Writers on a New England Stage, the celebrated author series, welcomes to the stage the renowned journalist and author Simon Winchester. The bestselling author of The Professor and the Madman, Krakatoa, and The Map that Changed the World, Winchester will take the stage to discuss his latest work of nonfiction, ATLANTIC on Monday, November 8, at 7:30pm. Tickets to the evening event are currently on sale as are vouchers for books signed by the author. (Full details follow below)  

About The Book

In ATLANTIC:  Great Sea Battles, Heroic Discovers, Titanic Storms, and a Vast Ocean of a Million Stories, Winchester returns to his trademark blend of history, natural science, and keen observations with a fascinating “biography” of one of the world’s great oceans. Displaying the remarkable fluidity of narrative style and command of content that has earned him praise as “a master at telling a complex story compellingly and lucidly” (USA Today), the New York Times bestselling author delves deeply into the long, complicated story of a body of water that has been at the center of western civilization. “A focal point, an axis, a fulcrum, around which the power and influence of the modern world has long been distributed,” says Winchester.   Blending history and anecdote, geography and reminiscence, science and lore, he delivers a magisterial saga of the Atlantic Ocean and humankind’s evolving relationship with it.  ATLANTIC is a stunning achievement that taps all of Simon Winchester’s strengths as “a lyrical writer and an indefatigable researcher” (Newsweek).  

Early reviews of the book have been strong.  Said Kirkus Review, “A lifetime of thought, travel, reading, imagination and memory inform this affecting account.”  In a starred review, Booklist said the history was “amazingly educational and entertaining.”Publishers Weekly heralded it “necessary reading for those who want to understand the planet better.”   Critics have also pointed to the book’s likely ascent onto bestsellers list.  Said Tom Holbrook, owner of RiverRun Bookstore and a partner in the series, “Those of us at the store have loved Winchester since he burst onto the scene with his first American bestseller, The Professor and the Madman.    Winchester is one of those rare authors who can make nonfiction read like a thriller. He is also a great personality and a great presenter, which makes him a perfect fit for the dynamic setting of Writers on a New England Stage.”  

[EDITOR’S NOTE:   Winchester is coming to Writers on a New England Stage  in the first week of the book’s formal publication (November 2); the book would not be included on bestseller lists until after that date.]   

 About the Evening

Writers on a New England Stage is a signature series created by and presented at The Music Hall, a series of unique literary evenings in a rollicking radio show format.   Following Winchester’s presentation, he will be interviewed on stage by Virginia Prescott, host of New Hampshire Public Radio’s “Word of Mouth.”  Live music will be performed throughout the hour-long event by the award-winning house band Dreadnaught.  The live show will be rebroadcast on New Hampshire Public Radio.  

For Writers on a New England Stage: Simon Winchester, The Music Hall has extended a special invitation to the Seacoast Science Center in Rye, NH, a community partner of The Music Hall.  Seacoast Science Center members can take advantage of Music Hall member prices by calling the box office.  “The Music Hall is a place of learning and celebration and, in this case we wanted our neighbors at Seacoast Science Center to join us in celebrating the natural world,” said Associate Producer Margaret Talcott.  “Each time we program an event at The Music Hall we look to how it might benefit the community. With this book in particular, Winchester is the perfect guest for our port city and ocean-centric community. We can’t wait to hear from him about our shared ocean, the Atlantic,” added Talcott.  

About the Author

Simon Winchester is an author, journalist and broadcaster. Since his graduation from Oxford University (England) with a degree in biology, he has worked mostly as a foreign correspondent.   He now works principally as an author, although he contributes to a number of American and British magazines and journals, including Harper’s, The Smithsonian, The National Geographic Magazine, The Spectator, Granta, The New York Times and The Atlantic Monthly.  He was appointed Asia-Pacific Editor of Conde Nast Traveler at its inception in 1987, later becoming Editor-at-Large.  His writings have won him several awards, including Britain’s Journalist of the Year.  

Winchester’s books cover a wide range of subjects, including a study of the remaining British Empire, the colonial architecture of India, aristocracy, the American Midwest, his experience of the months in an Argentine prison on spying charges, his description of a six-month walk through the Korean peninsula, the Pacific Ocean and the future of China.  Most recently he has written The River at the Center of the World, about China’s Yangtze River; the best-selling The Professor and the Madman, which is to be made into a major film by the distinguished French director Luc Besson; The Fracture Zone; A Return to the Balkans, which recounts his journey from Austria to Turkey during the 1999 Kosovo crisis; and the best-selling The Map that Changed the World, about the nineteenth century geologist William Smith.  His book, Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded: August 27, 1883was published in April 2003 and A Crack in the Edge of the World: America and the Great California Earthquake of 1906 was published in the fall of 2005. His latest book, The Man Who Loved China: The Fantastic Story of the Eccentric Scientist who Unlocked the Mysteries of the Middle Kingdom was published by HarperCollins in May 2008.  

Simon Winchester was made Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) by HM The Queen in 2006. He lives on a small farm in the Berkshires in Massachusetts and in New York City.  

Tickets for Writers on a New England Stage:  Simon Winchester ($13, $11 for members of The Music Hall) are available through The Music Hall Box Office, located at 28 Chestnut Street, Portsmouth, over the phone at 603-436-2400 or online at the Web site. Autographed copies of Winchester’s new book ATLANTIC are available on the evening at The Music Hall or in the days following at RiverRun Bookstore. The book is $25.20 when reserved in advance through the purchase of a vouchers through The Music Hall box office and at RiverRun Bookstore at 20 Congress Street in downtown Portsmouth.  Autographed books, as available, can be purchased on the evening for the full retail price of $27.99.  

Patrons who want to read the book before the writer’s event can buy an unsigned copy as soon as RiverRun Bookstore has them available.  The 10% discount price will be in effect when they show their ticket to the author’s Writers on a New England Stage evening.  The producers ask for patrons’ support of this vibrant series through the purchase of books through The Music Hall and/or River Run Bookstore.  

At each Writers event, The Music Hall hosts local high school students selected by their teachers, who come free of charge to the event and get an opportunity to meet the author.  The Music Hall welcomes local book clubs attending on the night to take part in a drawing to be guests at a private backstage book signing/reception with the featured writer.  For more information on how to join the Writers on a New England Stage book club list and drawing, email Associate Producer Margaret Talcott at the Music Hall.  

About the 2010-2011 Writers on a New England Stage series

Writers on a New England Stage was created by executive producer Patricia Lynch, also executive director of The Music Hall, and is presented in partnership with New Hampshire Public Radio and in collaboration with Yankee Magazine and Portsmouth’s independent RiverRun Bookstore. Since 2005, the series has spotlighted a broad range of celebrated authors including Alan Alda, Mitch Albom, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Dan Brown, Isabel Allende, Stephen King, Barbara Kingsolver, E.L. Doctorow, Anita Diamant, Madeleine Albright, the late John Updike, Wally Lamb, Jodi Picoult, Greg Mortenson, and Cokie Roberts, among many others.   

Next up in the series Writers on a New England Stage is the Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Joseph J. Ellis with his new work, FIRST FAMILY: Abigail and John Adams on November 30.