April author talks and lectures at the Boston Public Library

April author talks include visits from internationally-known transgender author and speaker Ryan Sallans, Boston Marathon survivors Jessica Kensky and Patrick Downes, award-winning actress Christine Lahti, and more. All programs and events can be viewed via www.bpl.org/calendar.

• Graphic designer Douglass Scott gives the 44th annual Dwiggins Lecture on the work and teaching of Alvin Eisenman – book designer and typographer for McGraw-Hill and the Yale University Press, and the creator of the first graduate program in graphic design in the United States and its head for 40 years. Tuesday, April 3, at 6 p.m. in Rabb Hall at the Central Library in Copley Square, located at 700 Boylston Street.
• Ryan Sallans, an internationally-known transgender speaker and author, explores his relationship with family, romantic partners, colleagues, and self. Thursday, April 5, at 6 p.m. in the Abbey Room at the Central Library in Copley Square, located at 700 Boylston Street. Part of the Lowell Lecture Series. Following the lecture, join slam poets Black Venus and Eziah Blake for a performance centered on identity and expression. Afterward, the mic will be open to audience members who wish to share poems of their own. Thursday, April 5, at 7:30 p.m. in the Newsfeed Café.
• Co-authors Jessica Kensky and Patrick Downes, a married couple who were both injured during the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013, share their book Rescue & Jessica: A Life Changing Friendship on Thursday, April 5, at 6 p.m. in Rabb Hall at the Central Library in Copley Square, located at 700 Boylston Street. They will be joined by illustrator Scott Magoon, and the star of the book and ASPCA Dog of the Year, Rescue.
• Award-winning and acclaimed director and stage, television, and film actress Christine Lahti discusses her comical essay collection True Stories from an Unreliable Eyewitness: A Feminist Coming of Age on Tuesday, April 10, at 6 p.m. in Rabb Hall at the Central Library in Copley Square, located at 700 Boylston Street.
• South End resident William Kuhn, author of the bestseller Queen Takes the Train, shares his latest work Prince Harry Boy to Man on Tuesday, April 10, at 6:30 p.m. at the South End Branch, located at 685 Tremont Street. Part of the South End Writes Series.
• Michael Vieira examines the history, legends, and people associated with some of the geological wonders in New England and shares excerpts from his book New England Rocks: Historic Geological Wonders on Wednesday, April 11, at 6 p.m. in the Commonwealth Salon at the Central Library in Copley Square, located at 700 Boylston Street. Part of the Local & Family History Series.
• Patrick L. Kennedy takes attendees back to another time, when bricklayers, plumbers, and printers could take the stage as star athletes as he discusses his book Bricklayer Bill: The Untold Story of the Workingman’s Boston Marathon on Thursday, April 12, at 6 p.m. in the Commonwealth Salon at the Central Library in Copley Square, located at 700 Boylston Street. Part of the Local & Family History Series.
• Keith Morgan, Professor Emeritus of History of Art & Architecture and American & New England Studies at Boston University, discusses the legacy of groundbreaking landscape architects Frederick Law Olmsted and Charles Eliot. Following the talk, the Leventhal Map Center hosts a guided tour of their new exhibition, Breathing Room: Mapping Boston’s Green Spaces. Monday, April 23, at 6 p.m. in the Commonwealth Salon at the Central Library in Copley Square, located at 700 Boylston Street.
• WCVB’s Chronicle reporter Ted Reinstein discusses his latest book New England’s General Stores: Exploring an American Classic and offers a nostalgic picture of these colonial staples and steadfast institutions of small towns from Connecticut to Maine. Wednesday, April 25, at 6 p.m. in the Commonwealth Salon at the Central Library in Copley Square, located at 700 Boylston Street. Part of the Local & Family History Series.
• Boston Globe reporter Emily Sweeney shares excerpts from her book Gangland Boston, revealing the history of notorious gangsters and the places they frequented on Monday, April 30, at 6 p.m. at the South Boston Branch, located at 646 East Broadway.

Boston Public Library provides educational, cultural and civic enrichment, free to all, for the residents of Boston, Massachusetts and beyond, through its collections, services, programs, and spaces. Established in 1848, the Boston Public Library is a pioneer of public library service in America. It was the first large free municipal library in the United States, the first public library to lend books, the first to have a branch library, and the first to have a children’s room. As a City of Boston historic cultural institution, Boston Public Library today features a Central Library, twenty-five branches, a map center, business library, archival center; extensive special collections of rare books, manuscripts, photographs, and prints; and rich digital content and online services. The award-winning renovation of the Central Library in Copley Square, completed in 2016, together with new, renovated and historic branches, provide a transformed library for the next generation of users. Boston Public Library enriches lives, hosting thousands of free educational programs and exhibitions, and provides free library services online and in-person to millions of people each year.  To learn more, visit bpl.org.