3 SEPTEMBER  |  6 PM
Freedom of Speech: An Academic War Front
A conversation between Barak Medina, the Justice Haim H. Cohn Chair in Human Rights Law, Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and Lee Epstein the Ethan A.H. Shepley Distinguished University Professor, WashU, moderated by Chancellor Andrew D. Martin, on freedom of speech as an emerging front in the context of the Israel-Hamas war. Medina and Epstein will share their scholarly insights and practical experiences from recent debates on freedom of speech and its limits, both in Israel and the U.S. These limits were challenged in the context of the Free Palestine Encampment Movement that began at Columbia University in spring 2024, as well as in crackdowns on permissible speech that have led to people being fired from their jobs or disciplined or expelled from universities in Israel. Department of Jewish, Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies.
Washington University, Umrath Hall, Umrath Lounge

4–22 SEPTEMBER
Blues in the Night
A dynamic Tony-nominated musical review showcases the universal language of the blues. Set in 1930s Chicago, the audience is immersed in the stories of three women, told through the music of Bessie Smith, Duke Ellington, Johnny Mercer, Harold Arlen and many more. Directed by Ron Himes, Henry E. Hampton, Jr. Artist-in-Residence in the Department of African and African American Studies, with musical director Khalid McGhee. The Black Rep.
Washington University, Mallinckrodt Center, Edison Theatre

5–7 SEPTEMBER   
Reflecting on Reproductive Justice: A public symposium on global and local advocacy
In a time when a range of rights are under attack, this symposium will explore the realities of working on reproduction and opportunities for change, through a series of curated conversations with advocates working locally, nationally and across borders. The symposium will culminate with a conversation with esteemed professor Loretta Ross, a reproductive justice movement founder. Ross is an activist, public intellectual, scholar, a 2022 MacArthur Foundation “Genius” Fellow and an associate professor of the study of women and gender at Smith College. Additional speakers include organizer Rockie Gonzalez, anthropologist and doula Cynthia Ingar, legal scholar Kimberly Mutcherson, and representatives from local organizations including Abortion Action Missouri, Medical Students for Choice, MoHo Justice, Jamaa Birth Village and Right By You. Reproductive Justice, Health, Rights working group, Center for the Humanities.
Washington University, Hillman Hall, Clark-Fox Forum

5 SEPTEMBER  |  8 PM
Lars Horn - Reading
LARS HORN is a writer and translator working in literary and experimental nonfiction. Their first book, Voice of the Fish, won the 2020 Graywolf Nonfiction Prize and the 2023 Great Lakes Colleges Association New Writers Award and was named an Honor Book for the 2023 Stonewall Israel Fishman Nonfiction Book Award. Horn’s writing has appeared in Granta, Virginia Quarterly Review, Kenyon Review, Poets & Writers, The Rumpus and Literary Hub. Initially specializing in phenomenology and visual arts scholarship, they hold MAs from the University of Edinburgh, École normale supérieure, Paris, and Concordia University, Montreal. Department of English.
Washington University, Duncker Hall, Hurst Lounge

6 SEPTEMBER  |  4 PM
Creating German Identity from Roman Antiquities: Hartmann Schedel’s Opus de Antiquitatibus Inclite Germanie (1505)
The Bavarian State Library in Munich, Germany, holds a little-known autograph manuscript of great importance: the Liber Antiquitatum, a four-part collection of inscriptions and antiquities from the classical era to the Renaissance. The Liber was compiled 1502–05 by the famous Nuremberg physician and humanist Hartmann Schedel (d. 1514), who dedicated the fourth part of the Liber, the Opus de Antiquitatibus Inclite Germanie, to the inscriptions and antiquities of the German lands. The Opus was part of a larger scholarly and patriotic program to uncover and preserve as much information about the German past and present as possible. The significance of the Opus lies not only in is devotion to studying material remains, in particular those from Roman Germania, but also in its preservation of a way of viewing these materials as distinctly German. The Opus thereby records one Renaissance scholar’s attempts to read the material remains of the Roman past as a means to access German history and therefore illustrates a significant shift in the development of a “nationalized” conception of antiquity. Department of Classics.
Washington University, Umrath Hall, Room 140

6 SEPTEMBER  |  4 PM
Occult Hunting and Supernatural Play in Japan: Book Reading
In Japan today, women are the primary drivers of religious re-enchantment, and they are exerting pressure on shrines, temples and the media industries to accommodate their interests and aesthetic tastes. Employing a semantically broad meaning of “occult” to include the mysterious or supernatural, Laura Miller, the Eiichi Shibusawa-Seigo Arai Endowed Professor of Japanese Studies and professor of history, University of Missouri–St. Louis, examines how it manifests to offer avenues of self-exploration and spiritual capital that fundamentally appeal to women. Female seekers have had a major impact on the fashioning and marketing of spiritual sites, texts and objects, often through encoding the kawaii, or cute, aesthetic. Miller makes the case that the gendered nature of occult hunting has been neglected in research and that greater attention to gendered perspectives reveals significant facets of sociality and recreation. Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures.
Washington University, Busch Hall, Room 18

9 SEPTEMBER  |  4 PM
Chancellor’s Fireside Chat with Valerie Jarrett and Michael Isikoff AB ’74
The Gephardt Institute welcomes the WashU community to join us for a fireside chat with Chancellor Andrew D. Martin, the Barack Obama Foundation CEO Valerie Jarrett, and investigative journalist and author Michael Isikoff AB ’74. Advance registration is required. Gephardt Institute for Civic and Community Engagement.
Washington University, Graham Chapel

10 SEPTEMBER  |  4 PM
Erika Sabbath
ERIKA SABBATH, an alumna of the Department of Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies, is associate professor in the Boston College School of Social Work and co-director of the Harvard Center for Work, Health, and Wellbeing. She will discuss her research on the impacts of state abortion bans on the well-being of obstetrician-gynecologists. Department of Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies.
Washington University, Goldfarb Hall, Room 132

12 SEPTEMBER  |  8 PM
John Murillo - Reading
JOHN MURILLO, associate professor of English and director of the creative writing program, Wesleyan University, is the author of the poetry collections Up Jump the Boogie, finalist for both the Kate Tufts Discovery Award and the Pen Open Book Award, and Kontemporary Amerikan Poetry, winner of the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award and the Poetry Society of Virginia’s North American Book Award, and finalist for the PEN/Voelcker Award for Poetry, Believer Poetry Award, Maya Angelou Book Award, Hurston/Wright Foundation Legacy Award and the NAACP Image Award. Murillo’s poems have appeared in such publications as American Poetry Review, Poetry and Best American Poetry 2017, 2019 and 2020. Department of English.
Washington University, Duncker Hall, Hurst Lounge

16 SEPTEMBER  |  5:30 PM
Americanist Dinner Forum: An evening with Lyndon Barrois Jr.
LYNDON BARROIS JR. is an artist interested in instances of conviction, methods of deception and systems of value. Using production, conservation and forgery as intersecting acts of deceptive practice, he borrows from cinematic frameworks to construct what he calls a static film: installations that evoke a cinematic narrative without moving images. Barrois Jr. will share his recent approaches to themes of value, deception, reproduction and interrogating history through fiction. American Culture Studies program.
Washington University, Weil Hall, Kuehner Court

17 SEPTEMBER  |  6 PM
International Black Theatre Day
Celebrate International Black Theatre Day with a panel discussion moderated by Gerald Early, professor of English and African and African American Studies at Washington University, and featuring guest speaker Michael Simanga, activist poet, novelist, essayist, producer, historian, professor of Africana studies and history at Morehouse College and guest editor of The Black Scholar; and WashU faculty Julius B. Fleming, associate professor of English, and Paige McGinley, associate professor of performing arts and director of the American Culture Studies program. The evening will also feature an excerpt performance from Blues in the Night, in performance at the Edison Theatre through Sun., Sept. 22. Black Theatre Day is a global celebration designed to celebrate the enduring legacy of the African Grove Theatre and acknowledge the vitality and vibrancy of Black theatre institutions, in the United States and around the world. Free. St. Louis Black Repertory Company.
Washington University, Mallinckrodt Center, Edison Theatre

19–21 SEPTEMBER
The Sweet Perspectives
Perspective and other forms of descriptive geometry are uniquely interdisciplinary topics, the study and execution of which involve art history, architecture, and design as well as  anatomy, mathematics, and physics. These topics are subject to historical and theoretical investigation, but are also matters of contemporary practice and production. Yet all too often the many facets of perspective are only ever tackled in isolation, by specialists in specific sub-fields speaking to small groups of other specialists. This symposium proposes to bring together scholars and practitioners from a broad range of disciplines in a unique format, which will combine lectures, seminar-style discussions, and a hands-on practicum to help us approach the geometry of representation with the full breadth it merits. The practicum, led by the conveners of the symposium, will take participants through several possible hypothetical reconstruction methods for the construction of ancient Greco-Roman murals, culminating in the attempt to create a set of large-scale representations. The symposium will culminate in a plenary discussion of what we have learned, including successes and failures. Department of Art History and Archaeology and Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Art.
Washington University, various locations

19 SEPTEMBER  |  8 PM
John Murillo - Craft Talk
JOHN MURILLO, associate professor of English and director of the creative writing program, Wesleyan University, is the author of the poetry collections Up Jump the Boogie, finalist for both the Kate Tufts Discovery Award and the Pen Open Book Award, and Kontemporary Amerikan Poetry, winner of the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award and the Poetry Society of Virginia’s North American Book Award, and finalist for the PEN/Voelcker Award for Poetry, Believer Poetry Award, Maya Angelou Book Award, Hurston/Wright Foundation Legacy Award and the NAACP Image Award. Murillo’s poems have appeared in such publications as American Poetry Review, Poetry and Best American Poetry 2017, 2019 and 2020. Department of English.
Washington University, Duncker Hall, Hurst Lounge

20–21 SEPTEMBER  
The Catholic Enlightenment in Europe, the Americas and Australia (1700– 1840)
The Enlightenment, it has now been established, was as much a religious phenomenon as it was a secular one. This conference brings together leading scholars from around the world to interrogate the ways in which Catholics, in particular, interpreted and extended Enlightenment ideas to rethink and reform society, politics, the economy, education, science and the arts on a global scale. Washington University in St. Louis, Saint Louis University’s Center for Research on Global Catholicism and the University of Münster.
Washington University & Saint Louis University – see schedule

20–21 SEPTEMBER  
2024 A.E. Hotchner Playwriting Festival
For nearly 30 years, the Performing Arts Department has produced the A.E. Hotchner Playwriting Festival as a vehicle to support and develop new plays written by WashU students. Free admission. Performing Arts Department.
Fri., Sept. 20, 7:30 pm: Escape by Zach Berger; directed by Jeffery Matthews
Sat., Sept. 20, 7:30 pm: Follow the.... by Frauke Thielecke; directed by Annamaria Pileggi 
Washington University, A.E. Hotchner Studio Theatre

20 SEPTEMBER  |  3 PM
Blacksound and Notions of Property (and Possession) in American Popular Music
This talk will discuss the concept of “Blacksound,” with a particular focus on the legacy of blackface minstrelsy in shaping property relations within the development of the American popular music — in both its industry and performance. Matthew D. Morrison is an associate professor in the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music in the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. Department of Music.
Washington University, Music Classroom Building, Room 102

20 SEPTEMBER  |  3 PM
Joyous Jamettes: Laboring Fuh Di Wine
ADANNA KAI JONES is an assistant professor of dance and dance studies in the Department of Theater and Dance at Bowdoin College. She has performed in professional dance companies based in NYC and New Jersey, including the Julia Ritter Performance Group and Souloworks with Andrea E. Woods. As a scholar, her research generally focuses on Caribbean dance and identity politics within the Diaspora, paying particular focus to Trini-styled Carnivals and the rolling hip dance known as winin.’ Nicknamed the “Doctor of Winin’,” her artistic and scholarly work remains rooted in the many dances of the Caribbean, paying particular attention to the multiple ways we roll our sweet waistlines! With regards to her own creative pursuits, she has choreographed dance-theater pieces that were not only based on her research but were also used as tools for generating more research questions. Performing Arts Department.
Washington University, Danforth University Center, Room 234

21 SEPTEMBER  |  2 PM
Public Tour: Design Agendas
Student educators lead interactive tours of this season’s exhibition Design Agendas: Modern Architecture in St. Louis, 1930s–1970s. With material drawn from the Saint Louis Art Museum, the Missouri Historical Society and other collections, this exhibition situates works of modern architecture in St. Louis within the context of urban renewal and racial and spatial segregation and displacement. Using architectural drawings, models, photographs, films and maps, Design Agendas highlights the contributions of architects, planners, artists and activists in the civic work that shaped the design and building history of St. Louis. Through guided discussion, participants will explore these complex connections in this period of shifting architectural history. Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum.
Washington University, Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, Lobby

22 SEPTEMBER  |  2 PM
Chinese-Language Tour: Design Agendas
设计议程：圣路易斯的现代建筑，1930年代-1970年代 

学生导览员将以互动讲解的形式，带领观众参观本季度的特别展览“设计议程：圣路易斯的现代建筑，1930-1970年代”。本次展览将圣路易斯的现代建筑置于城市重建、种族和空间的隔离与迁移的背景下，展品来自圣路易斯艺术博物馆、密苏里历史学会以及其他收藏。通过展出建筑图纸、模型、照片、影片和地图，“设计议程”突出了建筑师、规划师、艺术家和活动家在塑造圣路易斯设计和建筑历史等公共事务中的贡献。通过引导讨论，参与者将探讨这一时期建筑历史变迁中的复杂联系。
Student educators lead interactive tours of this season’s exhibition Design Agendas: Modern Architecture in St. Louis, 1930s–1970s. With material drawn from the Saint Louis Art Museum, the Missouri Historical Society and other collections, this exhibition situates works of modern architecture in St. Louis within the context of urban renewal and racial and spatial segregation and displacement. Using architectural drawings, models, photographs, films and maps, Design Agendas highlights the contributions of architects, planners, artists and activists in the civic work that shaped the design and building history of St. Louis. Through guided discussion, participants will explore these complex connections in this period of shifting architectural history. Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum.
Washington University, Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, Lobby

23 SEPTEMBER  |  4 PM
Book Launch: Play Harder: The Triumph of Black Baseball in America
Written and edited by Gerald Early, the Merle Kling Professor of Modern Letters at Washington University in St. Louis, in conjunction with the National Baseball Hall of Fame, Play Harder examines of how Black Americans have shaped baseball from its emergence after the Civil War to the Negro Leagues and Jackie Robinson’s breaking of the color barrier, up to today’s game. Emerging from Early’s work on the Hall of Fame exhibit “The Souls of the Game: Voices of Black Baseball,” which opened on May 25 in Cooperstown, NY, Play Harder contains Early’s words as well as contributions from an all-star lineup of Black baseball writers, scholars and journalists from across the nation. For this panel discussion and celebration, Early will be joined by three such contributors: Courtney M. Cox, Amira Rose Davis and Shakeia Taylor. American Culture Studies program.
Washington University, Duncker Hall, Hurst Lounge

23 SEPTEMBER  |  7 PM
The Palestine Taboo: Race, Islamophobia, and Free Speech
SAHAR AZIZ, Distinguished Professor of Law and Chancellor’s Social Justice Scholar, Rutgers University. The true test of a democracy is the extent to which civil rights in law are enforced in practice for the most vulnerable groups in society. As members of Congress demand mass arrest and expulsion of college students exercising their free speech right to dissent against U.S. foreign policy in Gaza and the West Bank, the racial fault lines in American democracy are laid bare. Similarly, university presidents are buckling to external political pressure to violate academic freedom of Muslim and Arab faculty targeted by external anti-Muslim and pro-Israeli groups and politicians. In this timely lecture, Aziz examines how Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian racism intersect to produce systematic assaults on the civil rights of racialized communities. Danforth Center on Religion & Politics.
Washington University, Anheuser-Busch Hall, Bryan Cave Moot Courtroom

25 SEPTEMBER  |  3 PM
WashU Libraries Virtual Book Club: In the Dream House
For a special Banned Books Week book club, we will read In the Dream House, Carmen Maria Machado’s engrossing and wildly innovative account of a relationship gone bad, and a bold dissection of the mechanisms and cultural representations of psychological abuse. Tracing the full arc of a harrowing relationship with a charismatic but volatile woman, Machado struggles to make sense of how what happened to her shaped the person she was becoming. She looks back at her religious adolescence, unpacks the stereotype of lesbian relationships as safe and utopian, and widens the view with essayistic explorations of the history and reality of abuse in queer relationships. Book club will begin with a discussion of banned books using the American Library Association statistics, followed by a discussion of Machado’s book. University Libraries.
Zoom

25 SEPTEMBER  |  5:30 PM
Banned Books Week: Carmen Maria Machado Reading
CARMEN MARIA MACHADO will read from her acclaimed memoir, In the Dream House. Following her reading, she will discuss book bans and the banning of her own books with WashU Professor of English Melanie Micir. Machado is the author of the best-selling memoir In the Dream House and the award-winning short story collection Her Body and Other Parties. She has been a finalist for the National Book Award and the winner of the Bard Fiction Prize, Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Fiction and National Book Critics Circle’s John Leonard Prize. Her essays, fiction and criticism have appeared in the New Yorker, New York Times, Granta, Vogue, This American Life, The Believer and Guernica. Reception begins at 5 pm. Center for the Literary Arts.
Washington University, Duncker Hall, Hurst Lounge

26 SEPTEMBER  |  4 PM
The Metaverse and Its Premoderns: Islam in an Expanding Reality
In February 2022, Turkey’s Directorate of Religious Affairs landed in the news when it announced that performing the pilgrimage to Mecca in the Metaverse does not count as a “real hajj.” Mixed reactions to this declaration aside, this talk argues that, in the Metaverse era, the existence of a visible but immaterial realm is not just avant-garde, post-modern or, worse, a “blameworthy innovation.” Instead, today’s Muslim imaginary world draws upon and finds echoes in premodern Islamic artworks, objects and other forms of creative expression. Today’s Metaverse also recalls the so-called realm of similitudes (alam al-mithal) developed within Islamic dream thought, whose definitional contours and imagistic boundaries vary and enlarge over time. Such changes occur not only in the minds of spiritual sojourners, but also through technological interventions, all of which converge today to craft immersive worlds that reaffirm a historical past, play with forms in the present and project creative visions of what might come next. Christiane Gruber is professor of Islamic art and former chair of the history of art department at the University of Michigan as well as founding director of Khamseen: Islamic Art History Online. Immersive Technology Collective.
Washington University, McMillan Hall, McMillan Café

26 SEPTEMBER  |  4 PM
Stan Brakhage, Public Intellectual
JOHN POWERS, assistant professor, Film and Media Studies program, Washington University. In 1970, experimental filmmaker Stan Brakhage presented a series of lectures on film history at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. In this presentation, film historian John Powers argues that the lectures originated as part of a broader effort for Brakhage to position himself as an artist whose opinions on the history of his medium would be of value to the general public. This effort also entailed publishing books on film history and bidding for appearances on public affairs programs. In addition to placing Brakhage’s intellectual activities in a greater context, this talk will reveal an untaken path for film historiography and its role in the public humanities. Post-talk refreshments at the Bear Public House. Film and Media Studies program.
Washington University, Seigle Hall, Room 306

27 SEPTEMBER  |  11:30 AM
Teaching Jewish Philosophy and Politics in the Aftermath of October 7 and the Campus Protests
SHIRA BILLET, assistant professor of Jewish thought and ethics, Jewish Theological Seminary. The fallout following the events of October 7, 2023, has touched many spheres of American life, yet colleges and universities have seemingly been at the center. Headlines, controversy and human suffering generated by Hamas’ attack and Israel’s response have gripped dozens of campuses including here at WashU. The surprising impact of a distant regional conflict on campus leadership and life dominated our news cycles with discussion of the conduct of university presidents, hostilities among students, appropriate “time, place and manner” of campus protests, police involvement in dismantling encampments, and fundamental questions of free speech and identity. Lost amidst all of this has been the effect of these events on what is perhaps the university’s central mission: teaching. Join us for a conversation with Billet on how October 7 and the ensuing campus protests have affected the teaching of subjects related to Jewish philosophy and politics including the interrelationship of liberal democracy, Zionism and antisemitism. Danforth Center on Religion & Politics.
Washington University, Duncker Hall, Hurst Lounge

27 SEPTEMBER  |  1 PM
Beyond Exceptionalism and Area Studies: Transnational Feminist Perspectives on Anti-Gender/Feminist Discourses and Politics
NADJE AL-ALI, the Robert Family Professor of International Studies and Professor of Anthropology and Middle East Studies, Brown University. Decentering the West Lecture Series. Department of Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies.
Washington University, McMillan Hall, McMillan Café

28 SEPTEMBER  |  7:30 PM
(Re)Discovering the Musical Legacy of Julia Perry
The rediscovery of Julia Perry (1924–79) has brought her music to concert stages across the world for the centenary of her birth — and now to St. Louis. We are proud to present in concert a selection of works by Julia Perry that span her earliest successes to selections that had not received a premiere until 2024. Perry’s compositional approach is modernist in orientation, blending influences of the church, spirituals and popular music, a neoclassical impulse, and a penchant for melodic writing. Featuring rising star Thandolwethu Mamba, baritone (who recently performed in the Metropolitan Opera’s X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X),  and world-renowned mezzo-soprano Lucia Bradford. Concert attendees can expect to learn about the incredible life and music of Julia Perry, a Black woman and composer whose strikingly original voice has been neglected in the concert hall, and in the history of American classical music, for far too long. Department of Music.
Washington University, 560 Music Center, E. Desmond Lee Concert Hall, 560 Trinity Ave., University City, 63130

2–28 SEPTEMBER
See STL Walking Tours
See STL’s fun and creative tours mix engaging storytelling and a deep well of
historical knowledge with an infectious enthusiasm for the exciting changes the city is currently undergoing. Tours are two hours in length and are wheelchair accessible. $15–$20. Tour starting/ending points are included in your booking details. Missouri Historical Society.
9am, Sept. 2: Kirkwood; 4pm, Sept. 6: Kirkwood; 10am, Sept. 7: Downtown Evolutions; 10am, Sept. 7, Central West End; 10am, Sept. 8: Forest Park; 10am, Sept. 8: Downtown Origins; 10am, Sept. 14: Downtown Design; 10am, Sept. 14: Laclede’s Landing; 10am, Sept. 15: Soulard South; 12pm, Sept. 15: Forest Park; 1pm, Sept. 15: Tower Grove; 4pm, Sept. 20: Kirkwood; 10am, Sept. 21: Urban Renewal; 10am, Sept. 21: Downtown Origins; 10am, Sept. 22: Forest Park; 10am, Sept. 22: Central West End; 10am, Sept. 27: Forest Park; 4pm, Sept. 27: Kirkwood; 10am, Sept. 28: Musical St. Louis; 10am, Sept. 28: Old North St. Louis & St. Louis Place; 9am, Sept. 29: Forest Park; 10am, Sept. 29: Downtown Origins

3 SEPTEMBER  |  11 AM
Engelmann, Shaw, and Their Garden
BILL WICHMAN presents a profile of George J. Engelmann, his relationship to Henry Shaw, and the conception and creation of the Missouri Botanical Garden. Missouri Historical Society.
Missouri History Museum, Lee Auditorium, 5700 Lindell Blvd., St. Louis, 63112

4 SEPTEMBER  |  7 PM
Jodi Picoult, By Any Other Name (Author Talk)
Best-selling novelist Jodi Picoult presents a sweeping tale of ambition, courage and desire that centers two women who are determined to create something beautiful despite the prejudices they face. Young playwright Melina Green has written a new work inspired by the life of her Elizabethan ancestor Emilia Bassano. But seeing it performed is unlikely, in a theater world where the playing field isn’t level for women. In 1581, young Emilia Bassano is a ward of English aristocrats. Endowed with a sharp wit and a gift for storytelling, she is allowed no voice of her own. She begins to form a plan to secretly bring a play of her own to the stage — by paying an actor named William Shakespeare to front her work. $40, includes book copy. St. Louis County Library.
Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center, 1 Touhill Circle, St. Louis, 63121

5, 9, 16, 23 SEPTEMBER
Food Brings Us Together
Event series on global foods. St. Louis County Library.
Sept. 5, 2 pm: Food From Mexico – Samuel C. Sachs Branch, 16400 Burkhardt Pl., Chesterfield, 63017
Sept. 9, 6:30 pm: Mint – Thornhill Branch, 12863 Willowyck Dr., St. Louis, 63146
Sept. 16, 6:30 pm: Lentils – Thornhill Branch, 12863 Willowyck Dr., St. Louis, 63146
Sept. 23, 6:30 pm: Cumin – Thornhill Branch, 12863 Willowyck Dr., St. Louis, 63146

5 SEPTEMBER  |  6 PM
Janelle Bassett, Thanks for This Riot (Author Talk)
Thanks for This Riot explores the limits of kindness, the weight of being needed and the fear of being misunderstood. A group counselor is taunted by a truth-divining piano bench, a voice actor shouts her abortion at the state capitol, a tired caregiver tangles with a pair of stand-up comics, a small-town newspaper office shelters an otherworldly tattletale, a backwoods acupuncturist leans on her least-exciting offspring, a girl in a strapless bra takes a vengeful go-kart ride, and a woman gets surgery to lower her expectations (she thinks it went “okay”). Grouped by types of riot — external riots, internal riots and laugh riots — Thanks for This Riot is a poignant and mordantly funny collection with a distinctly feminist viewpoint. Bassett will be in conversation with Jasmine Sawers, senior editor at SmokeLong Quarterly and fiction editor at Blanket Gravity. Left Bank Books.
Left Bank Books, 399 N. Euclid Ave., St. Louis, 63108

6&7 SEPTEMBER  
Drop-in Collection Tour—Global Connections
Join a guided tour of the newly configured Medieval art gallery, which encourages visitors to understand the pivotal role of merchants and traders in the global exchange of artistic materials and techniques during the Middle Ages. Tours begin at the welcome desk in Sculpture Hall on a first-come, first-served basis. Saint Louis Art Museum.
Fri., Sept. 6, 1 pm
Sat., Sept. 7, 1 pm
Saint Louis Art Museum, 1 Fine Arts Dr., Forest Park, St. Louis, 63110

6 SEPTEMBER  |  6 PM
ASL Tour–Divine Royalty
Join Timothy Smith, a Deaf docent visiting from DEAF Inc., as he leads you through the ancient Egyptian gallery, featuring more 100 works of art that explore death and the afterlife, Egyptian religion and the human figure in art. This tour is designed for Deaf and hard of hearing attendees and will be conducted in American Sign Language. Saint Louis Art Museum.
Saint Louis Art Museum, 1 Fine Arts Dr., Forest Park, St. Louis, 63110

7 SEPTEMBER  |  11 AM
Great Rivers Biennial Artist and Juror Panel Discussion
Celebrate the 11th edition of the Great Rivers Biennial in this panel conversation with artists Saj Issa, Basil Kincaid and Ronald Young, and jurors Rita Gonzalez, Jamillah James and Caroline Kent. Ferring Foundation Chief Curator Dean Daderko moderates the discussion. Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis.
Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, 3750 Washington Blvd., St. Louis, 63108

7 SEPTEMBER  |  12 PM
Soldiers Memorial and Surroundings
Delivered by knowledgeable volunteer docents, these free tours explore Soldiers Memorial’s exhibits and Memorial Plaza. The 12pm tour, Soldiers Memorial and Its Surroundings, explains the building’s history and architecture. At 1pm, St. Louis in Service delves into the history of St. Louis, from the Revolutionary War through today. Missouri Historical Society.
Soldiers Memorial, 1315 Chestnut St., St. Louis, 63103

9 SEPTEMBER  |  6 PM
Paulette Sankofa, St. Louis Black Women’s Quilting and Cuisine: Stories of Love and Hope (Author Talk)
St. Louis Black Women’s Quilting and Cuisine is a beautiful exploration through personal stories of how quilting and cuisine serve as forms of art, cultural preservation and expressions of love and hope within the Black St. Louis community. This book documents the stories of St. Louis Black women who are passionate about quilting and culinary arts. This is an essential part of the local quilting and culinary arts history of the state of Missouri. Left Bank Books.
Left Bank Books, 399 N. Euclid Ave., St. Louis, 63108

10 SEPTEMBER  |  6 PM
Derek Hyra, Slow and Sudden Violence: Why and When Uprisings Occur (Author Talk)
In Slow and Sudden Violence, Derek Hyra links police violence to an ongoing cycle of racial and spatial urban redevelopment repression. By delving into the real estate histories of St. Louis and Baltimore, he shows how housing and community development policies advance neighborhood inequality by segregating, gentrifying and displacing Black communities. Left Bank Books.
Left Bank Books, 399 N. Euclid Ave., St. Louis, 63108

11 SEPTEMBER  |  7 PM
Alison Gaylin, Robert B. Parker’s Buzz Kill (Author Talk)
Crime fiction author Alison Gaylin continues the Sunny Randall detective series started by suspense master Robert B. Parker. In Buzz Kill, Randall investigates the disappearance of a hard-partying energy drink mogul. Unable to turn down a life-changing fee, Sunny takes on the case, but immediately discovers not only his bad behavior with women but also his reckless moves within the business world, producing an energy drink that has proven deadly. St. Louis County Library.
St. Louis County Library – Clark Family Branch, 1640 S. Lindbergh Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63131

12 SEPTEMBER  |  2 PM
Meet Me in St. Louis: Exploring the Music of Early 20th-Century St. Louis
Delve into the music at the 1904 World’s Fair, explore the world of ragtime musicians and sheet music publishers, and track the development of the jazz and early blues music scenes. Presented by the Missouri History Museum. St. Louis County Library.
St. Louis County Library – Cliff Cave Branch, 5430 Telegraph Rd., St. Louis, 63129

12 SEPTEMBER  |  6 PM
John Elizabeth Stintzi, Bad Houses (Author Talk)
In the surreal, often precarious realities of Bad Houses, a doctor discovers a double-edged cure for the Ebola virus, a college student loses a different body part each time they return home for the summer, Midas’ hairdresser strives to keep his secrets and a young girl develops a fascination with the trolls who harvest her father’s pumpkin patch. At once humorous and horrifying, these stories will inevitably take residence in your mind. Left Bank Books.
Left Bank Books, 399 N. Euclid Ave., St. Louis, 63108

12 SEPTEMBER  |  7 PM
A Seat at the Table
This event promises to be an engaging and informative experience for anyone interested in the preservation of historic Black cemeteries. The program will feature a panel of archivists, librarians, genealogists and researchers dedicated to preserving and maintaining archives and artifacts that connect present-day populations with their ancestral communities. Through their work, these professionals help foster a deeper sense of identity and heritage — a true act of social justice. After the conversation, diners turn to each other to engage in an interactive activity designed to continue reflection on the evening’s topic. Through this program, participants can make new connections, exchange resources and develop new perspectives. Most importantly, participants conclude the evening prepared to apply insights gained from having “a seat at the table” to their own lives. Center for the Digitization and Curation of African American History, National Museum of African American History and Culture.
Scott Joplin House State Historic Site, The Rosebud, 2658 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 63103

13&14 SEPTEMBER  
Drop-in Collection Tour—Global Connections
Join a guided tour of the newly configured Medieval art gallery, which encourages visitors to understand the pivotal role of merchants and traders in the global exchange of artistic materials and techniques during the Middle Ages. Tours begin at the welcome desk in Sculpture Hall on a first-come, first-served basis. Saint Louis Art Museum.
Fri., Sept. 13, 1 pm
Fri., Sept. 13, 4 pm: Audio Description Tour
Sat., Sept. 14, 1 pm
Saint Louis Art Museum, 1 Fine Arts Dr., Forest Park, St. Louis, 63110

13–14 SEPTEMBER
Missouri Book Festival
The Missouri Book Festival celebrates the best of regional life, culture and history with an array of dynamic programming meant to promote literacy and encourage reading. Events take place in Washington, the quintessential Missouri town. Here, books that feature stories on the Show-Me State come to life in food demonstrations, sports exhibitions, myriad forms of performance and lively author talks and discussions. Keynote address is by New York Times best-selling author Ridley Pearson, Fri., Sept. 13, 7 pm. Missouri Book Festival.
Various locations – see schedule

13 SEPTEMBER  
Finding Peace in Current Times
In collaboration with Arts & Faith St. Louis, the Saint Louis Art Museum is offering a day of programming including film screenings; a Saint Louis Story Stitchers Artists Collective performance that includes spoken word, music and dance; and guided interfaith tours in the SLAM collection galleries that focus on themes of light, darkness, nature and peace. Saint Louis Art Museum.
11 am: Peace in the Prairie Film Screening
3 pm: Interfaith Tour—Light, Darkness, Nature, and Peace
4:30 pm: Peace in the Prairie Film Screening
7 pm: Interfaith Tour—Light, Darkness, Nature, and Peace
Saint Louis Art Museum, 1 Fine Arts Dr., Forest Park, St. Louis, 63110

13 SEPTEMBER  |  6 PM
Cass Donish, Your Dazzling Death: Poems (Author Talk)
In Your Dazzling Death, Cass Donish courageously summons the poems to witness their own state of “obliteration,” widowed by suicide and isolated as a global pandemic is unfolding. Elegizing their partner, the poet Kelly Caldwell, they insist that the intimate, ongoing conversation with a beloved mysteriously continues after loss. Donish will be in conversation with Mary Jo Bang, professor of English at Washington University and author of eight poetry collections including Elegy, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award. Left Bank Books.
Left Bank Books, 399 N. Euclid Ave., St. Louis, 63108

14 SEPTEMBER  |  10 AM–7 PM
Chuseok
Sometimes called Korean Thanksgiving, Chuseok is a major Korean holiday, on par with Lunar New Year’s Day (seollal) and Dano. Falling on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month, Chuseok is a time of showing gratitude — to our ancestors and for newly harvested crops. Families gather together and prepare ritual offerings of fresh food and drink for their ancestors. This is followed by celebration through shared stories, food, music, dance and games to celebrate the abundance of nature. This year’s festival activities include traditional Korean clothing (hanbok) experience; Korean craft activities: lantern, spinning top, folded paper tile game (ddakji), letter bracelet, tassel (norigae); calligraphy workshop; and games such as yut nori, jaggi-chagi, gong-gi and ddakji. Free. Gateway Korea Foundation St. Louis.
Tower Grove Park, Half Moon Circle, 4257 Northeast Dr., St. Louis, 63110

14 SEPTEMBER  |  6 PM
Historically Speaking: Preserving Historic Black Neighborhoods
Join us in St. Louis for this insightful event to learn about the preservation efforts of historic Black neighborhoods and engage with thought leaders dedicated to celebrating and maintaining African American heritage through the built environment. Center for the Digitization and Curation of African American History, National Museum of African American History and Culture.
YWCA Metro St. Louis, Phyllis Wheatley Heritage Center, 2711 Locust St., St. Louis, 63103

14 SEPTEMBER  |  7 PM
T.J. Klune, Somewhere Beyond the Sea (Author Talk)
A magical house. A secret past. A summons that could change everything. Arthur Parnassus lives a good life built on the ashes of a bad one. He’s the headmaster of a strange orphanage on a distant and peculiar island, and he hopes to soon be the adoptive father to the six dangerous and magical children who live there. But when Arthur is summoned to make a public statement about his dark past, he finds himself at the helm of a fight for the future that his family, and all magical people, deserve. $34–$42, includes book copy. St. Louis County Library.
St. Louis County Library – Clark Family Branch, 1640 S. Lindbergh Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63131

16 SEPTEMBER  |  6:45 PM
Nina Simone: The Eternal Voice
Classically trained, Juilliard educated and musically gifted, Nina Simone overcame many obstacles including racism, mental health issues, politics and bad management. Simone pushed boundaries and became one of the most iconic voices in pop, jazz and blues. St. Louis County Library.
St. Louis County Library – Clark Family Branch, 1640 S. Lindbergh Blvd., St. Louis, 63131

17, 26, 28 SEPTEMBER  |  6:64 PM
Voces Creativas: Exploring Hispanic-American Authors, Directors and Artists
Celebrate the rich contributions of Hispanic-American authors, directors and artists. Explore inspiring stories and groundbreaking works that have had a lasting cultural impact. St. Louis County Library.
Sept. 17, 2:30 pm: Grand Glaize Branch, 1010 Meramec Station Rd., Manchester, 63021
Sept. 26, 6 pm: Rock Road Branch, 10267 St. Charles Rock Rd., St. Ann, 63074
Sept. 28, 10 am: Thornhill Branch, 12863 Willowyck Dr., St. Louis, 63146

17 SEPTEMBER  |  11 AM
The 1944 World Series: St. Louis vs. St. Louis
In 1944 the world was at war and the nation was singing “Meet me in St. Louis, Louie.” Soon baseball fans would also be singing those same words in anticipation of that year’s Fall Classic, when every game was played at Sportsman’s Park: St. Louis’ American League Browns and National League Cardinals each won their respective league’s pennant and would face off in the World Series. Join award-winning baseball historian Ed Wheatley to commemorate the year when St. Louis baseball reigned supreme. Missouri Historical Society.
Missouri History Museum, Lee Auditorium, 5700 Lindell Blvd., St. Louis, 63112

17 SEPTEMBER  |  6:30 PM
Elizabeth Kurrus, Patrick McCarthy and John A. Wright, Ethnic St. Louis (Author Talk)
Ethnic St. Louis highlights the many communities that come together to make St. Louis a vibrant city. Stories and photography come together to create a rich tapestry of the people and cultures that have enriched the Gateway City throughout its history. St. Louis County Library.
St. Louis County Library – Grant’s View Branch, 9700 Musick Rd., St. Louis, MO 63123

17 SEPTEMBER  |  7 PM
Sarah Smarsh, Bone of the Bone: Essays on America by a Daughter of the Working Class (Author Talk)
In Bone of the Bone, Sarah Smarsh brings her graceful storytelling and incisive critique to the challenges that define our times — class division, political fissures, gender inequality, environmental crisis, media bias, the rural-urban gulf. Smarsh, a journalist who grew up on a wheat farm in Kansas and was the first in her family to graduate from college, has long focused on cultural dissonance that many in her industry neglected until recently. Now, this thought-provoking collection of more than 30 of her highly relevant, previously published essays from the past decade — ranging from personal narratives to news commentary — demonstrates a life and a career steeped in the issues that affect our collective future. Left Bank Books.
Left Bank Books, 399 N. Euclid Ave., St. Louis, 63108

18–30 SEPTEMBER 
Dial ‘M’ for Murder
Step into the shadows of a meticulously planned murder. In the elegant home of Tony and Margot Wendice, a sinister game of cat and mouse unfolds. Tony, a calculating mastermind, plots to kill his wife for her inheritance, fueled by revenge and greed. When his perfect plan spirals into chaos, a web of lies and deceit is spun, threatening to ensnare the innocent. Join the relentless Inspector Hubbard as he unravels the twisted truth. Will Tony’s trap hold, or will justice be served? Post-performance talkbacks on Sat., Sept. 28 and Wed., Oct. 2. $35–$90. Repertory Theatre of St. Louis.
Loretto-Hilton Center, 130 Edgar Rd., Webster Groves, 63119

18 SEPTEMBER  |  7 PM
Shawntelle Madison, The Fallen Fruit (Author Talk)
On a rainy day in May 1964, history professor Cecily Bridge-Davis begins to search for the 65 acres of land she inherited from her father’s family. The quest leads her to uncover a dark secret: In every generation, one offspring from each Bridge family unit vanishes — and is mysteriously whisked back in time. With only a family Bible and a map marked with the locations of mysterious containers to aid her, Cecily heads to the library, hoping to discover the truth of how this curse began and how it might be ended. It is a race through time and against the clock to find the answers that will free her family forever. Left Bank Books.
Left Bank Books, 399 N. Euclid Ave., St. Louis, 63108

19 SEPTEMBER  |  5 PM
Sara Fitzgerald, The Silenced Muse: Emily Hale, T. S. Eliot, and the Role of a Lifetime (Author Talk)
The Silenced Muse is the first full-length biography of Emily Hale, the longtime secret love of celebrated poet T.S. Eliot. This compelling story of the amateur actress and university professor finally explores Hale’s side of the relationship, drawing on the 1,131 letters Eliot sent Hale that were only recently made available to the public. Left Bank Books.
Left Bank Books, 399 N. Euclid Ave., St. Louis, 63108

20&21 SEPTEMBER  
Drop-in Collection Tour—Global Connections
Join a guided tour of the newly configured Medieval art gallery, which encourages visitors to understand the pivotal role of merchants and traders in the global exchange of artistic materials and techniques during the Middle Ages. Tours begin at the welcome desk in Sculpture Hall on a first-come, first-served basis. Saint Louis Art Museum.
Fri., Sept. 20, 1 pm
Sat., Sept. 21, 1 pm
Saint Louis Art Museum, 1 Fine Arts Dr., Forest Park, St. Louis, 63110

21 SEPTEMBER  |  9 AM
Carondelet Author Breakfast
Join six local authors — including Gabe Montesanti, author of Brace for Impact; Michelle Collins Anderson, author of The Flower Sisters; newly published Nigerian author Chukwuebuka Ibeh, author of Blessings; speculative fiction author Shawntelle Madison; Meridith Tate, author of several teen books including The Last Confession of Autumn Casterly; and Emily Bain Murphy, whose debut adult novel is Enchanted Hill — for a speed-dating-style event. Registration limited to 50. St. Louis Public Library.
St. Louis Public Library – Carondelet Library, 6800 Michigan Ave., St. Louis, 63111

21 SEPTEMBER  |  11 AM
Collecting Family Oral Histories
KELLY ELAINE NAVIES, Museum Specialist in Oral History at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, will discuss the practice of oral history and how it can be used to support and deepen family history research. She will offer guidelines and strategies for creating and implementing a family oral history project. Navies will also share clips from her own family oral history work. Center for the Digitization and Curation of African American History, National Museum of African American History and Culture.
The Griot Museum of Black History, 2505 St. Louis Ave., St. Louis, 63106

22 SEPTEMBER  |  4 PM
H.W. Brands, America First: Roosevelt vs. Lindbergh in the Shadow of War (Author Talk)
Best-selling historian and Pulitzer Prize finalist H.W. Brands sheds light on a crucial tipping point in American history and depicts the making of a legendary president. Hitler’s invasion of Poland in September 1939 launched a momentous period of decision-making for the United States. For popular hero Charles Lindbergh, saying no to another world war only 20 years after the first was the obvious answer. While Hitler advanced across Europe, President Roosevelt struggled to turn the tide of public opinion. With great effort, political shrewdness and outright deception, FDR pushed the U.S. onto the world stage, where it has stayed ever since. St. Louis County Library.
St. Louis County Library – Clark Family Branch, 1640 S. Lindbergh Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63131

23 SEPTEMBER  |  7 PM
Joe Posnanski, Why We Love Football: A History in 100 Moments (Author Talk)
After his best-selling home run books Why We Love Baseball and The Baseball 100, Joe Posnanski turns from the national pastime to the No. 1 sport in America. Why We Love Football is Posnanski’s newest must-have deep dive into the archives and legends of the sport, and the result is a rousing tale of the 100 greatest moments in football lore. This is the best kind of sports writing: Entertaining, enlightening, heartbreaking, hilarious and always fascinating, these stories of the sport offer a panoramic look across its history. From hidden gems and classic tales to famous moments told from previously unheard perspectives, this book is the football book for even its most ardent fans. Left Bank Books.
Left Bank Books, 399 N. Euclid Ave., St. Louis, 63108

25 SEPTEMBER  |  6 PM
Patty Heyda, Radical Atlas of Ferguson, USA (Author Talk)
Ferguson, Mo., became the epicenter of America’s racial tensions after the 2014 murder of Michael Brown and the protests that followed in its wake. Though this suburb just outside St. Louis might have seemed like an average Midwestern town, the activism that exploded there after Brown’s killing laid bare how longstanding municipal planning policies had led to racial segregation, fragmentation, poverty and police targeting. In over 100 maps, Washington University professor Patty Heyda charts the systemic forces that have defined Ferguson, and the first-ring suburb in America more broadly. Through an in-depth look at the contradictions undergirding city planning and design, it illuminates how tax incentives, housing codes, urban design, policing, philanthropy and even landscaping often work against the betterment of residents’ lives. At its heart lies a key question: Just who are our cities being built for? A profound rethinking of what maps can be, Radical Atlas of Ferguson, USA will challenge city planners, designers and everyday citizens to change their perspective of public space. Left Bank Books.
Left Bank Books, 399 N. Euclid Ave., St. Louis, 63108

26 SEPTEMBER  |  10 AM
Advancing Change: Centering Mentorship in Arts, Education and Community
This year’s virtual summit on diversity will focus on the role of mentorship in fostering the next generation of leaders and defining strategies for creating space in museums, education and community. The keynote address by Sarah Lewis will set the stage for a deep exploration of how mentorship can shape and elevate careers in arts-related fields. Attendees also will gain invaluable insights from three accomplished alumnae of SLAM’s Romare Bearden Graduate Museum Fellowship who have carved out impactful careers as art professionals. Their reflections will not only highlight the critical role of mentorship in their personal and professional growth but also provide practical guidance for emerging artists, educators and community leaders seeking to make their mark. Saint Louis Art Museum.
Virtual

26 SEPTEMBER  |  7 PM
Martin Walker, A Grave in the Woods (Author Talk)
Internationally best-selling author Martin Walker presents his latest mystery featuring Benoît “Bruno” Courrèges, the unconventional chief of police of a small French village. When Abby, an American archaeologist, arrives in St. Denis on the heels of her divorce, she hopes to make a new life for herself. But when a local couple discovers a grave from World War II on their property, Abby is asked to put her training to good use. In the grave are the remains of two German women and an Italian submarine officer who had a big secret to hide. It’s up to Bruno to unravel the mystery — and its contemporary relevance. St. Louis County Library.
St. Louis County Library – Clark Family Branch, 1640 S. Lindbergh Blvd., St. Louis, 63131

27&28 SEPTEMBER  
Drop-in Collection Tour—Global Connections
Join a guided tour of the newly configured Medieval art gallery, which encourages visitors to understand the pivotal role of merchants and traders in the global exchange of artistic materials and techniques during the Middle Ages. Tours begin at the welcome desk in Sculpture Hall on a first-come, first-served basis. Saint Louis Art Museum.
Fri., Sept. 27, 1 pm
Sat., Sept. 28, 1 pm
Saint Louis Art Museum, 1 Fine Arts Dr., Forest Park, St. Louis, 63110

28 SEPTEMBER  |  9:30 AM
Hamilton in the Archives
Whether you scored tickets to Hamilton at the Fox or not, there’s another place to get your fill of all things Hamilton. Acquisition Librarian Kelly Brown will be your guide to documents and books in the Missouri Historical Society’s collections that have connections to several of the real people featured in the musical, including the infamous “Reynolds Pamphlet” and a letter signed by Alexander Hamilton. Missouri Historical Society.
Library & Research Center, 225 S Skinker Blvd., St. Louis, 63105

28 SEPTEMBER  |  11 AM
Joshua A. Douglas, The Court V. the Voters: The Troubling Story of How the Supreme Court Has Undermined Voting Rights (Author Talk)
In The Court v. the Voters, law professor Joshua Douglas takes us behind the scenes of significant cases in voting rights — some surprising and unknown, some familiar — to investigate the historic crossroads that have irrevocably changed our elections and the nation. In crisp and accessible prose, Douglas tells the story of each case, sheds light on the intractable election problems we face as a result and highlights the unique role the highest court has played in producing a broken electoral system. The Court v. the Voters powerfully reminds us of the tangible, real-world effects from the Court’s voting rights decisions. While we can — and should — lament the democracy that might have been, Douglas argues that we can — and should — double down in our efforts to protect the right to vote. Left Bank Books.
Left Bank Books, 399 N. Euclid Ave., St. Louis, 63108

29 SEPTEMBER  |  10:30 AM–4 PM
Sababa
Sababa is St. Louis’ premier Jewish arts and culture festival, an outdoor showcase of the vibrancy of contemporary Jewish culture. The festival features local, regional and national visual art exhibitors, culinary experiences and musical performances, as well as activities from local Jewish organizations. St. Louis Jewish Federation.
The J–St. Louis, I.E. Millstone Campus, Staenberg Family Complex, 2 Millstone Campus Dr., Creve Coeur, 63146