BOOKISH: At one time so foolishly forbidden

POSTED: Tuesday, September 27, 2011, 3:00 PM

Filed Under: Arts Books

Each week, Francesca Crozier-Fitzgerald compiles a rundown of book-centric events that’ll keep you “lit” like a campfire all week long.

[ Tonight ]

Celebrate Banned Books Week ➤ Whether you escape reality with one of Faulkner’s classics, a corny, elicit romance novel or a trendy vampire series, reading is an enlightening pastime. That being said, can you believe the literary police have been trying to stifle this brain-budding experience since 450 B.C.? Unsuccessfully, the powers have tried to ban forward-thinking classics like Catcher in the Rye, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Boccaccio’s Decameron. Acknowledge your freedom to read during Rosenbach Museum and Library’s Authors of Mischief, an annual Banned Books Week event. There will be readings of some of history’s most astonishing literary masterpieces that were at one time so foolishly forbidden. Tue., Sept. 27, free for members, $10, 6-7:30 p.m., rosenbach.org.

[ Wednesday ]

Get to know your NOOK ➤ So your kids and grandkids were kind enough to buy you the NOOK for your birthday. Now you’re so awfully excited to be part of this new chic movement of reading anywhere, anytime. But when you sit down to use the thing, you may resemble that scene from Zoolander: “The files are … in the computer?” If this sounds like you, come to Dave’s Nook Workshop at the Moorestown Barnes and Noble to improve your skills with the NOOK Color and Simple Touch. No more monkey noises or screen punching sessions necessary. Wed., Sept. 28, 7 p.m., free, Barnes and Noble, 1311 Nixon Drive, Moorestown, N.J., 856-608-1622, barnesandnoble.com.

[ Thursday ]

Spoken Word @ Dowling’s Palace ➤ Let’s not kid ourselves. The thrill of an open-mic night is watching the performer get on stage and encounter those ten seconds of anxiety and visible torment. It’s a nice interlude to the piece, which, once started, relieves a huge amount of the pressure. This philosophy marks the foundation of Dowling College’s Spoken Word Club: they’re “Jus’ Words.” Use Thursday nights at Dowling’s Palace to practice poetry, rap, or written comedy sketches in front of an audience. There’s even a happy-hour special from 5-7 p.m. to get your self esteem right where it belongs. Thu., Sept. 29, 9 p.m.-1 a.m., 1310 N. Broad St. $5-$7, 215-236-9888 dowlingspalace.

[ Friday ]

Hearing it From the Horses’ Mouths ➤ Poetry is often argued to be the purest, most personal form of literature. It’s a memoir condensed into a small box of fewer words; verbs, nouns and adjectives that cannot run and hide in shadows of long, boring chapters. They are bold and always visible. Hearing these words aloud by their creator, the poet, in the tone and rhythm that they were originally intended is a sublime experience. Two very accomplished local poets of our time, Iain Haley Pollock (pictured right) and Joseph Chelius, will perform their artwork at Bucks County Community College in their own personal voices. Fri., Sept. 30, 7:30 p.m., Bucks County Community College, 215-968-8000, bucks.edu.

[ Saturday ]

Books Through Bars ➤ Noted as one of the most powerful films about prison life, Shawshank Redemption honestly chronicles the effects of confinement on the human psyche. Toward the middle of the film, Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) devotes his daily life to expanding the prison library, because he knows the act of reading and educating oneself will be a positive one. The A-Space in West Philadelphia cherishes the same values. Here, you can volunteer to read through a local prisoner's letter of book requests, sift through their library of donated books and send it through the bars into appreciative hands. Every Tuesday, 7:30-9:30 p.m., and the first and third Saturdays of the month, 11 a.m.-2 p.m., free, The A-Space, 4722 Baltimore Ave., booksthroughbars.org.

[ Sunday ]

Remembering the Peanut Gallery ➤ Like any form of literature, a comic strip and its characters are only as entertaining and addictive as the author/illustrator designs them to be. The tales of Charlie Brown and his clan captivated many generations. If you’ve never sat down to read a Charles Schulz Peanuts strip, take some time to do it today — the 61st anniversary of the comic's newspaper debut. The first strip — published in seven newspapers across the country — can be found here: schulzmuseum.org/timeline.html.

[ Monday ]

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo ➤ For those of you who haven't started the series or heard that the first volume of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo will be released on Dec. 21, go to your nearest library or bookstore and pick up Steig Larsson’s politically charged Swedish crime thriller. Savor this opportunity to experience the primary characters, Mikael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander, on a more intimate level, page by page. If you’re feeling especially ambitious, you can dedicate one month to each book and complete the entire trilogy before volume one hits theaters!

Have lit events you'd like to see featured in an upcoming Bookish? Email Francesca at francesca@citypaper.net.

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