RAGDALE’S 12th ANNUAL NOVEL AFFAIR

Description

Ragdale’s 12^th Annual Novel Affair brings together acclaimed authors and artists for an evening of creativity and conversation in support of Ragdale, the historic artists’ retreat in Lake Forest.  For the second year, featured guests will offer presentations in schools from Chicago to Waukegan on Friday, April 27, as part of the Ragdale in Schools program.  
 
The Saturday, April 28 cocktail reception will be held at Shoreacres, the historic golf club offering stunning views of Lake Michigan from its elegant David Adler-designed clubhouse, beginning at 4PM. All celebrated writers and artists will attend and their books will be available for signing. The reception will be followed by intimate dinners in distinctive North Shore homes starting at 6:45PM. Each dinner will feature a different pair of authors/artists.
 
The 2018 lineup includes these award-winning authors and creative leaders:
Quraysh Ali Lansana, poetry, artistic director of Gwendolyn Brooks Centennial Celebration
Nickolas Butler, fiction, Shotgun Lovesongs, The Hearts of Men
Bonnie Jo Campbell, fiction, Once Upon a River, American Salvage
Lan Samantha Chang, fiction, Inheritance, director of Iowa Writers’ Workshop
Jamie Ford, historical fiction, Love and Other Consolation Prizes, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
Min Jin Lee, fiction, Pachinko, Free Food for Millionaires
Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle, internationally celebrated visual artist
Bruce Mau, global design leader, co-founder Massive Change Network
Achy Obejas, fiction, The Tower of the Antilles; Pulitzer prize-winning journalist
Curtis Sittenfeld, fiction, Prep, American Wife
Megan Stielstra, creative nonfiction, The Wrong Way to Save Your Life, Once I Was Cool
Bisi Williams, strategic design, co-founder Massive Change Network
 
Shoreacres is located at 1601 Shoreacres Road, Lake Bluff IL 60044 and the dinners will be held in private homes nearby on the North Shore. 
 
Tickets can be purchased by calling 847.234.1063 or online at www.ragdale.org as follows:
$500/person       Dinner and reception
$150/person      Reception only
$125/person       Ticket for Teachers and Book Clubs (5 minimum) – Reception only
               
           
Novel Affair supports Ragdale, a nonprofit artists’ residency and its Ragdale in Schools program, bringing the arts and artists to area schools in local and underserved communities.  It is coordinated by Ragdale’s Program and Events Committee, chaired by Rosemary O’Connell and its Curatorial Board.
 
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Ragdale is a nonprofit artists’ residency program, located in Arts and Crafts architect Howard Van Doren Shaw’s Lake Forest country estate. In 1976 Shaw’s granddaughter Alice Judson Hayes transformed the family’s summer home into an artists-in-residence program.  Today Ragdale hosts nearly 200 writers, artists, and composers each year, making it one of the largest interdisciplinary artist communities in the country. For more information, visit www.ragdale.org