Julia Alvarez, celebrated Dominican-American author of “In the Time of the Butterflies,” unveils her haunting new novel “The Cemetery of Untold Stories” in conversation with Carolyn Kuebler of New England Review. Don’t miss this literary event!
Alma Cruz, the celebrated writer at the heart of The Cemetery of Untold Stories, doesn’t want to end up like her friend, a novelist who fought so long and hard to finish a book that it threatened her sanity. So when Alma inherits a small plot of land in the Dominican Republic, her homeland, she has the beautiful idea of turning it into a place to bury her untold stories—literally. She creates a graveyard for the manuscript drafts and the characters whose lives she tried and failed to bring to life and who still haunt her.
Alma wants her characters to rest in peace. But they have other ideas and soon begin to defy their author: they talk back to her and talk to one another behind her back, rewriting and revising themselves. Filomena, a local woman hired as the groundskeeper, becomes a sympathetic listener to the secret tales unspooled by Alma’s characters. Among them, Bienvenida, dictator Rafael Trujillo’s abandoned wife who was erased from the official history, and Manuel Cruz, a doctor who fought in the Dominican underground and escaped to the United States.
The Cemetery of Untold Stories asks: Whose stories get to be told, and whose buried? Finally, Alma finds the meaning she and her characters yearn for in the everlasting vitality of stories. Julia Alvarez reminds us that the stories of our lives are never truly finished, even at the end.
About Julia:
Julia Alvarez left the Dominican Republic for the United States in 1960 at the age of ten. She is the author of six novels, three books of nonfiction, three collections of poetry, and eleven books for children and young adults. She has taught and mentored writers in schools and communities across America and, until her retirement in 2016, was a writer in residence at Middlebury College. Her work has garnered wide recognition, including a Latina Leader Award in Literature from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, the Hispanic Heritage Award in Literature, the Woman of the Year by Latina magazine, and inclusion in the New York Public Library’s program “The Hand of the Poet: Original Manuscripts by 100 Masters, from John Donne to Julia Alvarez.” In the Time of the Butterflies, with over one million copies in print, was selected by the National Endowment for the Arts for its national Big Read program, and in 2013 President Obama awarded Alvarez the National Medal of Arts in recognition of her extraordinary storytelling.
Julia will appear on stage in conversation with Carolyn Kuebler, editor of the literary journal based in Middlebury, New England Review. Kuebler’s debut novel, Liquid, Fragile, Perishable will go on sale May 7.
Free Admission
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2024/05/08 - 2024/05/08
Town Hall Theater
68 S Pleasant St, Middlebury, VT 05753
Town Hall Theater is a red brick building with a prominent bell tower, situated in the heart of Middlebury, facing the town green.
Evening & Weekend Events:
These lots are ONLY available after 5pm M-F and on the weekends.
Parking Lot 1:
Directions: At the top of Merchants Row, bear right past the theater onto South Pleasant Street. The lot will be on your left.
Location: Langrock, Sperry & Wool on 111 South Pleasant Street.
Parking Lot 2:
Directions: Continue on South Pleasant Street past Parking Lot 1.
Location: The lot is on your left at Conley & Foote, located at 135 South Pleasant Street.
Parking Lot 3:
Directions: At the top of Merchants Row, bear left at the Soldiers Monument and continue straight onto Route 7 south. At the light at the top of the hill, turn right to continue on Route 7 south. Immediately turn right
Location: Painter House parking lot, located at 2 Court Street (Route 7 south).
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Weekday Events (Monday-Friday):
For events taking place during regular business hours, please consult the following town parking map.