An Evening of Mark Twain with Ben Griffin and Lynne Kaufman

Enjoy “Mark Twain: San Francisco Correspondent,” a presentation from editor Benjamin Griffin on Twain’s early city journalism, followed by a dramatic reading from “Mark Twain in Love” on Twain’s marriage to Olivia Langdon by Bay Area playwright Lynne Kaufman. Mixing the professional and personal, An Evening of Mark Twain provides an intimate look at Twain’s life in the 1860s, an explosive decade that both launched his writing career and introduced him to his lifelong partner. This event is sponsored by Hazar Yueksel, MI Board Trustee.

About the Speakers

Benjamin Griffin, an editor at the Mark Twain Project at the University of California, Berkeley, has been creating scholarly editions of the great humorist's works for more than twenty years. He has also been a lecturer in English at UCLA and UC Berkeley, a bookseller, and a rare books cataloger. At the Project his editorial credits include the three volumes of Mark Twain’s Autobiography, the study Mark Twain’s Civil War, and the recent critical edition of Pudd'nhead Wilson. He is now at work on editions of Following the Equator and of Twain’s early journalism.

Lynne Kaufman is the author of multiple novels and more than two dozen plays produced nationally. Her latest novel, The Oxford Affair, is a charming mystery set in Oxford, where an elite summer program becomes the backdrop for M**der, academic intrigue, and unexpected romance. Kaufman’s plays have been produced at theatres including TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, Actors Theatre of Louisville, The Fountain Theatre in Los Angeles, The Magic Theatre in San Francisco, Florida Studio Theatre in Sarasota, and the Abingdon Theatre in New York City. Her honors include the NEA/Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays, TheatreWorks’ Best New Play in California, and the San Francisco Critics Circle Award for Best New Play. Kaufman teaches writing at the Fromm Institute at the University of San Francisco and at OLLI at San Francisco State University.

About the Performers

Brian Lohmann is an actor, composer and lyricist. He performs, directs and teaches at BATS-IMPROV in S.F.
Carrie Paff is a leading actor on stage and screen and the founder of “Stage Right: Building Literacy through Theater".

$5 for Members, $15 for Non-Members

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