The Blue Hill Public Library and Blue Hill Books are cosponsoring an author event with performer/writer Judith Sloan and author/artist Warren Lehrer on Tuesday, August 19 at 7 p.m. in the library’s Pearson Room. Sloan and Lehrer will feature excerpts from two decades of book projects that embrace stories of immigration, refuge, recovery, war and peace, and finding home and sanity in an out of balance world.

New York and Maine based award-winning artists Judith Sloan and Warren Lehrer return to the Blue Hill Library to present stories from several books, including their collaboration Crossing the BLVD: strangers, neighbors, aliens in a new America, featuring immigrants and refugees reflecting on the good, the ugly, and the unexpected in their stories of crossing oceans, borders, wars, economic hardship and cultural divides; A Life In Books: The Rise and Fall of Bleu Mobley, Lehrer’s illuminated novel containing 101 books within it, a heartwarming, heart-wrenching and hysterical exploration of one man’s use of books as a means of understanding himself and a half century of American/global events; and Jericho’s Daughter, Lehrer’s anti-war, feminist reimagining of the biblical tale of Rahab, the Canaanite “harlot” who lived in a mud hut inside the outer brick wall of Jericho. 

Sloan and Lehrer are co-founders of EarSay, a non-profit dedicated to nurturing and portraying stories of uncelebrated individuals. Over the past 25 years, they have been creating and producing multimedia projects, traveling throughout the U.S. and abroad, in theaters, libraries, universities, festivals, and prisons. 

What the critics say: “Crossing the BLVD is a whirlwind tour and love poem of what has often been called the most racially and ethnically diverse county in America.” Sewell Chan, New York Times 

“Winner of the Ladislav Sutnar Prize for his pioneering work and lifetime achievement in visual literature and design, Warren Lehrer has influenced two generations of designers… When you read one of Lehrer’s books, it tends to feel… like the future.” Debbie Millman, Design Matters

“In Lehrer’s books… words take on thought’s very form, bringing sensory experience to the reader as directly as ink on paper can allow… Once considered too far ahead of his time… Now the times are beginning to catch up to him.” Julie Lasky, The New York Times Book Review

This program is free and open to all. Blue Hill Books will be on site with copies of the book available for purchase. For more information, call 374-5515 or email Assistant Director Kayleigh Thomas at kayleigh.thomas@bhpl.net