― Dan Egan, The Death and Life of the Great Lakes

The first CLSC Presentation of the year is today! [June 26]  While the lecture is at the Amphitheater at 10:45, the booksigning will take place at 1:15 on the porch of the Literary Arts Center at Alumni Hall.  Books are available now at both Chautauqua Bookstore and the CLSC Octagon.

― Octavia E. Butler

Join us for CHQ 2019 Week One: Moments That Changed the World June 22-28

How did we get to now? The answers may surprise you. In this week, Chautauqua asks five historians to each choose a little-known moment when the ground shifted beneath humanity’s feet, and examine how those moments impacted the world of today.

This year's opening day -- June 22nd -- is also Week 1 CLSC Selection author Octavia Butler's birthday.  John Keene's presentation of Butler's Kindred will take place the following Thursday, June 27th.

Check out the related titles below as well as our collection of Week 1 Speaker Books.

The 2019 edition of Chautauqua is now available! 

Moxie is the 16th issue of Chautauqua, a literary manifestation of the values and aesthetics of Chautauqua Institution.  Chautauqua publishes writing that speaks to Chautauqua's tradition of inquiry into questions of personal, social, political, spiritual, and aesthetic importance — and when, where, and how those values and questions intersect.

For more information on the Chautauqua literary journal and the submissions process, click here.

- Joy Harjo "In Mystic," Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings

Congratulations to Joy Harjo, just named the new U.S. Poet Laureate.

Harjo's CLSC presentation of Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings will take place August 22nd at the Hall of Philosophy.

Chautauqua Institution is a community that values and celebrates reading, and since 1994, the CLSC Young Readers program has engaged young Chautauquans and community members in the enjoyment of good reading. Each summer, a selection of books are chosen for their quality, the variety of their styles and subjects, and their appeal to young readers.  While aimed at 9- to 14-year-olds, these books will also delight younger and older readers.

Visit youngreaders.chq.org for more information on the program.

-- Jericho Brown "The Virus," The Tradition

If the Chautauqua Season is just around the corner, then this year's Chautauqua Writer's Festival is already in view!  The 16th annual Chautauqua Writer's Festival on the theme Writing & Reclamation will take place June 19-22 (Wed-Sat), 2019.

Check out the selection of works by this year's faculty/contributors below, or click here for a more complete listing.

Chautauqua Institution is delighted to announce Anjali Sachdeva’s All the Names They Used for God: Stories (Spiegel & Grau) as the 2019 winner of The Chautauqua Prize.

As author of the winning book, Sachdeva receives $7,500 and all travel and expenses for a summer residency at Chautauqua from August 12 to 16, 2019. A public reading will take place at 3:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 16, in the Hall of Philosophy.

The stories in All the Names They Used for God straddle genres — from science fiction to American Gothic to magical realism to horror — and are united by each character’s brutal struggle with fate.

Check out the previous winners of The Chautauqua Prize here.

Check out the rest of this year's finalists here.

For more information on The Chautauqua Prize, visit chq.org/prize.

The Massey Organ is repaired and ready to go after suffering fire damage last year.

Learn more about this 1907 organ with Fred Rueckert's documentary chronicling the Massey Memorial Organ's 1992-1993 re-construction. The DVD includes a special feature vignette of the 2003 32' Bombarde installation.

-The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle by Leslie Connor

Best of luck to all Battle of the Books participants and volunteers this weekend!  We're glad so many of you are as excited about reading as we are.

Not a participant?  Check out this year's great selections:

Chautauqua Institution has announced seven exceptional books as the 2019 finalists for The Chautauqua Prize, now in its eighth year.