WRITERS IN THE LOFT Presents Brad Gooch

Award-winning and bestselling biographer Brad Gooch comes to town on Thursday, February 2, with his latest book, RUMI'S SECRET: The Life of the Sufi Poet of Love. In this breakthrough biography, Brad Gooch (author of Smash Cut, Flannery, and City Poet) brilliantly brings to life Rumi, the 13th-century Persian poet revered by Western readers - a favorite of Madonna, Deepak Chopra and Oliver Stone. Yet his life remained the stuff of legend rather than intimate knowledge...Brad Gooch traces his epic journey from Asia to Turkey, explores his mentorship with Shams of Tabriz, and reveals the unfolding of Rumi's devotion to a "religion of love," remarkable in his own time and even more relevant for this twenty-first century.

Tickets: The ticket package for Writers in the Loft: Brad Gooch on Thursday, February 2, at 7pm is $43 ($41, members). In addition to a reserved seat, the package includes a copy of RUMI'S SECRET: The Life of the Sufi Poet of Love ($28.99, hardcover), a bar beverage, and book signing meet-and-greet. Packages can be purchased through The Music Hall Box Office, located at 28 Chestnut Street, Portsmouth, over the phone at 603.436.2400, or online at www.themusichall.org

About the Author: BRAD GOOCH is the author of Smash Cut: A Memoir of Howard & Art & the 70s and the 80s and Flannery: A Life of Flannery O'Connor, which was a National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist, a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, and a New York Times bestseller. His previous books include City Poet: The Life and Times of Frank O'Hara; Godtalk: Travels in Spiritual America; as well as three novels, a story collection, a volume of poems, and two memoirs. A Guggenheim fellow in biography, he has received a National Endowment for the Humanities fellowship, and a Furthermore grant in publishing from the J.M. Kaplan Fund.

About Writers in the Loft: Akin to The Music Hall's anchor literary series, Writers on a New England Stage, Writers in the Loft features bestselling authors in a smaller, more intimate space. The series brings audiences today's top authors, the best of fiction and nonfiction, and award-winners across categories. The evening package includes a reserved seat and bar beverage, author presentation and Q+A, a copy of the book, and a meet-and-greet book signing with the featured writer.

About The Music Hall: The Music Hall is a performing arts center featuring curated entertainment from around the world in two theaters in its downtown Portsmouth, New Hampshire campus - one, a landmark 1878 Victorian theater, designated an American Treasure for the Arts by the National Park Service's Save America's Treasures Program, the other the intimate Music Hall Loft around the corner, recently named "best performing arts venue" by Yankee Magazine and the recipient of the NH AIA award for design excellence.

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