Often at the heart of a healthy community is an active library, nurturing young readers and providing a place for locals to meet and greet. The Tuxedo Park Library continues that tradition with its robust Authors’ Circle program that brings in accomplished writers for an evening of audience interaction. This coming Saturday, May 5, the Author’s Circle Presents A Conversation Between Amy Hemple and Patricia Bosworth. Hempel is an acclaimed short story master while Bosworth is a noted biographer and writer. The afternoon event takes place at 3 p.m. and will be moderated by Tuxedo residents Glenn Young and Gerald Howard, who both work in publishing.

The Authors’ Circle at Tuxedo Park Library was established in 2008 by Tuxedo and Tuxedo Park residents, including library board members, to provide a dynamic forum for authors to meet their audience in a local setting. The group has sponsored a number of noted authors at the library, including Mary Jane Clark, Pete Hamill and Laura Claridge. Scattered around the walls of the Tuxedo Library are framed posters of the authors who have visited Tuxedo, a nice touch provided as part of the events by the various authors’ publishing houses.

“We have a wonderful turnout,” said Tuxedo librarian Nancy Kaufer about the Authors’ Circle events. Kaufer said that because of the Circle’s connections in the publishing industry, the library is able to schedule a variety of interesting and renowned authors. “We had an architect come in who talked about the different architecture he worked on, the history of the buildings. He did a slide show. It was fascinating. Katherine Rosman, a local resident who works for the Wall Street Journal, came and spoke. It’s open to the general public. Just call the library and register in advance so we know how many people to expect.”

For book lovers, the conversation between Patricia Bosworth and Amy Hempel promises to be a lively, free-ranging discussion of the writing life — especially the conflicts between art and economics, with a bit of inside publishing gossip thrown in.

Hempel sprang to near over-night success in the mid-eighties during the reign of short stories, when writers such as Raymond Carver and Barry Hannah were cultural figures to be reckoned, their prose probing an American psyche in conflict before it fully embraced the material world. Sometime spare but dense, sometimes called a minimalist, Hempel has mostly sculpted a career out of short story writing. Bosworth is a contributing editor for Vanity Fair and has written popular biographies of Montgomery Clift, Marlon Brondo and Diane Arbus. Bosworth’s biography of Arbus, considered a sort of last word on its subject, depicts a photographic genius who anthropologically captured a melancholy slice of Americana now past — but was done in by her own demons.

Bosworth’s latest book, Jane Fonda: The Private LIfe of a Public Woman, received exceptional reviews and ultimately provides a compassionate look into an elusive, controversial figure.

The Authors’ Circle sponsors a number of literary events at the Tuxedo Park Library throughout the year, and is a membership driven organization. The conversation between writers Patricia Bosworth and Amy Hempel takes place Saturday, May 5 at 3 p.m. at the library and is free and open to the public. Call the library to register. For information about the Authors’ Circle and its events, call the Tuxedo Park Library at 845-351.2207.

Source: The Patricia Bosworth and Amy Hempel book covers are both images subject to copyright but covered by fair use laws — in this case the covers visually identify the authors and their works, are low resolution copies and are only a small portion of the overall commercial product.