Thursday

Culture Splash Spotlight: “Fishermen’s Ballads and Songs of Sea 150 Years On” at Sawyer Free Library

~ Sawyer Free Library

Sawyer Free Library is thrilled host Discover Gloucester’s Culture Splash spotlight event on Thursday, August 22, 5:00 to 6:30 pm. Gloucester singer and song-searcher Michael O’Leary will share a talk and performance based on pieces in the book Fishermen’s Ballads and Songs of the Sea, published in 1874 by the Procter Bros. of Gloucester. It is a collection of 120 pieces by a wide array of authors, both women and men, a few known widely, many known only locally or not at all, and some anonymous or pseudonymous. It’s a literary, musical, and folkloric time capsule of Gloucester, and 2024 is the 150th anniversary of its publication.  Registration for this special event is required at sawyerfreelibrary.org

This program is supported in part by grants from the Gloucester and Manchester Cultural Councils, local agencies supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency.

The event will take place at the Sawyer Free Library located at 21 Main Street in downtown Gloucester. Registration for this special event is required at sawyerfreelibrary.org. Space is limited. For more information, visit sawyerfreelibrary.org, call 978-325-5500 or email jtravers@sawyerfreelibrary.org.

A Librarian Falls for Niagara Falls: Travel Presentation at the Sawyer Free

~ Sawyer Free Library

Join the Sawyer Free Library Assistant Director Lisa Ryan on Thursday, August 8 from 5:30 to 6:30 pm for an engaging presentation on Niagara Falls feature breathtaking photos and videos captured throughout the seasons. Explore this majestic natural wonder’s formation, cultural impact, hydroelectric development, and ecological considerations. For fun, Lisa will also delve into tales of famous daredevils and offer travel tips.

The presentation will take place at the Sawyer Free Library at 21 Main Street in Downtown Gloucester. Open to all to attend. No registration needed. If you have questions, email Lisa at lryan@sawyerfreelibrary.org or call 978-325-5500.

Local Author Talk with Sally Goldenbaum on Thursday, May 30

~ Sawyer Free Library

The Sawyer Free Library is pleased to welcome local author Sally Goldenbaum of the best-selling Seaside Knitters mystery series inspired by Gloucester and Cape Ann on Thursday, May 30 from 5:30 to 6:30 pm at 21 Main Street.

Sally will discuss the most recent installment in the series, and the next in the series releasing in November. She’ll delve into what cozy mysteries are and how they differ from other sub-genres, how and why she began writing them, and the process of writing itself.

When: Thursday, May 30 from 5:30 to 6:30 pm

Where: Sawyer Free Library, 21 Main Street, Downtown Gloucester

No registration required. For more information or questions, contact:  lsvensson@sawyerfreelibrary.org or 978-325-5500.

Sawyer Free Library to host Author Talk with Henriette Lazaridis: “Last Day in Planka” on Thursday, May 9th

~ Sawyer Free Library

The Sawyer Free Library will welcome local author Henriette Lazaridis for a discussion of her new book Last Days in Plaka on Thursday, May 9 at 5:30-6:30 pm. The event will take place at the Sawyer Free Library at 21 Main Street in downtown Gloucester.  Registration is not required. 

Featured Buzz Pick on Good Morning America, Last Days in Planka, explores the lies at the heart of an old woman’s identity and the desperation of a young woman’s struggle to belong.  

Searching for connection to her parents’ heritage, Greek American Anna works at an Athens gallery by day and makes street art by night. Irini is elderly and widowed, once well-to-do but now dependent on the charity of others. When the local priest brings the two women together, it’s not long before they form an unlikely bond. As they join the priest’s tiny congregation to study the Book of Revelation in preparation for a pilgrimage to Patmos, Anna sinks deeper into Irini’s stories of a glamorous past and an estranged daughter and lost wealth and the earthquake damage to her noble home. Looking for revelation of her own and driven by a sense that time is running out, Anna makes a decision that puts her in peril, exposes Irini’s web of lies, and compels Anna to confront the limits of her own forgiveness.  

Henriette Lazaridis is the author of The Clover House (a Boston Globe bestseller), Terra Nova (which the New York Times called “ingenious”), and Last Days in Plaka (publishing April 2024). She earned degrees in English literature from Middlebury College, Oxford University, where she was a Rhodes Scholar, and the University of Pennsylvania. Having taught English at Harvard, she now teaches at GrubStreet in Boston. She was the founding editor of The Drum Literary Magazine and runs the Krouna Writing Workshop in northern Greece. Her essays and articles have been published in Elle, Forge, Narrative Magazine, The New York Times, New England Review, The Millions, and Pangyrus, and earned her a Massachusetts Cultural Council Artists Grant. An avid athlete, Henriette trains on the Charles River as a competitive rower, and skis, trail runs, or cycles whenever she can. 

The event is open and free to attend at the Sawyer Free Library located at 21 Main Street in Gloucester. Registration not required.  For more information, visit sawyerfreelibrary.org or call, 978-325-5500.

Hayley Reardon kicks off Sawyer Free Folk Showcase on Thursday, June 1!

~ Sawyer Free Library

Critically acclaimed local singer songwriter Hayley Reardon to perform at SFL @ 21 Main Street on Thursday evening!

Sawyer Free Library is excited to announce its Sawyer Free Folk Showcase this summer, a series spotlighting local singer-songwriters. The showcase will be held on the first Thursday of the summer months at its 21 Main Street location in downtown Gloucester. The first one is this upcoming Thursday, June 1, with Gloucester-based singer-songwriter Hayley Reardon from 6:00 to 7:00 pm.

Hayley will perform a 45-minute set of her music followed by a brief discussion about her approach to songwriting and lyrical composition. The evening is free and open to all to come and enjoy.  No registration is required.

Hayley Reardon is a critically acclaimed folk-pop artist and a storyteller in the truest sense of the word. Her songs are postcards from an artist brave enough to take the road less traveled. Raised in Massachusetts, Reardon dove headfirst into music at 15 and honed her craft for over a decade, sharing the stage with acts like Lori McKenna, Rodney Crowell, and Anaïs Mitchell, among others. Her raw artistry boasts a lyrical and melodic weight far beyond her years. Her music has been described as “brilliantly moving folk/pop with a lyrical depth and soul” (Performer Magazine) and “a melancholy little masterpiece” (American Songwriter Magazine). She recently made a splash with her single, “Losing From Within,” grabbing the attention of Spotify Editorial Playlists like Fresh Folk, Folk Pop, Morning Coffee, and Today’s Singer/Songwriters. Her latest EP, In The Good Light, was recorded in Barcelona with Catalan collaborator Pau Figueres (one of Spain’s finest guitarists). Having recently made her home here in Gloucester, Hayley wowed audiences at the 2023 Singer/Songwriter Challenge at Machaca, winning first prize and making a memorable impression on the Cape Ann music scene.

The Sawyer Free Library is honored to have her perform for its first Sawyer Free Folk Showcase series. 

For more information, visit the calendar at sawyerfreelibrary.org or 978-325-5571.