Magic Realism Book Club

A monthly gathering of readers, focusing on 2 books and 4 short stories in the Magic Realism genre. 

At the Prospect Street Writers House

Four sessions. January 14th, February 11th, March 11th, and April 15th, 2025, 6:30 – 8:00pm

Hosted by the John G. McCullough Free Library and Bennington Museum.

We’re sorry. This event is at full capacity.

Magic: the Blathering

Ever wondered – what if magic were real, but it was kind of a pain? An inconvenient fact of life – like wild animals leaping from the forest into the road, right in the dull routine of your commute? Say some unforeseeable, paranormal circumstance availed itself of your world. And it occurred very locally, without fanfare, and – honestly, it was messing up your whole vibe? 

Great news for you! Artists have been hard at work on this question for years. They came up with Magic Realism; a genre of fiction that’s a bit like fantasy, a bit like science fiction, but really about how to live when the unexplainable shows up, and decides to stay. 

This winter, Bennington Museum and the John G. McCullough Free Library are hosting a Magic Realism book club, and we hope you’ll join us. We’ll have speakers from the world of literature and art, lively discussions, and we’ll delve into great tales by Shirley Jackson, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, John Cheever, Laura Esquivel, and Jo Walton, among others. We will also hold at least one film screening, and participants will be invited to a guided tour of the upcoming exhibition, Green Mountain Magic: Uncanny Realism in Vermont, once it is mounted.

There’s no fee to participate, so come join us – you’re sure to come away enlivened, wiser, weirder, and definitely enchanted.

Special Guests

1st session:
January 14th (Tuesday) 6:30pm
Prospect Street Writers House
20 Prospect Street
North Bennington, VT 05257
https://www.prospectstreet.org/
Speaker: Jamie Franklin, Curator, Bennington Museum
Reading: Two by Shirley Jackson; one essay and one short story. “The Tooth” and
“Ghosts of Loiret”

2nd session:
February 11th (Tuesday), 6:30pm
Prospect Street Writers House
20 Prospect Street
North Bennington, VT 05257
https://www.prospectstreet.org/
Speaker: Prof. Samantha Landau (University of Tokyo)
Reading: A short novel by Shirley Jackson, We Have Always Lived in the Castle

3rd Session:
March 11th (Tuesday), 6:30pm
Prospect Street Writers House
20 Prospect Street
North Bennington, VT 05257
https://www.prospectstreet.org/
Speaker: Prof. Lena Urbano, Bennington College
Reading: A short story by Gabriel Garcia Marquez; “A Very Old Man with Enormous
Wings”

4th Session:
April 15th (Tuesday), 6:30pm
Prospect Street Writers House
20 Prospect Street
North Bennington, VT 05257
https://www.prospectstreet.org/
Speaker: TBA
Reading: TBA