across civilizations, including divine will, bloodlines, and stigma. Using riveting stories about people, she shows the ways that the insidious undertow of caste is experienced every day. Moderated by Laura

Fiction Discussion Group

Thursday, May 9

Fiction Group: 3:30 pm 

Meeting will be held in the Library's Jamie Gagarin Community Room.

Joan is Okay by Weike Wang

Joan is a thirty-something ICU doctor at a busy New York City hospital. Her parents were originally from
China. She is intensely devoted to her work and happily solitary, but family, neighbors and co-workers
try to shape her life according to their cultural and social expectations. Moderated by Cindy 

A Fashion Show

In-Person Space is limited. Registration is required. Register here

Want to dress with style? Have fun with vintage? Get some new tips and inspiration? Have you ever wondered what it's like to shop at a consignment store?

Join us as we answer those questions and highlight some fabulous outfits from Rachel's Quality Consignment Shop. Learn how to navigate the racks and spot true treasure to discover a variety of stylish brand items for a fraction of their original costs. A few of our picks will be modeled for you! 

Meet the Author: Richard Deming 

In-Person Registration: Click here to attend in-person.

“. . . inspired meditations . . . The lucid prose is matched by the depth of insight . . . Profound and often achingly beautiful, this makes for great company.” —Publishers Weekly

About This Exquisite Loneliness: 

In This Exquisite Loneliness: What Loners, Outcasts, and the Misunderstood Can Teach Us About Creativity Richard Deming turns an eye toward that unwelcome feeling, both in his own experiences and the lives of six groundbreaking figures, to find the context of loneliness and to see what some people have done to navigate this profound sense of discomfort. Deming explores how loneliness has served as fuel for an intense creative desire that has forged some of the most original and innovative art and writing of the twentieth century.

This singular meditation on loneliness reveals how we might transform the pain of emotional isolation and become more connected to others and more at home with our often unquiet selves.

RICHARD DEMING is the Director of Creative Writing and a Senior Lecturer in English at Yale University. He is an award-winning poet and critic, whose work explores the intersections of literature, philosophy, and visual culture. He is the author of six books, including Day for Night, Touch of Evil, and Art of the Ordinary.

Poetry Critique Club

In-Person Space is limited. Registration is required. Register here

Calling all poets! Have you been in search of constructive feedback to help further your poetry endeavors? Then OWL’s new Poetry Critique Club is for you.

Each month we will focus on poetry surrounding a specific prompt, so write your poetry ahead of time and come prepared to share! Each attendee should limit themselves to one poem per meeting. Bring 10 hard copies of your work to share with other members. If you are unable to print copies at home, we can help you make copies at the library.

5/21 Prompt - Catharsis

Note: This is a critique group focused on providing constructive feedback, so come prepared to hear a variety of comments about your work.

Exploring Smith & Welty - Led by Mark Schenker

Zoom Participants:  Zoom Link - click here on Wednesdays at 2 PM May 22 & June 19 to Zoom to these discussions.

Mark Schenker will lead discussions on two 20th c. American novels by women where despite their differences in setting–Brooklyn in the early decades of the 20th century and rural Mississippi in the mid-20th century–these two prize-winning novels use autobiographical material to engage issues of family life, the complex nature of the past, and the transcendence of grief.

May 22: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1943) by Betty Smith

By turns overwhelming, heartbreaking, and uplifting. Betty Smith has, in the pages of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, captured the joys of a humble life in Brooklyn in 1912. Smith has created a work of literary art that brilliantly captures a unique time and place as well as deeply resonant moments of universal experience. 

June 19: The Optimist's Daughter (1972) by Eudora Welty

This Pulitzer Prize–winning novel tells the story of Laurel McKelva Hand, a young woman who has left the South and returns, years later, to New Orleans, where her father is dying. After his death, she and her silly young stepmother go back still farther, to the small Mississippi town where she grew up. Alone in the old house, Laurel finally comes to an understanding of the past, herself, and her parents.

Dr. Mark Schenker is a retired dean from Yale College. Born and raised in New York City, he received his PhD in English Literature from Columbia University and has taught at Columbia, New York University, Trinity College (Hartford), and Yale University. He was the recipient of the 2001 Wilbur Cross Award for Outstanding Humanities Scholar, presented by the Connecticut Humanities Council.

Move Your Mind; Move Your Body

Zoom Participants:  Zoom Link - click here on Tuesdays at 10:15 am to Zoom to the Event.

Note: This Class is designed for senior women.

The United Nations General Assembly has declared 2021 to 2030 The Decade For Healthy Ageing. The OWL has always been committed to expanding minds and now we would like to help our community expand their physical strength. 

Join Nancy Schuler in this exercise class for senior women. You can attend the class in person, here at the OWL, or online in the privacy of your home. The class features stretching and exercises that can be done in a chair or standing, and lifting of 1 or 2 lb. weights. All exercises are gentle and easy to understand. Exercise has been proven to help one's cognitive abilities, blood pressure, insomnia, digestive issues, depression, strength and independence. The Alzheimer's, Diabetes and Heart Associations all recommend exercise for healthy ageing.

No prior experience is necessary. Bring in a set of light weights for this class - 1 to 2 lbs.

FUTURE EVENTS:

About Our Zoom Events:

All of our Virtual Zoom Events are live. They are not recorded. To participate/join the event, you need to use the exact link connected to the event. Once you click on the link at the specified date and time, you will be prompted to open Zoom, the virtual meeting program we are using. All you need is an internet connection and a device or computer with a webcam and audio. Most computers have built-in webcams. No passwords or confirmation codes, just click the link and follow the prompts.

More security, more privacy: In response to concerns about privacy in a virtual meeting space, we have enabled additional security features in Zoom and updated our meeting links to be protected, private, and secure. These new, unique links can also be accessed through our e-newsletters. To receive secure information regarding these events, please subscribe to our e-newsletter! Click here to learn more about our e-newsletter offerings.