Pulitzer Prize Winner Stephen Greenblatt Returns to WRITERS IN THE LOFT

The Music Hall's Writers in the Loft series welcomes back the Pulitzer Prize- and National Book Award-winner Stephen Greenblatt, author of The Swerve and Will in the World, on Wednesday, November 1. He will talk about his latest work, THE RISE AND FALL OF ADAM AND EVE, which breathes new life into the biblical story and uncovers the tremendous theological, artistic, and cultural investment over centuries that made these figures so profoundly resonant in the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim worlds.

The 7pm event includes an author presentation and moderated Q+A, plus a book signing and a meet-and-greet. It will be held at the Music Hall Loft at 131 Congress Street, in downtown Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

"Stephen Greenblatt was first with us with his book The Swerve in September 2011, when he was 'pre-fame' - not yet the winner of a Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. Professor Greenblatt was special even then, and now, his visit is a true honor. We can't wait to welcome him back with his new book," said Margaret Talcott, Producer of the Writers in the Loft series, and the evening's moderator.

"Everyone knows the tale of Adam and Eve, but few are aware of the story's resounding influence on art, science, and religion. As he did in The Swerve, Stephen Greenblatt probes the unexplored corners of our shared history and draws conclusions illuminating all aspects of our culture today. Rich with research and insight, THE RISE AND FALL OF ADAM AND EVE is not to be missed," Talcott added.

ABOUT THE BOOK

In the modern edition of the King James Bible, the story of Adam and Eve occupies about a page and a half out of more than 1,000. It contains few of the words usually associated with it - not "sin," "fall," "Satan," or even "apple" - and it's populated by the most fantastic conceits, including a magical garden, a talking snake, a tree of eternal life, and supernatural

guardians wielding flaming swords. Nonetheless, this 2,500-year-old story has shaped conceptions of our human origins and of our continuing destinies.

After brilliant depictions of the dawn of the Renaissance in the Pulitzer Prize- and National

Book Award-winning The Swerve: How the World Became Modern, and of Shakespeare's Elizabethan England in the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award finalist, Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare, Stephen Greenblatt lends his narrative talents to one of the most extraordinary stories ever told in THE RISE AND FALL OF ADAM AND EVE.

Greenblatt traces the story from its textual creation and delves into the greatest works of art associated with it. He also documents the tale's collision with the emerging world of science and explores how the story of Adam and Eve has resonated with different people of various time periods and faiths -- and how, in return, people have spoken back, interpreting and embroidering the text to mirror their understandings of the world.

THE RISE AND FALL OF ADAM AND EVE is nothing less than the story of Western civilization: of the evolution of Western religious traditions, of Western philosophy, of Western art and culture, and of Western enlightenment.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Stephen Greenblatt is the John Cogan University Professor of the Humanities at Harvard University. He is the Pulitzer Prize- and National Book Award-winning author of The Swerve: How the World Became Modern, in addition to Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare, which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award. He is also the general editor of The Norton Shakespeare and The Norton Anthology of English Literature.

TICKETS

The ticket package for Writers in the Loft: Stephen Greenblatt on Wednesday, November 1, at 7 pm, is $42 ($40 members). In addition to a reserved seat, the package includes a copy of THE RISE AND FALL OF ADAM AND EVE ($27.95 hardcover), a bar beverage, author presentation, Q+A, and book signing meet-and-greet. Packages can be purchased online at TheMusicHall.org, over the phone at 603.436.2400 or in person at the B2W Box Office at the Historic Theater, 28 Chestnut Street.

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.

Series Sponsors: RMC Research Corporation

Contributing Partner: The University of New Hampshire

Season Sponsors: Carey & Giampa Realtors; Portwalk Place; The River House restaurant

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.

Web: www.TheMusicHall.org | Twitter: @MusicHall | Facebook: /musichall | YouTube: /musichallnh

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