Writers’ Wednesday – September

Description

Writers’ Wednesday
September 7, 2022
5:00 – 5:30 pm – Book signing and wine/cheese Reception
5:30 – 6:30 pm – Lecture

This month’s book is called “From San Francisco Eastward: Victorian Theater in the American West” with author Carolyn Grattan Eichin who will discuss her book. A great program for anyone interested in the history of entertainment in the 19th century.

Summary of Talk
The book explores the dynamics and influence of theater in the West during the Victorian era. San Francisco, Eichin argues, served as the nucleus of the western theatrical world, having attained prominence behind only New York and Boston as the nation’s most important theatrical center by 1870. By focusing on the West’s hinterland communities, theater as a capitalist venture driven by the sale of cultural forms is illuminated against the backdrop of urbanization.

The book is a thorough analysis of the ever-changing theatrical personalities and strategies that shaped Victorian theater in the West, and the ways in which theater as a business transformed the values of a region. The book earned a finalist placement from Women Writing the West, for the Willa Literary Award in scholarly non-fiction in 2021; and also a fourth place in Western non-fiction from the Will Rogers Medallion Award organization.

Author Bio
Carolyn Grattan Eichin has lived her entire life in the American West. Residing in Nevada for more than 34 years, she attained both a BA and MA in history from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, as well as completing the course work for a PhD in the history of the American West. For seventeen years she maintained a relationship with the College of Southern Nevada teaching American history, Nevada history, and anthropology as a member of the adjunct faculty. Other work experience includes a stint as an archaeologist and a bed and breakfast owner with her husband in Virginia City, Nevada. She has published in the following scholarly journals: Nevada Historical Society Quarterly, Utah Historical Quarterly, and the Mark Twain Annual. From San Francisco Eastward; Victorian Theater in the American West is the culmination of many years of search and her first book.

The Writers’ Wednesday Lecture Series, held the second Wednesday of each month, features a different author who takes part in a book signing, a presentation and a question-and-answer session with the audience. A wine and cheese reception precedes the lecture.

The intent of the program is to highlight writers who specifically focus on Nevada, the Great Basin, or the West in general. The authors talk about the content of their books but also share details about the creative process.