Arts Fuse critics select the best in film, theater, dance, music, visual arts, and author events for the coming week.

By The Arts Fuse Staff

Film

Boston Area Film Schedules—What is Playing Today, Where, and When

An Open Secret
January 13 at 7:30 p.m.
Boston Commons 19, 175 Tremont St. Boston, Ma

“Amy Berg’s (West of Memphis, Janis: Little Girl Blue) new film receives a special Boston premiere for one night only. The documentary follows the lives of five boys, now men, who came to Hollywood with dreams of becoming actors. Instead, they fell into a dark world that changed their lives forever. Inspired by heartfelt confessions, the film brings to light accusations of sexual abuse that have long remained under the legal radar. Known offenders have seen little retribution for their crimes; in fact, they are repeatedly hired back into top positions in Hollywood. The fact that these predators have not been brought to trial underlines how the entertainment industry has come to accept this plague; show business not only tolerates the abuse of minors, but even sees it as a rite of passage, a ticket into the prestigious club of celebrity. The screening will feature remarks and a Q&A with Dr. Renee Sorrentino as well producer Matthew Valentinas.” (Platform Media Group) Tickets

Elvis Costello: Detour—At The Liverpool Philharmonic
January 14 at 7:30 p.m.
Regent Theater, Arlington, MA

A former vaudeville house, the Regent Theater is celebrated its 100th anniversary with a series of screenings that dovetail music and film. Elvis Costello: Detour is an unusual solo show. The set for this concert film is a 1960s living room that includes an oversized television that broadcasts never-seen-before personal photos of the entertainer. Costello performs up front and personal on guitar, grand piano, and even the ukulele. He digs deep into his catalogue; in between songs the performer tells anecdotes about his family, his music, and life on the road. The result is a film that is entertaining, witty, and slapstick funny. Larkin Poe, a bluegrass and roots rock sister act from Atlanta, make a strong cameo appearance in the film.

Arabian Nights
January 14 – January 23
Harvard Film Archive, Cambridge, MA

This trilogy of films encompasses all manner of genres but subscribes to none. Here is a one-time opportunity to see all three parts of Miguel Gomes’ six-hour epic.

“It’s hard to think of another film, much less one addressing socioeconomic strife, that is quite like Miguel Gomes’s The Arabian Nights, comprising three separate volumes that embrace sprawl and variety in style and substance. For (limited) example: dockworkers vent about labor losses documentary-style in Volume One: The Restless One; an alfresco court hosts an absurd chain of grievances and idiocies in Volume Two: The Desolate One; and bird fans engage in song competitions in Volume Three: The Enchanted One. And in arabesque scenes on a mystical isle, Scheherazade herself appears.” (Film Comment)

(Some of) The Best of 2015
January 15 through 28
Brattle Theatre, Cambridge, MA

The “Best of” series this year features a number of double features that are really worth seeing. Two great films for the price of one — a venerable Brattle tradition. Many in this series were reviewed in Arts Fuse. This week’s pick is a very smart pairing: French and American films, each about young women coming of age, though in very different circumstances. On January 18: (Girlhood at 2:15 and 7 p.m.; The Diary of a Teenage Girl at 4:45 and 9:30 p.m.

Our Man in Havana
January 15 at 7:30 p.m.
January 16 at 12:30 p.m.
Museum Of Fine Arts, Boston, MA

A pick from the retrospective Words in Motion: Graham Greene As Screenwriter: Carol Reed’s 1959 film features Alec Guiness as James Wormold, a British expat enjoying a modest life as a vaccuum cleaner salesman in Cuba. When a fellow Brit attempts to recruit him into the British Secret Intelligence Service, Wormold agrees because he can’t turn down the generous paycheck. But he hasn’t the first clue about how to uncover political secrets. So, he simply invents them. When his made-up intelligence reports prove to have real-life consequences for Wormold and his friends, he is forced to try his hand at espionage (and a whisky-soaked game of checkers) to save those he has involved from harm. Our Man in Havana draws on Greene’s experience as a secret agent in MI6. This vocation brought him to war-torn and developing areas throughout Europe and Africa, where he was exposed to a seedy world of political intrigue that would deeply influence his work.

Fantastic Journeys: Animated Shorts from Children’s Film Festival Seattle 2015
January 16
Coolidge Corner Theater, Brookline, MA

Something for adults and the kids; a vibrant celebration of creativity. Zip around the world with a dazzling selection of high-energy, high-imagination shorts: see a space-alien potato on his zany adventures, witness the creation of the alphabet, sing along with a brave little octopus, and watch a rebellious girl made of frosting grow up.

Woman in the Moon
January 17 at 7 p.m.
Aeronaut Brewery, 14 Tyler St. (near Union Square), Somerville, MA

Fritz Lang’s 1929 pioneer space drama will be screened with live musical accompaniment. A chance to see the rarely seen full-length version of this film, which follows an intrepid band of space pioneers as they attempt mankind’s first voyage to the lunar surface.

— Tim Jackson

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Dance

AcousticaElectronica
January 15 at 10 p.m.
OBERON
Cambridge, MA

This eclectic production looks really promising. AcousticaElectronica offers a mashup of opera, ballet, hip hop, go go dancing, and aerial circus art: audience members are encouraged to stay late into the night for a post-show party with the DJ.

JUMP/Talk 2
January 16 at 11 a.m.
Institute of Contemporary Art
Boston, MA

The New Movement Collaborative is offering a free event that’s open to all. Come early to view the Institution of Contemporary Art’s current Black Mountain College exhibition as well as a live performance of Glyph (originally choreographed by Katherine Litz and recreated for the ICA show), which will be followed by a presentation of JUMP/Talk 2, in which Chris Aiken and Angie Hauser will present their work. The performance will be followed by a panel discussion. The theme for this event is “memory.”

And further afield…

Past Forward in Reverse
January 15 & 16 at 7 p.m. and January 17 at 3 p.m.
AS220 Black Box Theatre
Providence, RI

HeatNik Productions presents the debut performance of Past Forward in Reverse this weekend. The company was recently created, the result of the merging of  local dance groups Heather Brown Dance and Freedom Dances. The show highlights the choreography of Heather Brown, Nicole C. Laliberté, and guest performer Ryan P. Casey.

— Merli V. Guerra

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Visual Arts

Fierce and Fragile: Big Cats in the Art of Robert Dallet
January 10 – March 13, 2013

And Still We Rise: Race, Culture, and Visual Conversations
January 16 – April 24
Bruce Museum, Greenwich, CT

Despite a long career that began in childhood, French wildlife illustrator Robert Dallet is probably best remembered for a series of eye-popping animal-themed scarfs he designed in the 1980s and 90s for the high-end luxury firm, Hermes. The carefully observed, meticulous details of the lions, tigers, and other popular carnivores in his Bruce Museum exhibition reveal him as the last of a long line of French “animalier” artists, a long-running tradition — including Jean-Jacques Audubon and Antoine-Louis Barye — that is motivated by a deep fascination with the natural world.

Also opening at the Bruce is an exhibition of some 40 narrative quilts illustrating some four centuries of African-American history, from the first slave ships to the Obama Administration. The show draws on the long American tradition of story-quilting as a record of personal history and community icons, pictures designed to spark conversations across generations. The exhibition was organized by the Cincinnati Museum Center, the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, and the Women of Color Quilters Network.

Sachiko Akiyama: Untold Stories
January 15 – March 4
Nesto Gallery at Milton Academy, Milton, MA

Boston-based sculptor Sachiko Akiyrama is known for her carefully carved painted figural images of family and friends, works that hover somewhere between folk art and religious icons. Critics have praised her ability to suggest rich, complex, and probably unknowable inner lives beneath the mute surfaces of her subjects.

Cyanotypes: Photography’s Blue Period
January 16 – April 26
Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, MA

Invented by the British baronet, inventor, chemist, and general polymath Sir John Herschel in 1842, the cyanotype uses two chemicals, ammonium iron (III) citrate and potassium ferricyanide, to produce blue toned, “cyan” photographic images. Once widely used to copy mechanical drawings and floorpans as “blueprints,” the method also attracted artists who were drawn to the hauntingly cool, monochrome images it created and also its simple method of development with just sunlight. The product of a seminar at Clark University, this exhibition features artists from the mid-19th century to the present, including Henry Bosse, Edward Sheriff Curtis, F. Holland Day, and Christian Marclay.

BRINK v. 2: Space and Intimacy
January 15 – March 26
Mills Gallery at the Boston Center for the Arts, Boston, MA

The BCA’s BRINK series is dedicated to “introducing trends found in the work of emerging artists” in New England. The v.2 edition is for sculptors, more or less; in this case the “trend” is a lack of interest in traditional sculptural material and approaches. Instead, these works focus on current social and economic themes, including the politics of housing, adjuncting, religion, painting’s process, measurement, gender binaries, and family. Artists on view include Johnny Adimando, Samantha Fields, Coe Lapossy, AJ Liberto, Steven Pestana and J.R. Uretsky.

— Peter Walsh

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Classical Music

David Lang’s Love Fail
Presented by the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
January 10, 1:30 p.m.
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, MA

David Lang’s 2012 meditation on “the timelessness of love” comes to the Gardner Museum courtesy of the excellent Lorelei Ensemble.

Voices Now and Tomorrow
Presented by Collage New Music
January 10, 8 p.m.
Pickman Hall, Cambridge

Soprano Dominique LaBelle joins CNM for the premiere of a new piece by Talia Amar, plus additional works by David Rakowski, Chaya Czernowin, and Yehudi Wyner.

Elizabeth Rowe and Jessica Zhou play Mozart
Presented by the Boston Symphony Orchestra
January 12, 8 p.m.
Symphony Hall, Boston, MA

The BSO eases into the new year with two of its most popular member-soloists, principal flute Rowe and principal harp Zhou, front-and-center in Mozart’s Concerto for Harp and Flute. François-Xavier Roth also conducts Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony and leads the first BSO performances of music by François-Joseph Gossec (the Symphony for 17 Parts).

Renee Fleming sings Dutilleux and Cantaloube
Presented by the Boston Symphony Orchestra
January 14 and 16, 8 p.m.
Symphony Hall, Boston

The great Renee Fleming helps kick off the BSO’s commemoration of Henri Dutilleux’s centenary, singing the French master’s Le Temps l’Horloge, as well as selections from Cantaloube’s Songs of the Auvergne. François-Xavier Roth concludes his two-week residency with the BSO, leading Debussy’s enigmatic Jeux and the 1911 version of Stravinsky’s Petrushka.

— Jonathan Blumhofer

David Finckel (cello), Wu Han (piano), David Shifrin (clarinet)
January 15 at 8 p.m.
Presented by Celebrity Series at Jordan Hall/New England Conservatory, 290 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA

On the program: Beethoven’s Trio in B-Flat Major, Opus 11; Max Bruch’s Four selections from Eight Pieces, Opus 83; Brahms’ Clarinet Trio in A minor, Opus 114.

Cappella Claustra
ReSoundings: sit inside the music
January 16 at 8 p.m.
At the Emmanuel Church/Lindsey Chapel, 15 Newbury Street, Boston, MA
January 17 at 4 p.m.
At the Eliot Church, 474 Centre Street, Newton, MA

On the program: “A re-rendering of our wildly successful Soundings of 2015. Immerse yourself as our changing constellations of singers and instruments transport you with music from the 9th to the 20th centuries by Hildegard von Bingen, Kassia, Arvo Pärt, German contemporary composer Erna Woll, Renaissance composers Raffaella Aleotti, Sulpitia Cesis, Francisco Guerrero, Tomàs Luis de Victoria, the Florentine Laudario, and more – with medieval instruments and in the original surround sound.”

Concord Chamber Players
January 17 at 3 p.m.
At the Concord Academy Performing Arts Center, 166 Main Street, Concord, MA

On the program: Richard Strauss’ Prelude to Capriccio for String Sextet, Op. 85; Arnold Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht, Op. 4; Beethoven’s String Quintet in C Major, Op. 29.

— Susan Miron

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Roots and World Music

Robin Lane and the Chartbusters
January 15
Johnny D’s, Somerville, MA

Boston power-pop goddess Lane claims that this will be the “last” reunion of her seminal ’80s band the Chartbusters. It’s part of an epic evening that also includes sets from fellow Boston heroes Laurie Sargent and Ruby Rose Fox and a screening of When Things Go Wrong: Robin’s Lane’s Story, a fine documentary made by Lane’s drummer (and Arts Fuse scribe) Tim Jackson.

20th Century Adventures in Violin
January 17
Arts at the Armory Cafe

The busy Adventures in Sound series is already onto its second showcase of the year: a pairing of inventive fiddlers Rob Flax and Lily Honigberg.

— Noah Schaffer

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Theater

Cardboard Explosion! performed and directed by Brad Shur. At the Puppet Showplace Theater, 32 Station Street, Brookline, MA, through January 24.

The world premiere production of a “one-of-a-kind puppetry experience” that received a 2016 Jim Henson Foundation Family Grant. In the show, “five original stories are brought to life using nothing but cardboard and the power of an audience’s imagination. Inspired by everyday details from kids’ lives, puppeteer Shur transforms simple cardboard shapes into elaborate puppet characters and and fantastical scenes, then brings them to life before the audience’s eyes.”

Via Dolorosa by David Hare. Part of the third annual Next Rep Black Box Festival in the Black Box Theater at the Arsenal Center for the Arts in Watertown, MA, through January 31.

Hare’s one-man show about the political and cultural quandaries afflicting Israel will be performed by David Bryan Jackson. Arts Fuse review.

Violet by Jeanine Tesori, Music, and Brian Crawley, Lyrics and Book. Directed by Paul Daigneault. Music direction by Matthew Stern. David Connolly, Choreography. Staged by the SpeakEasy Stage Company in the Virginia Wimberly Theatre in the Stanford Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont Street in Boston’s South End, through February 6.

The New England premiere of the New York version of a musician that proffers a folk, rock, and gospel score. The show “tells the story of a young North Carolina woman named Violet who travels by bus across the South in 1964 to see a faith-healer she hopes will transform her life. Along the way, she forms unlikely friendships with her fellow passengers, and learns that it’s the journeys you take in life that help you discover who you are.”

Disgraced by Ayad Akhtar. Directed by Gordon Edelstein. Staged by the Huntington Theatre Company in association with the Long Wharf Theatre, at the Boston University Theatre, Boston, MA, through February 7.

In this Pulitzer prize-winning play, “high-powered New York lawyer Amir has climbed the corporate ladder while distancing himself from his Muslim roots. When he and his wife Emily host a dinner party, what starts as a friendly conversation escalates, shattering their views on race, religion, and each other.”

The script is definitely one of the flavors of the season: “Disgraced is being produced at 10 major American regional theatres this season and will be produced across the United States 32 times over the next two years, as well as several productions overseas. A film version of the play is also in the works with HBO.”

The White Chip by Sean Daniels. Directed by Sheryl Kaller. Staged by the Merrimack Repertory Theatre at the Nancy L. Donahue Theatre, 50 East Merrimack Street, Lowell, MA, through January 31.

The world premiere of a “dark comedy about the science of addiction” written by Daniels, MRT’s Artistic Director. The script is “based on his own struggles with alcoholism and path to recovery.” The impressive cast of the 90-minute drama includes Benjamin Evett, Isabel Keating, and Jeffry Binder.

The Housekeeper by Ginger Lazarus. Directed by Shana Gozansky. Staged by Fresh Ink at Boston Playwrights’ Theatre, 949 Commonwealth Ave., Boston, MA, January 15 through 30.

“This new local work tells the story of Adelina, a new housekeeper for widower Charlie Frey and his daughter Kaila. When she meets Charlie’s dead wife, Carson, she is not surprised. But soon she finds herself confronting more mess than she can handle—in the chaotic Frey household and in her own life.”

Sondheim on Sondheim, Music & Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, Conceived by James Lapine. Directed by Spiro Veloudos. Music Director, Jonathan Goldberg. Choreography & musical staging by Ilyse Robbins. Staged by the Lyric Stage Company at 40 Clarendon Street, Boston, MA, January 15 through February 21.

“With songs taken from nineteen Sondheim shows produced over a 62-year period, eight of your favorite Boston-based musical-theatre artists (Leigh Barrett, Mala Bhattacharya, Maritza Bostic, Christopher Chew, Aimee Doherty, Davron S. Monroe, Sam Simahk, and Patrick Varner) will perform well-known, rarely-heard, and cut material, featuring video commentary from the master himself.”

Citizens of the Empire by Kevin Mullins. Directed by Lindsay Eagle. Staged by Boston Public Works at Deane Hall, the Boston Center for the Arts, Boston, MA, through January 23.

A premiere of a fantastical script: “Eight hundred years in the future, nobleman-turned-revolutionary Marcus Kent must risk everything to assure the freedom of his people. Joined in his fight by a union-organizing robot, an interstellar garbagewoman, and the madame of a space brothel, Marcus is driven to arms against those he once considered his friends in the Imperial court. The fates of billions hangs in the balance as idealism and despotism clash in a struggle of galactic proportions.”

Winter Panto 2016: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Written and directed by Matthew Woods. Staged by imaginary beasts at the Plaza Black Box Theatre at the Boston Center for the Arts, 539 Tremont Street, through January 30.

“Hold onto your hats! imaginary beasts sweeps into town like a cyclone this January with a tale full of magic and wonder when they refashion an American classic into a fantasy of technicolor proportions.”

Nice Fish, conceived, written, and adapted by Mark Rylance and Louis Jenkins. Directed by Claire van Kampen. Staged by the American Repertory Theater at the Loeb Drama Center, Cambridge, MA, January 17 through February 7.

“On a lake in frozen Minnesota, the ice is beginning to creak and groan. It’s the end of the fishing season, and two men are out on the ice one last time, angling for answers to life’s larger questions. A play woven together from the acclaimed prose poems of Luis Jenkins, Nice Fish reflects nature with a wry surreality.” Mark Rylance is a terrific actor … so this production looks most promising.

—Bill Marx

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Jazz

Esthema
January 10 at 7:30 p.m.
Lily Pad, Cambridge, MA.

The unclassifiable Boston sextet Esthema — whose original compositions combine elements of jazz, classical, rock, and world music (with special attention to the Balkans), hits the Lily Pad. The players include guitarist Andy Milas, drummer/percussionist George Lernis, oud and buzuki player Mac Ritchey, cellist Naseem Alatrash, violinist Onur Dilisen, and bassist Tom Martin.

The Eric Quinntet + Canned Bread
January 12 at 7 p.m.
Lily Pad, Cambridge, MA.

Two New York bands with overlapping personnel split the bill at the Lily Pad. The Eric Quinntet is trombonist Eric Quinn, tenor saxophonist Fabien Williamson, trumpeter Alex Quinn, bassist Sean Lovato, and drummer Ken Ychicawa. The intricate, soft-toned counterpoint and edgy harmonies and swing exhibited on their Soundcloud tracks are something we can get behind. The more pop-leaning Canned Bread is guitarist Conor Linehan, saxophonist Hunter McKay, trombonists Josh Gagnon and Eric Quinn, bassist Jason Emmond, and drummer/vocalist Robbie Neeb

Lionel Loueke
January 14 at 7:30 p.m.
Regattabar, Cambridge, MA.

The remarkable Beninese guitarist Lionel Loueke, who’s become a regular with the likes of Herbie Hancock and Luciana Souza, comes to the Regattabar to celebrate a CD release with his regular trio-mate Massimo Biolcati on bass and drummer Nate Smith (filling in for Ferenc Nemeth).

Tierney Sutton Band
January 14 at 8 p.m. and 10 p.m.
Scullers Jazz Club, Boston, MA.

The Tierney Sutton Band is a cooperative venture that extends back a couple of decades and is therefore a more cohesive musical outfit than a lot of singer-with-band deals, accounting for its unusual arrangements, broad repertoire, and fine-textured interaction. Working with the sure-voiced Sutton are pianist Christian Jacob, bassist Kevin Axt, and drummer Ray Brinker.

Clear Audience
January 15 at 7:30 p.m.
Lily Pad, Cambridge, MA.

As Clear Audience, guitarist Steve Fell, saxophonist Andy Voelker, bassist Jef Charland, and drummer Luther Gray released one of the best jazz CDs of 2015. Medicine Ball was their first new release in seven years, but it captured their personal group sense of avant-post-bop swing, form, and dynamics (most of the tunes were written by Fell). The formal and sonic experiments are of a piece with the band’s well-schooled chops and taste for out-there freedom.

Joey DeFrancesco
January 15 at 8 p.m. and 10 p.m.
Scullers Jazz Club, Boston, MA.

Post-bop B3 organ king Joey DeFrancesco hits Scullers with his trio-mates, Dan Wilson on guitar and Jason Brown on drums.

Dijkstra/Delbecq/Hollenbeck
January 19 at 8 p.m.
Lily Pad, Cambridge, MA.

A rare conclave of these three improviser/composers: Dutch-born alto saxophone, lyricon, and synth player Jorrit Dijkstra, of the Boston-based Driff label; French pianist Benoit Delbecq, playing prepared piano and synth; and drummer John Hollenbeck, composer/mastermind of the Claudia Quintet as well as his formidable Large Ensemble.

— Jon Garelick

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Rock, Pop, Folk

Parks, Air Traffic Controller, Eternals
January 15 (doors at 10 p.m.)
Great Scott, Allston, MA

Allston’s Great Scott will host a killer triple bill of Beantown acts on Friday. The quintet Parks is currently mixing its first LP, which fans funded through Pledge Music last year. Led by an actual former air traffic controller, the male-female duo Air Traffic Controller has received favorable notices from local, national, and international sources. Eternals, meanwhile, is a Somerville quartet that places itself in the genre of “Atmospheric Americana.” The material that these bands have already released guarantee satisfaction, and the high likelihood of them playing stuff that they are yet to record only makes Great Scott all-the-more the place to be for fans of up-and-coming locals on Friday.

Melissa Etheridge
January 15 (doors at 6:30, show at 8)
Lynn Auditorium, Lynn, MA

Veteran singer-songwriter Melissa Etheridge brings her This is M.E. Solo tour to Lynn Auditorium on Friday. With more than a quarter-century of songs to draw from, Etheridge is sure to treat fans to a well-balanced mix of popular and personal favorites.

The Band That Time Forgot
January 16 (doors at 6, show at 8)
Johnny D’s, Somerville, MA

The long goodbye continues at Johnny D’s with The Band That Time Forgot. As the group’s website says, “We play all original songs. We just didn’t write them.” The “originals” that they play were all written by others in the ’60s and ’70s, including classics and obscurities by suspects of the usual and unusual sorts. (TBTTF’s drummer is an Arts Fuse film critic Tim Jackson, who will have been at the same venue the night before with Robin Lane & The Chartbusters.)

The Bulletproof Stockings
January 16 (doors at 7 p.m., show at 8 p.m.)
Brighton Music Hall, Allston, MA

A 2012 headline in the Times of Israel read, “Ladies (and not gentlemen): The Bulletproof Stockings!” Why? Because this self-described “Chasidic alt-rock girl band”—whose influences include the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Radiohead, and The White Stripes—obeys the prohibition of kol isha, which forbids men from hearing women sing. Having successfully funded its first full-length album (which will be released soon) via Kickstarter, the quartet will play its first date of 2016 at Brighton Music Hall on Saturday. I won’t see you there!

— Blake Maddux

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Author Events

Eric Weiner
The Geography of Genius: A Search for the World’s Most Creative Places, from Ancient Athens to Silicon Valley
January 11 at 7 p.m.
Harvard Book Store, Cambridge MA
Free

Everyone knows that geniuses often run in packs, but does greatness have as much to do with location as with the company one keeps? Bestselling author Eric Weiner, author of The Geography of Genius and a globe-trotting intellectual reporter will discuss his findings.

Lindsey Stirling
The Only Pirate at the Party
January 13 at 6 p.m.
Brookline Booksmith, Coolidge Corner MA
$24 tickets, including price of book

After being voted off of “America’s Got Talent,” Stirling took her classical music training and her electric violin and went rogue. Her videos received millions of clicks, she recorded two full-length records, and toured across the world. She will share her story with others who seek to be ‘the only pirate at the party.’

Elizabeth Strout
My Name is Lucy Barton: A Novel
January 12 at 6 p.m. (Doors open at 5:30)
Brattle Theatre, Cambridge MA
$5 tickets

The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Olive Kitteridge comes to Cambridge to read from her latest novel. Lucy Barton leaves the hospital after a lengthy stay and a devastating operation, causing her to re-imagine her relationship with her estranged mother and her extended family.

Suzanne Berne
The Dogs of Littlefield
January 13 at 7 p.m.
Newtonville Books, Newton Centre MA
Free

The Orange Prize-winning author of A Crime in the Neighborhood takes the measure of small town life in her new novel. Littlefield, Massachusetts has been named one of the “Ten Best Places to Live” in the country. Yet the placid, idyllic surface isn’t what it seem — a rash of poisonings begins to unaccountably kill all the town’s dogs.

Tanwi Nandini Islam
Bright Lines
January 14 at 7 p.m.
Porter Square, Cambridge MA
Free

Islam’s debut novel has been called “A Brooklyn-by-way-of-Bangledesh Royal Tenenbaums.” It tells the story of a Bangladeshi orphan who emigrates to New York City to grow up with relatives and eventually discovers that her family is hiding life-changing secrets.

Sunil Yapa
Your Heart is A Muscle the Size of A Fist
January 19 at 7 p.m.
Harvard Book Store, Cambridge MA
Free

Yapa’s debut novel — called “symphonic” by Colum McCann — concerns Victor, a young malcontent who intends to sell as much marijuana as possible to the gathering throng of protesters at the WTO meeting in Seattle. Along the way, Victor’s actions change the fates of several individuals, including the Chief of Police.

— Matt Hanson