A town upended

dogsAward-winning author Suzanne Berne, a part-time faculty member in the English Department, has published a new book, The Dogs of Littlefield (Penguin: Fig Tree, 2013). According to the publisher, Berne’s latest novel is a “wry exploration of the discontent concealed behind the manicured lawns and picket fences of darkest suburbia.” Her other books include The Ghost at the Table and A Crime in the Neighborhood, which won the Orange Prize. Check out reviews of The Dogs of Littlefield from the Guardian and Daily Mail.

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RIP Ann Murray Paige

Ann_Murray_PaigeThe Boston Globe has published an appreciation of BC alumna Ann Murray Paige, author of pink tips: breast cancer advice from someone who’s been there, who passed away in March. In addition to her book, Paige co-wrote and starred in a one-woman show and founded a non-profit called Project Pink. Last year she was honored by Massachusetts General Hospital for her advocacy and education on behalf of cancer patients.

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Book review by Fr. Imbelli

newman bookFather Robert Imbelli, associate professor emeritus of theology, has written a review for America magazine of Edward Short’s Newman and His Family. In the book, Short looks at 70 years of correspondences by Blessed Cardinal John Henry Newman to his family. Fr. Imbelli calls Newman and His Family a “wise study.”

 

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Whitey: Convicted

whitey bookIn their new book, Boston College alumna Margaret McLean and award-winning investigative reporter Jon Leiberman offer an insider’s view of the trial of notorious Boston mobster James “Whitey” Bulger. McLean, a former prosecutor and legal analyst, attended every day of the Bulger trial. Whitey on Trial (Forge Books, 2014) is based on trial testimony and interviews with cops, FBI agents, prosecutors and defense attorneys, and members of the jury that ultimately found Bulger guilty on 31 counts, including 11 murders. It also includes a letter from Bulger, which offers insight into his state of mind immediately following the verdict. McLean teaches law at Boston College’s Carroll School of Management. McLean was interviewed about the book by the Patriot Ledger.

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Mercy

mercy bookBoston College will host Cardinal Walter Kasper, Cardinal-Priest of Ognissanti, in Via Appia Nuova and president emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, on May 1 at 4:30 p.m. in the Heights Room of Corcoran Commons. Cardinal Kasper is the author of the book Mercy: The Essence of the Gospel and the Key to Christian Life (Paulist Press, 2014). He will deliver a lecture on “The Message of Mercy and Its Importance Today.” Co-sponsors: School of Theology and Ministry and The Church in the 21st Century Center.

 

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Looking at Boston Strong

heart of this cityA new book has been published by the Boston College Presidential Scholars Class of 2016 that examines what makes Boston Strong – and what is needed to make it stronger. The Heart of This City: Boston Strong and Becoming Stronger features interviews with victims of and witnesses to the bombings, as well as with people connected to Boston-based social services agencies, who all reflect on the Boston Strong message. The book opens with a letter from Boston Mayor (and BC alumnus) Marty Walsh and includes reflections on the marathon bombings, as well as sections on homelessness, health inequity, immigration and educational disparity in Boston. A number of BC faculty members also contributed to the book. For the Presidential Scholars, the message of The Heart of This City is simple: “We are members of the same city and we need to take care of one another.” More from the Boston College Chronicle.

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Alice McDermott, astonished by love

mcdermottNovelist Alice McDermott, winner of a National Book Award for Charming Billy, will speak on “Astonished by Love: Storytelling and the Sacramental Imagination” on Apr. 30 at 6 p.m. in Cadigan Center. McDermott is also the author of Someone, longlisted for a National Book Award, and After This and At Weddings and Wakes, both Pulitzer Prize finalists. She is the Richard A. Macksey Professor for Distinguished Teaching in the Humanities at Johns Hopkins University. Sponsors: The Church in the 21st Century Center and the English Department.

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US Catholic recommends Hope

hope bookU.S. Catholic magazine recommends Hope: Promise, Possibility, and Fulfillment, a book edited by School of Theology and Ministry faculty members Rev. Richard Lennan and Nancy Pineda-Madrid that features essays on the theology of hope from 16 STM faculty members. The collection of essays “truly feels like a dialogue,” according to the review by J. Peter Nixon. For more on the book, check out this Boston College Chronicle article.

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Poe Returns to Boston

poe statueA sculpture of Edgar Allan Poe will be unveiled in Boston on October 5, thanks to the efforts of the Poe Foundation, chaired by Boston College English Professor Paul Lewis. The sculpture, titled Poe Returning to Boston and created by Stefanie Rocknak, will be installed at the intersection of Boylston Street and Charles Street South. Poe, author “The Tell-Tale Heart,” “The Raven,” and many other classic works, was born in Boston on January 19, 1809. For more on the project, check out these stories: WBUR “Radio Boston,” Boston Magazine, WBUR “TheARTery,” CBC Radio (Canada).

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Intercollegiate Poetry Festival

baileyBetsy Sholl, Maine’s poet laureate from 2006 to 2011, will be the keynote speaker at the annual Greater Boston Intercollegiate Undergraduate Poetry Festival taking place at Boston College on Apr. 22 at 7:30 p.m. in Yawkey Center. Sholl is the author of several collections of poetry, including Otherwise Unseeable, winner of the Four Lakes Prize in Poetry Prize. Area college students selected by their professors will read from their own poetry at the event. Boston College will be represented by senior Bailey Spencer (pictured), who will share “Ferment and Grow Old,” a poem in tribute to her great-grandmother. A chapbook of student poetry will be published in conjunction with the festival, which has been organized by BC English Professor Suzanne Matson. Sponsors: Poetry Days and Boston College Magazine.

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