The annual Haystack Book Festival, a program of the Norfolk Foundation, brings together writers and thinkers to explore new ideas in literature and the arts.

Schedule of Events

June 4, 2023

1:00 PM - A Public Reading of Joe Brainard's I Remember with an Introduction by Timothy Young at the Art Barn

Joe Brainard's I Remember is a literary and artistic cult classic, praised and admired by writers from Paul Auster to John Ashbery and Edmund White. As autobiography, Brainard's method was brilliantly simple: to set down specific memories as they rose to the surface of his consciousness, each prefaced by the refrain "I remember…"

Timothy Young is Curator of Modern Books and Manuscripts at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University

Public participation is encouraged.

June 23, 2023

7:00 PM - The Daring Eye of George Platt Lynes at The Norfolk Library

Artist and writer, Jarrett Earnest and Allen Ellenzweig, the author of the biography, George Platt Lynes: The Daring Eye will discuss the life of photographer Platt Lynes and his place in the modern art movement as it relates to dance, Hollywood, and the male form.

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July 9, 2023

4:00 PM - John Ashbery's Playlist at The Norfolk Library

John Ashbery's Playlist
Karin Roffman, author of The Songs We Know Best: John Ashbery's Early Life, and Melvin Chen, Director, Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, explore the life and soundscape of the poet John Ashbery (1927-2017). Roffman's "John Ashbery's Music Library: A Playlist" appeared in the Evergreen Review.

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August 5, 2023

4:00PM - Modernism and Tradition - The Foundations of American Art and Culture at The Norfolk Library

Jennifer Homans, author of the George Balanchine biography, Mr. B and Hugh Eakin, author of Picasso's War, will engage in a wide-ranging conversation about the United States and Europe, modernism and tradition, and the individuals who ultimately laid the foundations for contemporary American art and culture.

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Date: June 4, 23, July 9 and August 5, 2023

Location:
The Norfolk Library,
9 Greenwoods Road East,
Norfolk, CT 06058.

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