The Associates of the Boston Public Library are delighted to announce the lineup for the 35th annual Literary Lights dinner on April 27 at the Fairmont Copley Plaza. This black-tie-optional event is our annual opportunity to honor outstanding writers from the Northeast and to celebrate their contributions to literature while raising vital funds to support the preservation of the Boston Public Library’s Special Collections.
Keynote speaker Elizabeth Strout (below) is the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Olive Kitteridge (2008) and one of today’s most celebrated voices in fiction. Born in Portland, Maine, her childhood experiences served as inspiration for the fictional “Shirley Falls, Maine,” the setting of four of her nine acclaimed novels.
A graduate of Bates College, Strout also earned a law degree and a Certificate in Gerontology from Syracuse University. After a brief career in Legal Services, she moved to New York City, where she became an adjunct in the English Department of Borough of Manhattan Community College.
Balancing motherhood, teaching, and her passion for storytelling, Strout began publishing in literary magazines and mainstream outlets like Redbook and Seventeen—paving the way for her remarkable career today.
Elizabeth will be presented by Richard Russo.
Also honored will be David Grann, journalist and author of Killers of the Flower Moon, presented by non-fiction writer Nathaniel Philbrick, Elin Hilderbrand, author of the Nantucket novels, presented by Boston Globe columnist & writer Meredith Goldstein, Curtis Sittenfeld, author of the novels Prep and Rodham, presented by writer Tom Perrotta, and Ilyon Woo, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Master Slave Husband Wife, presented by journalist and writer Caleb Gayle. Jared Bowen, GBH Executive Arts Editor and Host of The Culture Show, will be the Emcee of the evening. For more information on tickets or sponsorship opportunities please click here or contact Laura Russo, Director of Development and External Affairs, at LRusso@AssociatesBPL.org or (617) 536-3886.
