2017 Ideas Festival lineup is announced

MAPLEWOOD, NJ — The 2017 Maplewood Ideas Festival, celebrating the talent and creativity of the community, will take place from March 18 through April 1. All programs are free and open to the public.

This year’s lineup includes:

• Saturday, March 18, at 2 p.m., at The Woodland, 60 Woodland Road: Khalil Gibran Muhammad in conversation with Angie Thomas. Muhammad is a professor of history, race and public policy at Harvard Kennedy School and the former director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture; Thomas is the author of the powerful new novel “The Hate U Give,” which has already been optioned for a major motion picture.
• Monday, March 20, at 7 p.m. at the Main Library, 51 Baker St.: NYU Entrepreneurial Institute Executive Director Frank Rimalovski, who leads an initiative to spur and support entrepreneurship and technology commercialization, and directs a seed-stage venture fund formed to invest exclusively in startups, will discuss how ideas are developed and the process of seeing them through to fruition.
• Thursday, March 23, at 7 p.m. at the Main Library, 51 Baker St.: Maplewood actor Joel de la Fuente will be featured. He has worked across the globe on stage and screen; most recently he can be seen in “The Man in the High Castle” and Hemlock Grove.”
• Saturday, March 25, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., at the Hilton Branch Library, 1688 Springfield Ave.: Celebrate NJ Makers Day with space, tech and maker projects for children, teens and adults. Create moon craters in a kinetic sand landscape or with 3D software. Watch a battling robot demo. Create a balloon-powered vehicle. And much more!
• Saturday, March 25, at 3 p.m. at the Main Library, 51 Baker St.: Enjoy an art and music reception with Ideas Festival artist Samar Hussaini. Hussaini is an Arab-American fine artist and graphic designer, who seeks to visualize the layered challenges and enriching distinction of being a Palestinian-American while striving to create thought-provoking ideas of dialog and hope. Live music will be provided by Columbia High School’s a cappella group Unaccompanied Minors.
• Tuesday, March 28, at 4 p.m. at the Main Library, 51 Baker St.: Children’s author Holly McGhee will talk about her newest book, “Matylda, Bright & Tender,” a story of how we can take the most difficult experiences and create art in the face of great challenges. This event is for children ages 8 and older.
• Wednesday, March 29, at 7 p.m. at the Main Library, 51 Baker St.: Architects Jennifer Sage and Peter Coombe, principals of Sage & Coombe Architects, will discuss the big thinking and practical details of what makes a 21st-century library.
• Thursday, March 30, at 7 p.m. at the Main Library, 51 Baker St.: Speaking will be Ilyse Hogue, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America; she is an expert in organizing and mobilizing grassroots support around social-justice issues, including human rights, media reform and representation, and reproductive freedom.
• Saturday, April 1, at 2 p.m. at the Main Library, 51 Baker St.: The Maplewood Ideas Festival concludes with the presentation of the fourth annual Maplewood Literary Award to Pamela Erens, author of “Eleven Hours,” “The Virgins” and “The Understory.” Erens will be interviewed by library director Sarah Lester. A book signing will follow.

The Ideas Festival is funded by The New Jersey State Council on the Arts supported by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, The Friends of the Maplewood Library, The Maplewood Library Foundation, The Maplewood Woman’s Club and Words Bookstore.

  Ideas Festival, Maplewood Library, The Woodland