FARMINGTON — The innovative Emery Community Arts Center on the University of Maine at Farmington campus presents three literary arts events in November. These events, featuring a performative reading, book launch and celebration of UMF faculty authors, are free and open to the public. They will be held in the center’s multipurpose performance space.

* A performative reading of the “Sirens” episode of “Ulysses” will begin at 7 p.m. Saturday.

This performative reading includes a large cast of faculty, students and community members. It presents several sequences in an experimental, simultaneous format and emphasizes the interplay of sounds including choral echoes in several of Bloom’s monologues. The reading is coordinated and organized by UMF faculty and staff, including Steven Pane, professor of music; Phil Carlsen; Jayne Decker, instructor of theater and Emery director; Michael Johnson, professor of English; and Daniel Gunn, provost and vice president for academic affairs.

* A book launch reading and reception for Bill Roorbach’s “Life Among Giants” is planned for 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 9.

Roorbach will read from the book, which tells the story of David “Lizard” Hochmeyer, who lives across the pond from the High Side, a mansion the size of an embassy, home to world famous ballerina Sylphide and her even more famous English rocker husband, Dabney Stryker-Stewart. When Lizard’s parents are mysteriously killed, he and his brilliant but unstable sister, Kate, are left adrift and full of questions. Lizard’s path to answers is more than circuitous; it’s a journey laden with pro football stars, a master chef tattooed head to toe and a beautiful transvestite. It’s a path that leads back, again and again, to the fabulous couple on the other side of the pond, particularly, the beautiful Sylphide.

* A celebration and reception for UMF faculty authors for 2011 and 2012 is set for 4-6 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 13.

The public is invited to meet the authors and celebrate the recently published original fiction and nonfiction of UMF faculty members from across academic disciplines. The program will begin at 4:30 p.m. and will include light refreshments.


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