Author visits in Wellesley—early summer 2026

June 25, 2026 by Deborah Brown

Wellesley is fortunate enough to draw multiple authors and speakers to town each month who are knowledgable across a wide range of subjects, and who visit to connect with audiences and promote their work. Attending such an event is a great way to meet the current stars of the literary and lecture scene. Here are just a few events happening soon.

Wellesley Free Library Poetry Book Club

DATE/TIME: Friday, June 26, 3pm-4pm
LOCATION: Wellesley Free Library, 530 Washington St.
Registration required

WFL’s Poetry Book Club is a welcoming space for anyone who enjoys reading, reflecting on, and discussing poetry. Each month, the club explores a selected collection or poet whose work invites conversation, connection, and deeper understanding. This month’s book is Scattered Snows, to the North by Carl Phillips. Copies of the book will be available at the Information Desk on the second floor.

Kerri Maher and her forthcoming novel, Summer of Love

DATE/TIME: Wednesday, July 8, 7pm
LOCATION: Wellesley Books, 82 Central St, Wellesley, MA
TICKETED EVENT: Register here.

SUMMER READ ALERT: Weston resident Kerri Maher has taught writing at Emerson College, and now works in behavioral health in Needham. She also hosts a regular “Writers Bowling Night” in Somerville. Summer of Love is her most personal book to date. It’s a powerful story of mothers and daughters, secrets and truth, sobriety, struggle, and resilience, set against the vibrant backdrop of the 1960s counterculture revolution.

Long-time Yankee Magazine editor Mel Allen

DATE/TIME: Tuesday, July 7, 7pm-8:30pm
LOCATION: Wellesley Free Library, 530 Washington St.
REGISTRATION required

DESCRIPTION: Long-time Yankee editor Mel Allen will discuss his new book, Here in New England: Unforgettable Stories of People, Places, and Memories That Connect Us All“.

From the time Allen published his first story in Yankee in 1979 to the day he retired in 2025 as the fifth editor in the magazine’s storied 90-year history, his work has captured New England’s unique sense of place and the people who call it home.

What Swellesley’s editors are reading

Mrs. Swellesley is reading….

Yesteryear, by Caro Claire Burke, fiction
Tradwife and social media influencer wakes up in the 1850s, forced to endure the homesteading life she’d only curated online.

Those obsessed with—or who would like to see real-life Instagrammer “Ballerina Farm” (8 kids, Julliard School graduate, city folk turned ranchers)— get a similar “comeuppance” will enjoy this dark, satirical thriller. New York Times best seller.
Good summer read and/or book group choice.

Undammed, by Tara Lohan, non fiction
The subtitle tells you all you need to know about the Lohan’s slant: “Freeing Rivers and Bringing Communities to Life”
Why we’re reading it: Because once the South Natick goes down this summer, what is to become of us all?
Spoiler alert: Lohan says all will be well.

Mr. Swellesley is reading…

Salvage the Bones, by Jesmyn Ward , fiction

National Book Award winner that follows a family in rural Mississippi as they prep for Hurricane Katrina while navigating teen pregnancy, dog fighting, and poverty. With the climate throwing at us what it throws at us these days, you can never be too prepared.

Frederick Douglass: Prophet of History, by David W. Blight, non-fiction

2019 Pulitzer Prize winner for history takes an in-depth look at the abolitionist, writer and orator. There are many biographies, and some autobiographies, on Douglass, but this very long book (that I’m doubtful I’ll make it all the way through) stands apart for its inclusion of new information from a private collection and from Douglass’s newspapers. I was inspired to read this after rereading the famous Douglas Fourth of July speech.

We Have Always Lived in the Castle, Shirley Jackon, fiction

This 1962 psychological gothic horror story (recaptured in a rather awful 2018 film) delves into isolation, bullying, and paranoia as only Shirley Jackson can do. Many have read her classic “The Lottery,” and this offers more of the same creepiness. I was prompted to read Castle after hearing that the singer Mitski’s newest album took inspiration from the book.

Wellesley eats up library’s Edible Book Festival

April 9, 2026 by Emma Mullay

Luciana Gonzalez next to her Harry Potter themed edible creation. — Luciana Gonzalez next to her Harry Potter-themed edible creation (photos by Emma Mullay)

When asked why she picked Harry Potter as the theme for her edible creation, 9-year-old Luciana Gonzalez, standing proudly at her station—which showcased an intricate scene depicting characters and places like the Sorting Hat, Hogwarts Castle and Hedwig the owl made from cake, Rice Krispy treats, fondant and more—said it was simple.

“I like magic!”

The Wellesley Free Library hosted its second annual Edible Book Festival on March 29, with colorful and delicious creations depicting different scenes from over a dozen children’s novels.

Emma Weiler library — Emma Weiler, children’s supervisor at Wellesley Free Library

Emma Weiler, the children’s supervisor at the Wellesley Free Library, said she heard about it online and wanted to take part.

“People organize these globally, it’s always around April 1, and I’ve always wanted to do one,” she said. “I like that, as a librarian, I can take my interests and turn them into programs.”

This is the second year Wellesley has held festivities for International Edible Book Day since librarians Judith A. Hoffberg and Béatrice Coron founded the holiday April 1, 2000.

Weiler said the library event was open to everybody, regardless of age. It awarded six different prizes for both youth and adult submissions. Two awards, Best Kid Creation and Funniest/Punniest Entry, went to 8-year-old Avery Lee who created “Make Way for Booklings,” a play on Robert McCloskey’s iconic “Make Way for Ducklings” book.

8-year-old Avery Lee, who won Best Kid Creation and Funniest/Punniest Entry for her “Make Way for Booklings” design. — 8-year-old Avery Lee, who won Best Kid Creation and Funniest/Punniest Entry for her “Make Way for Booklings” design

Isabella Conway, 10, based her creation off of Jasmine Warga’s “A Rover’s Story,” which she chose because she “wanted to have something that represented a lot of life lessons” and was “inspiring” to her and her peers.

Conway said she chose to frost a rectangle cake because she knew it would be easier to design and wanted it to resemble the cover of a book. She said she heard about the event through the bulletin board at the library and is planning on taking part in it again in the future.

edible books — Isabella Conway next to her “A Rover’s Story” edible creation

Gonzalez decided to recreate a variety of scenes from the Harry Potter series by JK Rowling, which are both her favorite books and movies, with the castle Hogwarts, the Sorting Hat and Harry’s pet owl, Hedwig, among those showcased in her design.

Her friends and family also all love the books, so she said it was an easy decision. Gonzalez said she had “so much fun” with the hopes to do it again next year.

Weiler said she aims to continue the event next year, hoping for increased turnout and more engagement from the community.

“I feel like every year, you tweak things and try and make it a little better,” she said “This is only our second year, but I’ve certainly been billing it as our second annual, and we’re going to do it again next year.”

This story is part of a partnership between the Swellesley Report and the Boston University Department of Journalism.

Edible Book Festival sign — Photo by Emma Mullay

‘How Bad Bunny Became the Global Voice of Puerto Rican Resistance’ book debuts at Wellesley College

March 9, 2026 by Iris Zhan

Petra Rivera-Rideau, left, Vanessa Díaz — Petra Rivera-Rideau, left, and Vanessa Díaz, right (Photo by Iris Zhan)

On Monday March 2, Wellesley College Professor Petra Rivera-Rideau and Loyola Marymount University Professor Vanessa Díaz debuted their book P FKN R: How Bad Bunny Became the Global Voice of Puerto Rican Resistance in Wellesley College’s Alumnae Ballroom.

The authors developed the first and second courses about Bad Bunny in the United States respectively. In 2023, they created the Bad Bunny syllabus, a website with resources that contextualize Bad Bunny success in relation to Puerto Rican politics. They selected a few chapters from their book to talk about how Puerto Rican resistance has shown up in every stage of Bad Bunny’s career, with each chapter assigned to a Bad Bunny song that represents that theme.

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They shared a clip of “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” where Bad Bunny reacts to himself being a subject of college courses. Professor Díaz shared how one of her student’s connections in LA is how Bad Bunny learned about the courses being taught about him.

“‘Send me your syllabus right now. I’m about to meet Bad Bunny.’ I was so weirded out, and I was like, ‘Do you mean the website or the PDF, but are you joking?’ I think to myself, it’s April 1, this is an April Fool’s joke. Students are playing a practical joke on me. She wrote back to me ‘No, I’m serious.’ And then the next thing you know, I get a video of her having Bad Bunny scroll through the Bad Bunny syllabus website and going, ‘Wow, this is amazing.’”

Bad Bunny on Tonight Show — (Photo by Iris Zhan)

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Díaz and Rivera-Rideau were inspired to use Bad Bunny as a vehicle for teaching the subject because they believe you can’t understand his evolution as an artist at all if you don’t understand Puerto Rican history. Their book “P FKN R” is a tool to motivate people to learn more about Puerto Rican history, and the role of youth and art in resistance movements on the island.

Chapters in the book (Photo by Iris Zhan)

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The first chapter they highlight is called “Soy Peor,” a song from his early career days as a SoundCloud rapper. The authors highlight that while it’s a bitter breakup song, there’s political history behind the rise in Latin trap in 2016. They interviewed De La Ghetto, another Latin trap artist, about the growth of Latin trap in the context of a debt crisis Puerto Rico inherited.

Chapter two is called “Estamos Bien” and touches on Bad Bunny’s mainstream rise to fame and how it relates to Hurricane Maria. For Bad Bunny’s first time on American TV on Jimmy Fallon, he made an effort to speak English, which he doesn’t do often, and called out Trump for his negligence of Puerto Rico during Hurricane Maria, all before performing “Estamos Bien.” The song title roughly means “we will be alright,” focused on community resilience post-Hurricane Maria. The authors elaborated on the significance of this moment at this point in his career.

“He’s not a superstar at this point. The risks he’s willing to take as a new artist really show he is going to be showing up for his homeland,” Rivera-Rideau shared.

Bad Bunny has also made a lot of statements around gender identity and advocating for LGBTQ communities, particularly in Puerto Rico. Following the brutal murder of a Puerto Rican trans woman named Alexa Negron, he shows up on Jimmy Fallon with a T-shirt that says “they killed Alexa, not a man in a skirt,” but in Spanish, cementing his reputation for advocating for LGBTQ communities on the island.

His music video for his 2018 song “Caro” is one of the reasons Rivera-Rideau made her Bad Bunny class, because about 75% of her students wrote a paper about this music video for her Latin music class. This music video starts with him getting his nails painted, a reference to when he was denied entrance into a nail salon in Spain. He swaps places with a model and the pair appear to be an androgynous couple, and the viewer sometimes can’t tell who’s who, on purpose. Later in the video, he gets kissed by a man and by a woman. For a genre like reggaeton that’s hyper masculine, it was a profound moment.

These were just some of the fruitful discussions which concluded with a book signing and celebratory cake eating.

Celebrating with a cake with their book in the frosting — Celebrating with a cake with their book cover in the frosting (Photo by Iris Zhan)

World of Wellesley Community Book Read, “Dear America, Notes of an Undocumented Citizen”

March 7, 2026 by admin

EVENT: Community Book Read, sponsored by World of Wellesley
DATE: Thursday, March 26, 2026
TIME: 6:30-7pm, refreshments and connectio; 7pm-9pm, discussion
LOCATION: Wellesley Free Library, Wakelin Room, 530 Washington Street
COST: Registration is free. Register here
BOOK available with a $15 donation to WOW

DESCRIPTION: Join the World of Wellesley for its annual 2026 Community Book Read, featuring Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen by Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Jose Antonio Vargas.

Jose Antonio Vargas was sent as a child from the Philippines to his grandparents in the US, only to discover when he applied for a learner’s permit as a teen, that he had come with false documents. In his memoir, Vargas describes his experience of living as an undocumented teen and adult in America, working to get an education and to become a journalist, and then having the courage to share his story publicly and advocate for millions of undocumented people.

The community discussion will explore themes of identity, belonging, courage, and what it truly means to be an American. The evening will include excerpts from Vargas’ podcast, What It Means to Be an American, helping to spark a thoughtful, timely, and engaging conversation.

Friends of the Wellesley Free Libraries Donation Days on Feb. 8 & 9

February 2, 2026 by admin

Help the Friends of Wellesley Free Libraries stock up for their Spring Book Sale.

The Friends of the Wellesley Free Libraries accept donations of gently used books in good condition – adult and children’s books, fiction, non-fiction, biographies & memoirs, cookbooks, textbooks, etc. They also accept vintage and collectible books, puzzles and games.

The Friends will be accepting donations in the Wakelin Room of the main library on Sunday, February 8 from 1:00 to 4:00 and Monday February 9 from 9:00 am to 11:00 am.

The rule of thumb: if you would pass it along to a friend, pass it along to the Friends.

The Spring Book Sale is set for April 9-12.

Please support your local online news source with a tax-deductible donation by scanning the QR code or by clicking on it.

Hey, Y.A.L.L.—Wellesley Free Library’s teen engagement takes center stage

January 21, 2026 by Deborah Brown

Wellesley Free Library, winter 2024 For years, the Wellesley Free Library’s Teen Advisory Group (TAG) has been the driving force behind the library’s most popular events for its young patrons.TAG is the ultimate incubator for library fun. This flexible group, with a membership of both teens and tweens, focuses on sparking and steering library programming. TAG has helped launched hit events like Random Movie Night, the vocal showcase of Teen Karaoke, and the creative outlet of Paint and Sip. If you’ve enjoyed a library program tailored for youth, chances are TAG helped dream it up.

Now librarians have doubled down on teen power with the creation of another group—the Young Adult Leadership League (Y.A.L.L.). Specifically designed for high school students eager for deep, impactful community service, Y.A.L.L. will undertake long-term, focused volunteer projects to directly benefit the wider Wellesley community.

Their inaugural mission? The incredibly touching Book Bags for Newborns project, generously sponsored by the Wellesley Library Foundation.

“The students are putting in their valuable time to do research and help create designs that will result in donated book bags for new parents at Newton-Wellesley Hospital,” teen librarian Andy Yzaguirre said in an email.

While both programs empower the library’s young patrons, Y.A.L.L. was specifically established in response to a clear call from high schoolers themselves for a structured, community-oriented volunteer pathway, transforming their passion for service into tangible local impact.

Want to get involved? Email welteens@minlib.net

Author visits in Wellesley (and beyond), January 2026

January 20, 2026 by Deborah Brown

We Are Wellesley: Beyond White Picket Fences, book talk and reception

DATE/TIME: Wednesday, Jan. 21, 6:30pm
LOCATION: Wellesley Free Library

DESCRIPTION: WHS advanced photography students and their teacher, Doug Johnson, will present We Are Wellesley: Beyond White Picket Fences. The exhibit highlights the often-unrecognized demographic richness of Wellesley. Through portraits and visual storytelling, students explore the many faces and experiences that shape our town today. Co-sponsored by the Wellesley Free Library, the Mass Cultural Council and the League of Women Voters.

Book-related art exhibit at Babson College

Babson Arts, Wellesley — Take Cover, Robert Tomlinson

EVENT: Artist talk and opening reception, and exhibit
EXHIBIT: Take Cover, artwork by Robert Tomlinson
RECEPTION DATE/TIME: Thursday, January 22, 5pm
EXHIBIT ON VIEW: January 22– March 6, M-F 9am 5pm
LOCATION: Hollister Gallery, Babson College

DESCRIPTION: Books are more than the stories they tell. They reveal something about the people who created them. Take Cover is inspired by the private notations and drawings made by previous, now anonymous book owners. Robert Tomlinson’s work has been featured in 35 solo shows and over 60 group exhibitions. Tomlinson has been awarded several artist’s residencies, most recently in 2023 at Monson Arts in Monson, Maine.

Friends of the Morse Institute Library book and bake sale, Natick

DATES/TIMES: Jan. 24, 8:30am-4:30pm
LOCATION: Morse Institute Library, 14 E. Central St., Natick
DESCRIPTION: Banish the winter doldrums with a selection of books, DVDs, CDs, puzzles and more. The snack table will feature an assortment of homemade goodies, including brownies and cookies. No strollers or scanners will be allowed on Jan. 24.

Plans to hold the book and bake sale on Sunday, Jan. 25, have been scrapped due to the predicted snowstorm.

Kids’ story time at Ten Trees Books

DATE/TIME: Saturday, Jan. 31, 11am-11:30am
LOCATION: Ten Trees Books, 29 Main St., Natick, MA
COST: Free, but please reserve a spot.
DESCRIPTION: Storytime with author Katherine Picarde, reading her book Ollie & Stella. Get ready for a golden adventure with equal parts cuteness and fluff.

Authors at Wellesley Books

AUTHORS: Dan Chiasson, Bernie for Burlington: The Rise of the People’s Politician; and Kellie Carter Jackson, We Refuse: A Forceful History of Black Resistance
DATE: Friday, February 6, 7pm
LOCATION: Wellesley Books, 82 Central Street
TICKETS here

DESCRIPTION: Bernie for Burlington is a look at the early days and inexorable rise of the young Bernie Sanders, the one-of-a-kind visionary who changed American politics forever, told by a son of the People’s Republic of Burlington, Vermont. We Refuse is an “unsparing, erudite, and incisive” (Jelani Cobb, staff writer, The New Yorker) reframing of the past and present of Black resistance—both nonviolent and violent—to white supremacy. The event will be moderated by Wellesley College dean Michael Jeffries, Class of 1949 Chair in Ethics and Professor of American Studies.

Business Buzz: UK’s Clarendon Fine Art opening Wellesley gallery; Wellesley Books signs on for 5 more years

January 6, 2026 by Deborah Brown

The latest Wellesley, Mass., business news:

UK’s Clarendon Fine Art opening Wellesley gallery

The UK’s Clarendon Fine Art plans to further its reach into the United States with a new gallery in Wellesley Square at 25 Central St., the former location of Laurel Grove.

The business runs dozens of galleries in the UK, plus one in Westport, Ct. that opened about three years ago. It specializes in international, contemporary, and modern art.

We’ve reached out to Clarendon’s property director for more details, and will update this post if we hear back.

Clarendon is set to meet with the Wellesley Design Review Board this week regarding minor construction and a sign review. Plans are to remove one of two entries at the property, and make the remaining one ADA compliant.

Clarendon Fine Art rendering submitted to town

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Wellesley Books sticking around—book lovers breathe a sigh of relief

Wellesley Books, photo by Brice MacLaren

Wellesley Books, the beloved literary cornerstone of Wellesley Square, is officially staying put. Owners Bill and Gillian Kohli delighted the community with the news that they have renewed their lease at 82 Central St. for another five years.

In a heartfelt social media post, the Kohlis extended a deep sense of gratitude to their patrons, saying, “We couldn’t continue to do what we love without you— whether you’ve attended an author reading, shared a visit to the bookstore with your family and friends, bought a secondhand paperback or a big bag of new hardcovers, or ordered a book or audio on our website, thank you from all of us.” This lease renewal ensures that the vibrant spirit of independent bookselling will continue to thrive in Wellesley.

The celebration continues as Wellesley Books rolls out a stellar lineup of in-store events for January and February. Get ready to mark your calendars—here’s the complete roster of authors coming to town.