Offered in partnership with Rainy Day Books, The Story Center Speaker Series features nationally known authors, many of whom have a local or regional connection, reading from and discussing their newly published books. The Story Center Speaker Series provides an opportunity for readers and writers alike to meet their long-time favorite authors or discover authors brand new to them, and to learn more about the authors’ work.
Programs are held in the Auditorium at Woodneath Library Center. All programs are free and followed by a book sale and signing.
Upcoming Authors
Patty Prewitt
Patty Prewitt
Thursday, January 29
7:00 p.m.
Join The Story Center for a visit from local author Patty Prewitt for a discussion of her debut memoir, Trying to Catch Lightning in a Jar: Letters from Prison, about the first eighteen years of her incarceration in various Missouri women's prisons. This event is offered in partnership with Monstera’s Books and will be followed by a book sale and signing.
Please note this program will take place in person at the MCPL East Lee’s Summit Branch. Please make sure to register the number of guests in your party. Space is limited.
Selected Past Authors
Rachel McCarthy James
Rachel McCarthy James
Lawrence, Kansas-based author Rachel McCarthy James joined the Story Center for a discussion of her nonfiction book Whack Job: A History of Axe Murder, a brilliant and bloody examination of the axe's foundational role in human history.
Amy Stuber
Amy Stuber
Lawrence, Kansas-based author Amy Stuber visited The Story Center for a discussion of her debut Sad Grownups, a short story collection about searching for joy in a dying world.
Tiffany Killoren
Tiffany Killoren
Author Tiffany Killoren (also writing as Lilian West) joined The Story Center for a discussion of her debut mystery, Pretty Dead Things. Set in a sleepy little town with its share of secrets, the novel follows a young woman who stumbles upon a decades-old mystery when she brings home a ring from an estate sale.
Silvia Park
Silvia Park
Author and University of Kansas professor Silvia Park joined The Story Center for a discussion of their debut novel, Luminous. Set in a unified Korea, Luminous tells the story of three estranged siblings—two human, one robot—as they collide against the backdrop of a murder investigation to settle old scores and make sense of their shattered childhood.
Rebekah Taussig
Rebekah Taussig
Kansas City writer, educator, and speaker Rebekah Taussig joined The Story Center to discuss her memoir-in-essays, Sitting Pretty. Her memoir explores processing a lifetime of memories to paint a beautiful, nuanced portrait of a body that looks and moves differently than most.
Janet Evanovich
Janet Evanovich
Bestselling author Janet Evanovich joined The Story Center to discuss her novel, Twisted Twenty-Six. The novel is a twenty-sixth in the Stephanie Plum series as she goes on another wild adventure.