Bookworks to Feature Jazz, Poetry and Authors Amy Stewart and Augusten Burroughs, April 2013

Related: Bookworks, Amy Stewart, Augusten Burroughs

Bookworks' April features include the likely combo of jazz and poetry; a cocktail hour with Amy Stewart, and famed memoirist Augusten Burroughs. Throughout April, Bookworks sponsors events for poetry lovers, gardeners, and for families, in the store and off-site.

April is National Jazz Month and National Poetry Month. In April, Bookworks partners with New Mexico Jazz Workshop players to bring first-rate music to the store with "Jazz & Poetry." Zenobia Cronkerite, Grammy award-winning singer and Development Director for the Jazz Workshop, brings in musicians to accompany poets Mary Oishi on April 2 and Barbara Rockman on April 30. The April 30th event is part of a fundraiser with Flying Star, where both businesses will donate proceeds from store sales from 5-9pm to the New Mexico Jazz Workshop.

In addition to Jazz & Poetry, Bookworks celebrates National Poetry Month in April, with readings with national and local poets: Jon Gosslee presents 12: Sonnets for the Zodiac, Jimmy Baca reads from Lucia Poems, University of Arizona Press authors dg opick and Jennifer Foerster read their debut collections, CNM professor and poet Felicia Caton presents Say That, Albuquerque Poet Laureate Hakim Bellamy launches Swear, and Tanaya Winder and Cassandra Lopez issue the second volume of their indigenous women's literary journal As/Us.

If you've got plants (and happy hour) on your mind, Friday, April 19, at 7pm, Bookworks welcomes back to Albuquerque best-selling author and journalist Amy Stewart for a cocktail party at ArtBar to toast her new book, The Drunken Botanist: The Plants that Create the World's Great Drinks. Stewart, a writer for the New York Times and Washington Post, offers a sweet, old-fashioned letter-press style tome that is one part recipe book, one part natural history of intoxicating plants. The Drunken Botanist explores "the twin alchemical processes of fermentation and distillation, from which wine, beer and spirits issue forth" and details the plants, mixers, and garnishes that compose our favorite alcoholic beverages.

On April 29, UNM Creative Writing and Bookworks host at UNM the acclaimed and controversial memoirist Augusten Burroughs, author of the bestseller, Running with Scissors. Burroughs will talk about his self-help satire, This is How: Proven Aid in Overcoming Shyness, Molestation, Fatness, Spinsterhood, Grief, Disease, Lushery, Decrepitude & More. As the title suggests, Burroughs flips the self-help genre on its head. Each chapter in This is How is a "How to" told in the writer's trademark sardonic style, including "How to Make Yourself Uncomfortable and Why You Should" and "How to Identify Love by Knowing What It's Not."

Spiritual approaches to self discovery are also a focus of April events. Franciscan scholar Richard Rohr talks about his new book, Immortal Diamond, and Rachel Neumann, editor to renowned Buddhist thinker Thich Nhat Hanh, presents her memoir, Not Quite Nirvana. Don Miguel Ruiz, Jr,, the son of revered Toltec philosopher Don Miguel Ruiz, signs copies of his book The Five Levels of Attachment at a meet-and-greet at Bookworks on April 30, 12-1pm.

April's family friendly events are also plentiful and include Brian Switek's My Beloved Brontosaurus talk at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History, Saturday morning author events at the store, and free Kite Fest, Dia de Los Ninos, and Magic Treehouse events at the Albuquerque Balloon Museum. The Magic Treehouse event April 23 brings Jack and Annie to the balloon museum to act out scenes from Mary Pope Osbourn's beloved Magic Treehouse Series and for a stamping of the two new books in the series, Stallion by Starlight and Horse Heroes.

APRIL EVENTS

Monday, April 1 at 5:30pm: Vamos a Leer Book Club. Vamos a Leer book club is open to educators and the general public, especially those interested in dynamic Hispanic young adult literature. This month's reading selection is Journey of Dreams by Marge Pellegrino.

Tuesday, April 2 at 10:30 am: Story Time! Special Story Time featuring Caldecott Award winners through the years. Please nominate your favorite by sending an email to Children's Book Specialist, Connie Griffin @ kids@bkwrks.com. Free and open to the public.

Tuesday, April 2 at 7 pm: Jazz & Poetry. New Mexico Jazz Workshop musicians accompany Albuquerque poet Mary Oishi, author of Spirit Birds They Told Me.

Wednesday, April 3 at 7 pm: Jon Gosslee, 12: Sonnets for the Zodiac. John Gosslee, editor of Fjords Review, stops in Albuquerque on a two-week, coast-to-coast tour. 12 presents sonnets for each of the twelve signs of the Western Zodiac in French, Spanish and English. Gosslee extensively researched the nature of each sign.

Thursday, April 4 at 10:30 am: Story Time! Celebrate Elephants. Connie reads from David McKee's Elmer series of children's books about elephants. For more information, contact Connie Griffin, Children's Specialist, at kids@bkwrks.com.

Thursday, April 4 at 7 pm: Jimmy Santiago Baca, Lucia Poems. Award-winning New Mexico poet Jimmy Santiago Baca reads from his Sunstone Press collection, The Lucia Poems, book two of four books in Baca's series, Breaking Bread With The Darkness. Lucia Poems are poems about Baca's daughter, Lucia, where he speaks to her with redemption and courage that enabled him connect with her as a father after a troubled past.

Saturday, April 6 at 10:30 am: Emmett "Shkeme" Garcia, Sister Rabbit's Tricks. Popular Albuquerque performer and storyteller, Shkeme Garcia (Santa Ana Pueblo) presents a fun fable about a naughty rabbit whose jokes sometime go too far. For info, contact Kat MacGilvray, UNM Press, at katm@unm.edu.

Saturday, April 6 at 3 pm: Univ. of Arizona Press Sun Tracks Series feature: dg opick, author of corpse whale and Jennifer Foerster, author of Leaving Tulsa. In corpse whale,Santa Fe poet dg opick melds traditional and contemporary narratives from her unique angle as a 21st century Inuit. Foerster, in her first collection, weaves together a mythic and geographic journey of a woman's coming of age in a dislocated time. Leaving Tulsa travels from Oklahoma to the edges of the American continent through landscapes stark and lush, ancient and apocalyptic.

Sunday, April 7 at 3 pm: Franciscan scholar Richard Rohr, Immortal Diamond: The Search for Our True Selves. Immortal Diamond (taken from a line in a Gerard Manley Hopkins poem) explores the deepest questions of identity, spirituality, and meaning in Richard Rohr's inimitable style. Rohr, a Franciscan scholar and the founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation, explores how each of us discerns between our True Self, who we are "objectively in God," and our False Self, "the self we manufacture and adopt to find our identity in the world."

Tuesday, April 9 at 7 pm: Rachel Neumann, Not Quite Nirvana. In Not Quite Nirvana, Neumann shares her journey from cynical, fast-talking New Yorker to the personal editor of a world-renowned Zen teacher. Along the way she moves west, turns forty, has two children, and slowly and reluctantly absorbs mindfulness practice. Through illuminating stories about difficult relationships, death, vanity, aging, sex, and friendship, Neumann discovers key mindfulness practices and offers guidance for anyone interested in creating a safety net of joy.

Wednesday, April 10 at 7pm: Bookworks Book Club meets. April's selection is On the Rocks by Corrales author Sue Hallgarth, who will visit the book club. The book club and talk with Ms. Hallgarth is free and open to the public. All interested readers are encouraged to join.

Thursday, April 11 at 10:30 am: Story Time! The Gruffalo. Connie reads The Gruffalo. For more information, contact Connie Griffin, Children's Specialist, at kids@bkwrks.com.

Thursday, April 11 at 7pm: Jim McClure, Don Jose, An American Soldier's Courage and Faith in Japanese Captivity. In 1941 the Japanese invaded the Philippines with overwhelming force and forced the surrender of American troops at Bataan and Corregidor. This is the story of an American soldier, Corporal Joseph O. Quintero, who survived as a P.O.W. and became a hero in the prison camp where he cared for his fellow P.O.W.s as medic "Don Jose."

Friday, April 12 at 7pm: Frosty Hesson, Making Mavericks. Frosty is a Santa Cruz surf legend and one of the first to ride colossal, 80-foot waves at the surf spot "Mavericks," but he is most beloved as a mentor and a teacher. In his refreshing memoir, Frosty talks about how the challenges he faced in youth taught him his principles: work hard, set goals, and "enjoy."

Saturday, April 13 at 10:30 am:David Shapiro, Terra Tempo: The Four Corners of Time. Graphic Novel Extravaganza with David Shapiro of Craigmore Creations. Families and kids are invited to this free event. For information, email kids@bkwrks.com.

Saturday, April 13 at 2 pm:Music by Sage Harrington from her album Maybe. Sage Harrington is an indie folk singer and musician in Albuquerque. Free.

Saturday, April 13 at 3pm: Ellen Zachos, Backyard Foraging. Foraged food is surprising in its flavor, unusual texture, fresh color, and nutritional value. As more people become familiar with the idea of finding food in the woods, lakeside, or on their favorite hiking trail, they begin to notice the world around them in a new way. Now it's time to discover the many surprisingly edible plants found in backyards, lawns, and parks.In addition to offering tips on safety, harvesting etiquette, and other topics, Backyard Foraging includesdetailed profiles of 65 edible plants, weeds, and mushrooms. Author Ellen Zachos leads foraging walks and teaches at the New York Botanical Garden. She has written numerous gardening books and contributed to publications includingHorticulture and Better Homes & Gardens.

Sunday, April 14 at 3pm: Gary Herron, Duke City Diamonds. Rio Rancho Observer editor Gary Herron, the official Isotopes Pacific Coast League scorer since 1983, releases his new baseball history of our city, the "definitive depiction of baseball in Albuquerque since 1915."

Monday, April 15 at 7pm: Metaphysical Monday. Bonnie Buckner, Dream Yourself into Being. Dream expert and author Dr. Bonnie Buckner of Los Angeles talks about "opening" dreams and will open a dream of an audience member in this fun, collaborative dream workshop.

Tuesday, April 16 at 7pm: Modern Buddhism Book Talk. Kadampa Buddhist monk, Kelsang Jangchub, will talk about the work of Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Meditation Master and Author of Modern Buddhism. Event is free and open to the public.

Wednesday, April 17 at 7pm: Felicia Caton Garcia, Say That. Caton Garcia, a professor at CNM, offers poems that "layer sound and image to offer a tangible point of access into her work. Poems about love, loss memory, and the hidden lives of the book's speakers and characters are the interwoven themes of her work, full of narrative power and metaphor.

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