Two successful writers, one a long-time educator and workshop leader and another a long-time psychologist, discuss the process and challenges of writing stories from past traumatic events.
Award-winning playwright Lynne Kaufman's spare, poetic novel is far deeper-and more disturbing-than a harrowing account of the famously unhappy marriage of poet Robert Lowell and writer and critic Elizabeth Hardwick.It is an intriguing and intense elegy that marks the shadowlands where fiction and reality converge.
Join us for our Bi-Annual Members Meeting of Mechanics' Institute on Zoom and on site, to hear from fellow members, staff, and trustees.
Arthur is a burned-out, middle-aged bank executive offered the chance to reinvent his identify and start over. What could possibly go wrong?
If you are a new, long-time, or prospective member the Virtual Tour of the Institute will orient you to our building, include an overview of our history and mission, and outline our current services and the benefits of membership.
In this special event, Rosen will lead the audience in activities and exercises for remembering and developing their own performance-worthy stories. He will share stories of his own and will be joined by special guest storytellers for a one-of-a-kind evening, followed by a book signing.
Discuss select short stories from The Love of a Good Woman by Alice Munro with fellow members.
Dr. Sidney Schaefer is given the plum assignment of President's analyst, but the pressures of the job shred his mental health. He knows too many secrets...
Come celebrate LGBTQ+ Pride Month at the Mechanics' Institute with this musical author event.
Discuss Jakob von Gunten by Robert Walser with fellow members.
Learn settings and features to extend your battery life and protect your privacy.
Mechanics’ Institute is proud to participate in Bloomsbay - Ulysses 100, a city-wide celebration for the 100th anniversary of James Joyce’s epic novel Ulysses, one of the great innovations of modern literature. (Virtual and Onsite events all day).
The Writers Lunch is a casual chat with our writers community on the 3rd Friday of each month. This month we discuss The Art of Critiquing Fellow Writers? Join us, share, and learn!
In this class, Michelle Zaffino will show you how to construct a writing plan that will get your book written.
Discuss My Tender Matador by Pedro Lemebel with fellow members.
This novel about race, family, and life on the streets of Oakland, is written with raw beauty, electrifying intensity, and piercing vulnerability, Nightcrawling marks the stunning arrival of a voice unlike any we have heard before.
This book event has been funded in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Did you know that your MI membership unlocks access to nearly 4,000 digital magazines? Learn how to access them in this interactive class!
This discussion about California’s troubling history will include topics like the 1850 Indian Slavery Act and its outcomes, how the legislature perpetuated these laws --even after the first California constitution prohibited slavery, and state sponsored land theft and how displacement and acquisition was perpetuated.
This event has been funded in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Discuss The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton with fellow members.
Take a tour of what’s available on MI’s robust streaming service: Great Courses, cinema, documentaries, and more!
Youthful rebellion is more than a rite of passage - there’s much to be learned from this time of heightened emotions, energy, and idealism.
Discuss A House in Norway by Vigdis Hjorth with fellow members.
When COVID strikes and her life grinds to a halt, Tania Romanov sets off on an unlikely pilgrimage. A pilgrimage into a past in which her own identity and that of her city’s are inextricably intertwined. A pilgrimage leading to a profound and personal exploration of place, identity, and race; of the nature of change and the meaning of travel.
Are you using a free email service such as Yahoo Mail, or Gmail? Learn helpful tips that will increase your effectiveness when using email.
Join author Lee Kravetz in conversation with Erin Byrne about his novel The Last Confessions of Sylvia P. which imaginatively brings into focus the period of promise and tragedy that marked the writing of Sylvia Plath’s modern classic The Bell Jar.
