Big Blue Marble invites you to a celebration of All Things Little Women on Tuesday, September 17th.

We’ll be helping to launch the new essay collection The March Sisters: On Life, Death, and Little Women. Published to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the publication of Little Women, four acclaimed authors offer personal reflections on their lifelong engagement with a March sister.

Authors Carmen Maria Machado and Kate Bolick will be hand to share their work. (p.s. - there may be a third - stay tuned!)

The event will be in a most Alcott-y location, the Germantown Historical Society, 5501 Germantown Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19144. This home is a block from where the Alcotts lived in Philadelphia. Period house, period furniture, and even a period-food porch party!

As space is limited in the historic house, this will be a ticketed event. Ticket options include coming to the event, coming to the pre-event porch party, and purchasing the autographed book.

For the 150th anniversary of the publication of Louisa May Alcott's Little Women, Kate Bolick, Jenny Zhang, Carmen Maria Machado, and Jane Smiley explore their strong lifelong personal engagement with Alcott's novel--what it has meant to them and why it still matters. Each takes as her subject one of the four March sisters, reflecting on their stories and what they have to teach us about life. Kate Bolick finds parallels in oldest sister Meg's brush with glamour at the Moffats' ball and her own complicated relationship with clothes. Jenny Zhang confesses to liking Jo least among the sisters when she first read the novel as a girl, uncomfortable in finding so much of herself in a character she feared was too unfeminine. Carmen Maria Machado writes about the real-life tragedy of Lizzie Alcott, the inspiration for third sister Beth, and the horror story that can result from not being the author of your own life's narrative. And Jane Smiley rehabilitates the reputation of youngest sister Amy, whom she sees as a modern feminist role model for those of us who are, well, not like the fiery Jo. These four voices come together to form a deep, funny, far-ranging meditation on the power of great literature to shape our lives.

Who Will Vote for America?
a mid-term voting pre-party
@ Kismet Co-Working Chestnut Hill

12 W. Willow Grove Ave, Philadelphia, 19118

Join Big Blue Marble and Kismet Co-Working for a night of readings, music, food, drinks, and inspiration the night before YOU WILL ALL BE VOTING!

Reading will be Stephanie Feldman and Nathaniel Popkin, editors of "Who Will Speak for America," and contributors Ken Kalfus, Carlos Jose Perez Samano and Fran Wilde. We'll also have musical inspiration from Two of a Kind and snacks and beer provided by Kismet.

Our special guests will be reps from Fair Districts PA, to update us on the urgent project of fair redistricting.

Doors open at 7 pm, Event begins at 7:30 pm

Listen ♦ Socialize ♦ Eat ♦ Drink ♦ Be Merry ♦ Be Inspired

The Mt. Airy Village Fair is a day-long fair for the neighborhood, by the neighborhood.

Dancing in the streets! Delicious food! Interactive activities for all ages! We'll have music and dancing on three stages, a petting zoo, and over 70 interactive boothies. Food trucks, grilling, large scale collaborative art, and tons of community cheer. Join us!

Join us for a special Gay Pride Month event as we welcome Saundra Mitchell, editor of All Out: The No-Longer Secret Stories of Queer Teens Throughout the Ages, Amanda Foody, author of ACE OF SHADES Book One of the Shadow Game Series, and Mt. Airy's own Alex London, author of Proxy and Guardian.

Amanda Foody has always considered imagination to be our best attempt at magic. After spending her childhood longing to attend Hogwarts, she now loves to write about immersive settings and characters grappling with insurmountable destinies. She holds a Masters in Accountancy from Villanova University, and a Bachelors of Arts in English Literature from the College of William and Mary. Currently, she works as a tax accountant in Philadelphia, PA, surrounded by her many siblings and many books.

Saundra Mitchell is the author of SHADOWED SUMMER, THE VESPERTINE, THE SPRINGSWEET, THE ELEMENTALS and MISTWALKER. In non-fiction, she’s the author of the THEY DID WHAT!? series for middle grade readers. She’s also the editor of the YA anthology DEFY THE DARK. Writing as Jessa Holbrook, she published her first romantic contemporary YA with Razorbill, WHILE YOU’RE AWAY. In summer 2014, she debuted WILD, her first YA novel writing as Alex Mallory. For twenty years, she was the head screenwriter and an executive producer with Dreaming Tree Films on their various teen filmmaking programs. In other arenas, Ms. Mitchell was interviewed by the New York Times and the BBC for her part in exposing the Kaycee Nicole hoax, and she’s been tapped by morning radio shows all over the United States as a guest expert on Urban Legends & Folklore. In her free time, she enjoys fandom, studying history, papermaking, and spending time with her wife and her daughters.

C. Alexander London (Alex) has written books for children, teens, even a few grown ups. He’s the author of The Wild Ones series, Dog Tags and Tides of War series, as well as the Accidental Adventures and two titles in The 39 Clues series for young readers. His young adult debut, Proxy, was an American Library Association Top Ten Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Readers and included on their 2014 Best Fiction For Young Adults list. Proxy is a 2015 Texas Lone Star Reading List and TAYSHAS Reading List selection, a 2016 Intermediate Sequoyah Masterlist selection in Oklahoma, and has been on many state reading lists including Colorado, Arkansas, Missouri. The sequel, Guardian, is available now.

Monica Hand's second poetry collection, "Divida," comes out in April 2018, and all of us who love Monica and love great poetry will be gathering to celebrate. Reading will be a beautiful spread of Monica's friends and colleagues - check back soon for the official list.

Monica Hand's first collection, "Me and Nina," was published by Alice James Books in 2012. "Divida" was accepted, also by Alice James, in December 2016. To our community's stunned sorrow, Monica died just a few days after that happy news broke. So, in her honor, we'll be reading, gifting, promoting this book as hard as we can.

Cause two books is NOT enough, but two is what we have...

Kick off National Poetry Month in style with The Canterbury Challenge!

From April 1st through April 10th, we invite you to recite the first 10 lines of the General Prologue and receive 10% off any item you're purchasing.

Yes, in Middle English.  No, we won't be critical of your accent.

Memory could use a touch up? Here's an interlineal translation!

Join a rowdy group of Jewish writers for a pre-Passover celebration! From the serious to the hilarious, we'll reflect on the holiday, the year, and the world.

On the schedule so far: Anndee Hochman, Susan Windle, Hanoch Guy, Lauren Feldman, Betti Kahn, Dave Worrell, Darla Himeles, Elliott batTzedek, Amy Small-McKinney, and Nina Schafer.

Join Big Blue Marble as we honor the remarkable life of the remarkable Ursula K. Le Guin.

We'll be welcoming some of our favorite writers to reflect on how Le Guin influenced their own work, and to share favorite passages of her writing. To honor the broad spread of Le Guin's writing, our authors' genres include: fiction, science fiction, mystery, speculative fiction, fantasy, romance, poetry, essays, memoir, and science fiction and fantasy for Middle Grade and Young Adult readers.

Featuring:
Anndee Hochman
Lorrie Kim
Alexander London
Jon McGoran
Victoria McManus
Fran Wilde
Simone Zelitch

The Mt. Airy Village Fair is a day-long fair for the neighborhood, by the neighborhood.
Dancing in the streets! Delicous food! Interactive activities for all ages, including the SLOW ice cream eating contest, the beloved pet parade, and so much more.

Constitution Day is Sunday, September 17th. We'll be celebrating the Constitution all week with some serious fun - sing us the preamble when you are checking out and receive 10% off any one item you're purchasing!