Tuesday night's lecture and book-signing by author Salman Rushdie was certainly a large draw, but it wasn't the sole literary event the campus will see this year: Tina Hart, the campus bookstore's trade book manager, said she is bringing many authors to Tufts in an effort to keep students engaged in reading beyond the chapters listed on their syllabi.
"After the bookstore was renovated," said bookstore manager Ron Gill, one of the goals was to "make trade books [non-textbook reading] more visible." Indeed, an array of popular titles has replaced the greeting cards and gift bags in the front of the store.
Most students, Hart has noticed, come to the bookstore and head straight downstairs to the textbooks and neglect leisure reading during their semesters at school. Therefore, in an effort begun after the store's renovation, she is coordinating frequent author appearances on campus throughout the year.
"I love books," said Hart, "and I want to get more people interested in reading." According to Hart, those invited to the bookstore's signings are authors who have a book coming out. Typically, they are authors on a book tour whose publicist contacts Tufts, and Hart works with them to find a mutually convenient appearance time.
Rushdie's book-signing was cancelled on Tuesday evening due to time conflictions.
Last week, the bookstore hosted a book-signing with Dana Keller, a Tufts alumnus and author of the recently published book, "The Tao of Statistics: A Path to Understanding (With No Math)."
The literary appearances will continue this fall with authors Catherine Clinton ("Harriet Tubman: The Road to Freedom") and Nina Silber ("Daughters of the Union: Northern Women Fight the Civil War") speaking in conjunction with the Tisch Library's upcoming exhibition about emancipation. Clinton will make her appearance on Parents' Weekend with a reading from her new book, and Silber will come to campus on Nov. 3.
Also in November, photojournalist Lori Grinker, whose photography was featured in a recent on-campus exhibition, will visit Tufts to sign her book "Afterwar," which looks at the physical and psychological wounds inflicted by the military conflicts of the past 100 years.
In contrast to the procrastination that often pervades the university atmosphere, Hart has already scheduled dates in the spring for two writers: Boston Herald sportswriter Tony Massarotti, another Tufts alum and author of "A Tale of Two Cities" (no, not that "A Tale of Two Cities") is slated to sign in February.
Renowned poet Richard Wilber, whose new "Collected Poems" brings together his works in the stanza business since 1943, will be on campus in April, which is, appropriately, National Poetry Month.
Due to a lack of space, book-signings are not held among the hooded sweatshirts and dorm room posters of the bookstore itself. Instead, they most often take place in the Large Conference Room in the Campus Center.
For students who are not disciples of Tuftslife.com - where many of the literary events are already posted for the semester - the bookstore's own Web site also provides information about upcoming author appearances.
As is the case with most book-signings, many students who come to the events have already read or heard of the author visiting. But even if you're unschooled in Silber or clueless about Clinton, there's no need to fret; with the events scheduled so far in advance, there is certainly time for students to familiarize themselves with the authors coming to campus.
