Newton Cultural Alliance

Newton Free Library presents: Create Your Own Comics
2021-02-03 18:30 - 19:30, 2021-02-10 18:30 - 19:30, 2021-03-03 18:30 - 19:30, 2021-03-10 18:30 - 19:30, 2021-04-07 18:30 - 19:30, 2021-04-14 18:30 - 19:30, 2021-05-05 18:30 - 19:30, 2021-05-12 18:30 - 19:30 (America/New_York) and 2 more dates | ONLINE, United Kingdom, E16 2DQ
Do you like Dogman, Narwhal & Jelly or the Babysitters Club? Come learn about how to make your own comics! We will meet on the first two Wednesdays evenings: February through June. Learn about the ways you can make your comics go KA-POW! as we write, draw, and share. Join us for this beginner’s creative writing workshop for children in third and fourth grade. A reminder email and zoom link will be sent out prior to the first session.
Online registration is required and begins Wednesday, January 20 at 6:30pm.
When you register, you register for ALL 10 sessions: 2/3, 2/10, 3/3, 3/10, 4/7, 4/14, 5/5, 5/12, 6/2, and 6/9.

Newton Free Library presents: The System, Who Rigged It, How We Fix It
2021-02-11 19:00 - 20:00 | ONLINE, United Kingdom, E16 2DQ
Millions of Americans have lost confidence in our political and economic system. With the characteristic clarity and passion that has made him a central civil voice, Robert B. Reich shows how wealth and power have interacted to install an elite oligarchy, eviscerate the middle class and undermine democracy. Join us for an engaging conversation with Mr. Reich on his latest book, The System: Who Rigged It, How We Fix It.
Christopher Lydon, host of the original podcast, Open Source, heard in Boston on WBUR, will moderate.
Robert B. Reich is chancellor’s professor of public policy at the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley. He has served in three national administrations and has written fifteen books, including The Work of Nations, which has been translated into twenty-two languages, and the bestsellers The Common Good, Saving Capitalism, Supercapitalism and Locked in the Cabinet.
Space is limited, please register here. Login information will be sent the day of the event. Please note, registration closes two hours before the event start time.
If you’d like to borrow, The System, from the library please reserve it here. If you would like to own a copy, they are available at Newtonville Books.

Historic Newton presents: Activism and 'Redeeming Uncle Tom'
2021-03-03 17:00 - 19:00 | ONLINE, United Kingdom, E16 2DQ
Harriet Beecher Stowe’s 1852 novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, galvanized anti-slavery forces. Yet activism for human rights was growing in the early 19th century. Our screening of “Redeeming Uncle Tom,” a film about Josiah Henson, whose life story inspired Stowe, informs our discussion afterwards. Learn how Henson fits into the beginning of an organized movement for abolition, which coalesced in the 1830s and led to Stowe using her novel to promote social justice. Our guest speaker, Holly Jackson, is the author of American Radicals and a professor at the University of Massachusetts Boston. This program is funded in part by a grant from Mass Humanities and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Register here to attend this Zoom program.

Newton Free Library presents: When Getting Along is Not Enough - Reconstructing Race in Our Lives and Relationships
2021-03-16 19:00 - 20:00 | ONLINE, United Kingdom, E16 2DQ
Join Maureen Walker, a licensed psychologist, speaker, educator, and writer who helps people bridge cultural differences such as race, religion, gender and other social status markers for this important education session. Ms. Walker will speak about her new book, When Getting Along is Not Enough: Reconstructing Race in Our Lives and Relationships.
Please register here. Please note, registration closes two hours before the event start time.
This program is part of Overdue: Confronting Race and Racism in Newton, a city-wide read and series of events and conversations on race and racism.
If you wish to borrow Ms. Walker’s book from the library, you can reserve it here. Or if you wish to own a copy, it is available at Newtonville books.

Newton Free Library presents: How The Mothers Of Martin Luther King, Malcolm X & James Baldwin Shaped A Nation
2021-03-24 19:00 - 21:00 | ONLINE, United Kingdom, E16 2DQ
This program is presented in partnership with Tewksbury Public Library.
Join Anna Malaika Tubbs for a presentation based on her acclaimed new book, The Three Mothers: How the Mothers of Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and James Baldwin Shaped a Nation. Enjoy a fascinating exploration into the lives of three women ignored by history after raising sons who helped shape a movement. Much has been written about Berdis Baldwin’s son James, about Alberta King’s son Martin Luther, and Louise Little’s son Malcolm. But virtually nothing has been said about the extraordinary women who raised them. In her groundbreaking and essential debut, scholar Anna Malaika Tubbs celebrates Black motherhood by telling the story of the three women who raised some of America’s most pivotal heroes.
Anna Malaika Tubbs is a Cambridge Ph.D. candidate in sociology and a Bill and Melinda Gates Cambridge Scholar.
Registration for this program will end two hours before the start time. The Zoom login information will be sent just after registration closes. Please be sure to check your spam folder in case it lands there.

Scandinavian Cultural Center presents: Connecting with Nature the Norwegian Way
2021-03-27 13:00 | ONLINE, United Kingdom, E16 2DQ
Join author Oliver Luke Delorie to discuss his book, Fruiluftsliv: Connect with Nature the Norwegian Way.
Translated from Norwegian as “free life air,” friluftsliv highlights the basic need for humans to get outside and connect with the natural world. It’s not about conquering nature, as in climbing the highest mountain, or about camping and other activities: it’s about truly finding harmony and becoming one with the outdoors. Whether you live in the city or out in the countryside, this inspiring guide will show you how to enter a friluftsliv state of mind. It explains how spending time in nature and feeling its rhythms, even when it’s something as simple as a magical Sunday walk in a local park, can improve our well-being and encourage productive self-reflection.
Saturday, March 27th | 1pm EST | $5; free for SCC Members | register here
ABOUT OLIVER: Nicknamed “Monk” the day he was born, Oliver Luke Delorie grew up steeped in Eastern philosophy and martial arts. He is also the author of the playful 100 Small Ways to Quit Worrying and 100 Small Ways to Manage Time. Delorie lives in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

Newton Free Library presents: How to Use Critical Thinking Skills
2021-03-31 19:00 - 20:00 | ONLINE, United Kingdom, E16 2DQ
What does it mean to be a critical thinker? Can critical thinking help us better understand the news and make better decisions, including how to navigate a global pandemic? Join Jonathan Haber, educational researcher, consultant and author of, Critical Thinking Essentials, to learn, among other things:

How the concept of critical thinking originated
What critical thinking skills are
How critical thinking skills can be applied to decision making

Registration for this program will end two hours before the start time. The Zoom login information will be sent just after registration closes. Please be sure to check your spam folder in case it lands there.

Newton Free Library presents: Virtual Author Visit with Jennifer De Leon
2021-05-04 14:30 - 16:00 | ONLINE, United Kingdom, E16 2DQ
The library invites everyone in the City of Newton community to join a youth-moderated discussion on Jennifer De Leon’s teen debut, Don’t Ask Me Where I’m From. Don’t Ask Me Where I’m From tells the story of Liliana Cruz, a Boston teen from an immigrant family who is accepted into the METCO program—and the challenges she faces as she is forced to confront racism at her new white suburban school.
Register for the event here.
Books & audiobooks available on Sora, NNHS & NSHS libraries, and the public library! You can also purchase Jennifer’s books at Newtonville Books!

Newton Free Library presents: Shipwrecks of Cape Cod - Stories of Tragedy & Triumph
2021-06-02 19:00 - 20:00 | ONLINE, United Kingdom, E16 2DQ
Cape Cod’s outer beach has always been known for its shipwrecks. Between 1626 and the mid-20th century, this solitary 40-mile stretch of beach and sandbars saw the demise of over 3,000 vessels. It’s been said that if all the wrecks were raised, one could walk from Provincetown to Chatham without getting his or her feet wet. Join Cape Cod historian Don Wilding, author of the upcoming book, Shipwrecks of Cape Cod: Stories of Tragedy & Triumph, for a look back at some of these disasters, ranging from the 1626 stranding of the Sparrow Hawk to the Eldia in 1984 and more.
Since the start of the millennium, Don Wilding has been telling stories of Cape Cod Outer Beach history. An award-winning writer and editor for Massachusetts newspapers since 1985, Don has contributed the Shore Lore history column for The Cape Codder newspaper of Orleans, and is the author of two other books, Henry Beston’s Cape Cod: How The Outermost House Inspired a National Seashore, and A Brief of History of Eastham: On the Outer Beach of Cape Cod.
Click here to register.

Newton Free Library presents: An American History of the Long Road to Freedom
2021-06-14 19:00 - 20:00 | ONLINE, United Kingdom, E16 2DQ
Join Dr. Matthew Delmont for a program that will explore the origins and importance of Juneteenth – a celebration of the end of slavery in the U.S. – and of the generations of Black Americans who have fought for freedom and equality. Juneteenth was first celebrated in Texas to commemorate the date when U.S. Army troops and news of the Emancipation Proclamation reached the state on June 19, 1865. Today, nearly every state observes this date, including Massachusetts, which will celebrate Juneteenth as a state holiday for the first time this year. Juneteenth is a time for joy, for building community and for talking honestly about our nation’s history.
Dr. Matthew Delmont is the Sherman Fairchild Distinguished Professor of History at Dartmouth College. An expert on African-American History and the history of Civil Rights, he is the author four books, including most recently, Black Quotidian: Everyday History in African American Newspapers. His next book, Half American: The Epic Story of African Americans Fighting World War II at Home and Abroad, will be published by Viking Books in 2022. He was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship and National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Public Scholar Award to support this research. He regularly shares his research with media outlets, including the New York Times, NPR, The Atlantic and Washington Post. This program is cosponsored by the Newton Human Rights Commission.
Registration for this program will end two hours before the start time. The login information will be sent just after registration closes. Please be sure to check your spam folder in case it lands there.

Newton Free Library presents: An Evening with author Nate Marshall
2021-06-28 19:00 - 20:00 | ONLINE, United Kingdom, E16 2DQ
This program is presented in partnership with the Chelmsford Public Library. Please register here.
Join Nate Marshall, writer, rapper and educator for a reading from his recent collection, Finna (2020).
Definition of finna, created by the author: fin·na /ˈfinə/ contraction: (1) going to; intending to [rooted in African American Vernacular English] (2) eye dialect spelling of “fixing to” (3) Black possibility; Black futurity; Blackness as tomorrow
These poems consider the brevity and disposability of Black lives and other oppressed people in our current era of emboldened white supremacy, and the use of the Black vernacular in America’s vast reserve of racial and gendered epithets. Finna explores the erasure of peoples in the American narrative, asks how gendered language can provoke violence and finally, how the Black vernacular, expands our notions of possibility, giving us a new language of hope:
nothing about our people is romantic
& it shouldn’t be. our people deserve
poetry without meter. we deserve our
own jagged rhythm & our own uneven
walk towards sun. you make happening happen.
we happen to love. this is our greatest
action.
Nate Marshall is the author and editor of numerous works including Finna, Wild Hundreds, The BreakBeat Poets: New American Poetry in the Age of Hip-Hop, and the audio drama Bruh Rabbit & The Fantastic Telling of Remington Ellis Esq. He teaches creative writing and literature at Colorado College. Nate was born and raised on the South Side of Chicago.
Registration will remain open until the program start time. Login information will be emailed upon registration.

Newton Free Library presents: From Dragons to Unicorns - A Fantasy Animal Writing Workshop
2021-07-07 18:30 - 19:30, 2021-07-14 18:30 - 19:30 | Zoom
Are you a fan of animal fiction? What about fantasy? Join us as we learn to combine the best of both worlds as we get our imaginations flowing in this animal fiction writing program for rising 4th and 5th graders. Create a new world for fantasy animals to inhabit or a makeup a new animal altogether! Space is limited.
Registration is required. A zoom link will be sent out two days before the first session. When you sign up, you register for July 7 and 14.

Newton Free Library presents: Prohibition Wine
2021-07-20 19:00 - 20:00 | ONLINE, United Kingdom, E16 2DQ
Join us for an author talk with TAB columnist and community activist, Marian Leah Knapp. Her new book, Prohibition Wine: A True Story of One Woman’s Daring in Twentieth-Century America, tells the story of how Marian’s grandmother, Rebecca Goldberg—a Jewish immigrant from the Russian Empire living in rural Massachusetts―lost her husband to a railroad accident. The tragedy left her alone with six children to raise. The book follows Rebecca through the 1920s as she transforms her egg delivery service into a more lucrative endeavor: bootlegging.
For five years, Rebecca successfully provided for her customers in secret as a means to support her family until she was caught. Knapp’s story chronicles how the lower class experienced the Prohibition, a side not always represented in popular media from the era. Rebecca’s life as a poor Jewish immigrant in Massachusetts holds a mirror to struggles still relevant today including disparities in access to education and healthcare and ongoing discrimination. This program is cosponsored by the City of Newton Department of Senior Services.
Registration for this program will end two hours before the start time. The login information will be sent just after registration closes. Please be sure to check your spam folder in case it lands there.

Newton Free Library presents: Poetry by the Pooh Statues
2021-07-21 16:30 - 17:15 | Newton Free Library, 330 Homer St, Newton, MA, 02459, United States
Do you love poetry and want to write some with other children? Meet us by the Pooh Statues behind the library to participate in this fun budding writer’s workshop! We will have paper and pencils. Just bring yourselves and your creativity. For ages 6-9 and their caregivers. If the ground is wet or in case of rain, this program will be virtual and a zoom link will be added to this description that morning.

Historic Newton presents: Book Launch - An Evening at Norumbega Park
2021-08-01 17:00 - 19:00 | Boston Marriott Newton, 2345 Commonwealth Avenue, Newton, MA, 02466, United States
A nostalgic return to the fun-loving days of historic Norumbega Park and the Totem Pole Ballroom to celebrate Historic Newton’s new book!

From its Grand Opening in 1897 to when the gates closed forever in 1963, Norumbega Park by the Charles River in Auburndale was the ultimate destination for thrill-seekers and fun-lovers. The park hosted canoeing, amusement rides, explorations through its zoo and gardens, and live entertainment from nationally renowned big bands in the elegant Totem Pole Ballroom (once called “America’s most beautiful ballroom”).
Escape from everyday life with us on Sunday, August 1st, to the actual site of the former park, for a nostalgic celebration of Historic Newton’s new book, Norumbega Park and the Totem Pole Ballroom, published by Arcadia Publishing and featuring more than 200 images from Historic Newton’s archives.
As you enter, get serenaded by a Barbershop Quartet. Enjoy beer, wine, and amusement park food — anybody up for cotton candy, fried dough, and ice cream? — in the beautiful, riverside garden party setting as you’re treated to magic and acrobatic performances, along with a chance to meet the book’s authors, Sara Goldberg and Clara Silverstein.
General Admission tickets are $50 each for access to all food, wine/beer, and entertainment.
Individual Sponsor tickets are $125 each, which includes an additional tax deductible donation to Historic Newton. Sponsor ticket holders will receive special acknowledgment in our event program and a signed copy of the book!
Click here to register.

Scavenger Hunt at the Newton Free Library
2021-08-13 09:00 - 12:00 | Newton Free Library, 330 Homer St, Newton, MA, 02459, United States
Are you ready for a Scavenger Hunt at the Library! Come to the Children’s Desk anytime between 9am and 12pm and pick up a sheet with clues to find objects and images around the children’s area. When you are done you will get to take home a special animal sticker of your choosing. This program is part of our Tail and Tales Summer Reading program. To sign up for summer reading click here.

Newton Free Library presents: Graphic Novel Trivia for Kids and Families
2021-08-24 19:00 - 20:00 | ONLINE, United Kingdom, E16 2DQ
Can’t get enough of Dogman, Lunch Lady, or Narwhal and Jelly? Come to our Graphic Novel Trivia night just for kids and their families! No restrictions on team size. One registration per team. A reminder email and the Zoom link will be sent out the day before the event. Registration is required and will close on August 23 at 7:00pm.

Postponed-Newton Free Library presents: You Came Through The Ruins - Tagore's Songs and Poems of Life and Renewal
2021-09-23 19:00 - 20:00 | ONLINE, United Kingdom, E16 2DQ
Join Maitreyee Chakraborty and friends for a special concert that will focus on the works of the Bengali poet, Rabindranath Tagore. He was a writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer and painter who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913. Maitreyee is trained in the classical Indian vocal tradition.
When the world crumbles around us, death tolls rise and intolerance grows, Rabindranath Tagore’s words and music offer solace and perspective.
This program is supported by a grant from the Newton Cultural Council.
Registration for this program will end two hours before the start time. The login information will be sent just after registration closes. Please be sure to check your spam folder in case it lands there.

Scandinavian Cultural Center Book Talk: "We Share the Same Sky" with Rachael Cerrotti
2021-10-17 14:00 - 15:00 | Scandinavian Cultural Center, 206 Waltham St, Newton, MA, 02465, United States
Join us for a talk with author Rachael Cerrotti about her book We Share the Same Sky: A Memoir of Memory & Migration.
It is the story of a granddaughter’s decade-long journey to retrace her grandmother’s wartime escape and weave together the thin threads of family history.
In 2009, Rachael Cerrotti, a college student pursuing a career in photojournalism, asked her grandmother, Hana, if she could record her story. Rachael knew that her grandmother was a Holocaust survivor and the only one in her family alive at the end of the war. Rachael also knew that she survived because of the kindness of strangers. It wasn’t a secret. Hana spoke about her history publicly and regularly. But, Rachael wanted to document it as only a granddaughter could. So, that’s what they did: Hana talked and Rachael wrote.
Upon Hana’s passing in 2010, Rachael discovered an incredible archive of her life. There were preserved albums and hundreds of photographs dating back to the 1920s. There were letters waiting to be translated, journals, diaries, deportation and immigration papers as well as creative writings from various stages of Hana’s life.
Rachael digitized and organized it all, plucking it from the past and placing it into her present. Then, she began retracing her grandmother’s story, following her through Central Europe, Scandinavia, and across the United States. She tracked down the descendants of those who helped save her grandmother’s life during the war. Rachael went in pursuit of her grandmother’s memory to explore how the retelling of family stories becomes the history itself.
We Share the Same Sky weaves together the stories of these two young women — Hana as a refugee who remains one step ahead of the Nazis at every turn, and Rachael, whose insatiable curiosity to touch the past guides her into the lives of countless strangers, bringing her love and tragic loss. Throughout the course of her twenties, Hana’s history becomes a guidebook for Rachael in how to live a life empowered by grief.
Sunday, October 17th | 2pm | register here **advanced registration and proof of vaccination required to attend**

New Art Center presents: Teen Zine - GR 9-12
2021-10-20 18:00 - 20:00 | New Art Center, 61 Washington Park, Newton, MA, 02460, United States
In this 6-week course students will print and produce their own zine – a small circulation of self-published work using a combination of both text and imagery. Students will develop their own short stories and/or poems and use these pieces to create visual imagery to support their writing. By the end the of the course students will print a limited-edition zine using a variety of print methods both by hand and using a press. Click here to register.
Notes: no class 11/24
