Friday, June 10, 8pm at Electric Hair Salon, 100 Stuyvesant Place, Staten Island NY 10301
Join Staten Island OutLOUD & Electric Hair Salon for a reading of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s hilarious short story, “Bernice Bobs Her Hair”.
A flapper finds a unique way to get get the upper hand on a mean girl. A very mean girl! Everybody’s revenge fantasy! Free!
Saturday, June 4, 2pm at the Greenbelt Nature Center, 700 Rockland Ave, SINY 10314.
Staten Island OutLOUD explores the early work of environmental activist Rachel Carson. Here best-known book, The Silent Spring, awakened the world to the dangers of indiscriminate use of DDT. Monsanto hated her, but she inspired millions.
This event is free & family-friendly.
Saturday, May 7, 2pm. At the Noble Maritime Museum (on the grounds of Snug Harbor), 1000 Richmond Terrace, Building D, SINY 10301
Mark Twain had a Staten Island connection??? Who knew?!!!!!
Staten Island OutLOUD invites you to go behind the scenes of Mark Twain’s strange fantasy/science fiction novel Captain Stormfield’s Visit to Heaven (ranked as one of his top 4 novels by H. L. Mencken) and his story Refuge of the Derelicts, to meet the real-life pirate of Twain’s fiction: Edgar Wakeman, whose 1874 stay at Sailors’ Snug Harbor inspired Twain’s tales.
Staten Island historian Andrew Wilson has researched Twain’s Staten Island connection, and what he’s discovered will knock your socks off! Join us for this special event. A spoken word performance, and Mr. Wilson’s first-hand account of his literary sleuthing.
In 1874 Captain Edgar Wakeman, partially paralyzed and suffering from fainting spells, arrived at Sailors’ Snug Harbor seeking help writing his autobiography. The man he had asked for help was Mark Twain.
Twain had first met Wakeman aboard the steamship America on a voyage from San Francisco to New York City in 1866. Twain was fascinated by the gregarious old salt and featured him as a character in several of his books, often under the name “Captain Stormfield.”
The most popular of these stories was an unfinished novel published as Extract from Captain Stormfield’s Visit to Heaven in 1907. Twain spent about 40 years writing it. Though little known today, the critic H.L. Mencken declared Captain Stormfield’s Visit to Heaven to be one of Twain’s four great works, in 1913, despite being unfinished. At the time of his death Twain was working on a new beginning to the tale. The addition did not debut until 1972 when it was published as a separate story called Refuge of the Derelicts. Discover how the two stories could have fit
together and the real-life events at Snug Harbor inspired them.
Why was Twain was so fascinated with the captain? Wakeman first came to national attention in 1849 by hijacking the steamship New World, then under police guard at an East River dock. After tricking the police into letting him start her engines “to work the rust off” he then forced the deputies overboard at Staten Island for a wet three mile slog back to the ferry. The manhunt for Wakeman continued for years with multiple narrow escapes. Cornelius Vanderbilt even provided him with a safe house on the Island where he stayed as the police closed in.
Wakeman was Vanderbilt’s choice for his personal yacht captain. He also commanded Twain’s friend, the “real” Tom Sawyer, aboard the Vanderbilt Line’s Independence. Whether he was running a blockade in the Mexican-American War or saving San Francisco from a gang of Australian arsonists, Wakeman shared his stories, from both sides of the law, with a young reporter named Samuel Clemens – including one about a personal visit he had made to Heaven.
Join us for a dramatic reading, with traditional musical accompaniment, as the ghosts of Twain and Wakeman reunite at the captain’s old home and tell their fantastic tales of adventure and friendship.
FEATURING
James Hill as Mark Twain; Roger Ahearn as Captain Edgar Wakeman; Laura Martocci as the Narrator
Music by Allergic to Bees – Joan and Gary Moore
Presented by Staten Island OutLOUD
Written by Captain Edgar Wakeman and Mark Twain (with a little help from Andrew Wilson)
Saturday, April 23, 2016, at 1pm. At Every Thing Goes Book Cafe (in the garden), 208 Bay St, SINY 10301 Join Staten Island OutLOUD at our community’s annual St George’s Day Festival. We’re marking the 400th anniversary of the Bard’s death with readings from Tales from Shakespeare – Free, fun & family-friendly. You should come!
POSTPONED! RESCHEDULED DATE TBA!!! Flagship Brewery, 40 Minthorne St, SINY 10301
A spoken word performance with special guests “Going Up?” Productons – puppeteeres Dana Morgan & Cara Liander. Sorry, due to a late-breaking schedule issue, this event is being postponed til later this spring. New date TBA. Thanks!
Friday, April 1, 2016, 7pm. Staten Island Arts Culture Lounge, St. George Ferry Terminal, 1 Richmond Terrace, SINY 10301
Three Island writers – Jon Fox, Dan Icolari & Marguerite Rivas – read their original work, including poems inspired by the Staten Island Ferry. Curated by Island poet Lisa Rhoades, and presented in collaboration with our awesome friends at Staten Island Arts. Free. Pictured clockwise below: Jon Fox, Dan Icolari, Lisa Rhoades, Marguerite Rivas. And the Staten Island Ferry.
Saturday, March 19, 2016 – 2pm at Historic Richmond Town’s Courthouse, 441 Clarke Ave, SINY 10306 Staten Island OutLOUD honors the 100th anniversary of the 1916 Irish Rising (sometimes called the Easter Rebellion), on Saturday, March 19, 2pm at Historic Richmond Town’s Courthouse, 441 Clarke Ave, SINY 10306. The event is free, family-friendly and open to the public. On a … Read More
Saturday, March 12, 2016, at 1:30pm and at 3:00pm. At Historic Richmond Town, 441 Clarke Ave, SINY 10306
Historic Richmond Town celebrates Women In History Month, and Staten Island OutLOUD is proud to collaborate in this effort. OutLOUD will offer two free readings: one at 1:30pm and one at 3:00pm. Details TBA.
Saturday, July 14, 2pm. At the Greenbelt Nature Center, 700 Rockland Ave, SINY 10314
Staten Island OutLOUD invites you to explore “The History of Water” – readings and conversation on several fascinating books that examine how water has been used and conserved in varied civilizations throughout history.
How did Roman aqueducts work? What other ingenious methods have been used to transport water and to protect water supplies in remote areas or over long distances? What can we do to better ensure water sources and water safety?
This event is free and open to the public. Good for all ages.
6:30pm on Saturday, February 20, 2016. At Richmond Hood Company, 827 Castleton Ave, SINY 10310.
Staten Island OutLOUD presents readings & conversation in honor of Black History Month. Bring a poem by an African-American writer. We’ll also explore Manning Marable’s “Rediscovering Malcolm”. Special guests – Poet Tom Fucaloro & friends. Free & open to the public.