Arts & Letters Live

Arts & Letters Live is a literary and performing arts series for all ages that features award-winning authors and performers of regional, national, and international acclaim. The series is recognized for its creative multidisciplinary programming—combining literature with visual arts, music, and film—and for commissioning new work from musicians, dancers, and poets, inspired by works of art in the Museum's collection and special exhibitions. The series is celebrating its 29th season in 2020.

Book Tickets Online or call 214-922-1818

Check out the Arts & Letters Live Spring 2020 season brochure 

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In order to receive the most current event and logistical details, we strongly encourage you to purchase Arts & Letters Live event tickets only via Etix, the DMA’s ticketing system. Tickets purchased through third party vendors are often more expensive and prevent us from guaranteeing the accuracy of seat assignments and sharing logistical information.

Love these events and want the best deal? Become a DMA Member and you’ll get up to $10 off the public ticket price (excluding certain events), free garage parking at the DMA, and discounts in the DMA Cafe and DMA Store.

To become a Season Supporter, call 214-922-1280.

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Upcoming Events

Format: 2/23/20

A Moveable Feast Book Club: Apeirogon

Thursday, April 16, 11:45 a.m.

Join fellow book lovers for lunch in the DMA’s Cook Boardroom as you enjoy the opportunity to delve more deeply into Colum McCann’s sweeping tour de force Apeirogon. The conversation will be facilitated by Rabbi David Stern, Senior Rabbi of Temple Emanu-El, President of the Central Conference of American Rabbis and head of the international rabbinic organization of the Reform Movement. Please note that this is a book discussion, not an author event.

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Paulette Jiles

Tuesday, April 21, 7:30 p.m.

Paulette Jiles, the critically acclaimed, bestselling author of News of the World and Enemy Women, returns to Texas in this atmosphereic story. Set at the end of the Civil War, Simon the Fiddler chronicles the life of an itinerant fiddle player, a ragtag band of musicians with whom he travels trying to make a living, and the charming young Irish lass who steals his heart. Told in Jile's trademark spare yet lilting style, the book is a captivating, bittersweet tale of the chances a devoted man will take and the lengths he will go to fulfill his heart's yearning. 

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Colum McCann

Tuesday, April 28, 7:30 p.m.
National Book Award winner Colum McCann’s most ambitious work to date, Apeirogon is a tour de force concerning friendship, love, loss, and belonging. Bassam Aramin is Palestinian. Rami Elhanan is Israeli. They inhabit a world of conflict that colors every aspect of their lives. Their worlds shift irreparably after their young daughters are killed—Abir by a rubber bullet and Smadar the victim of suicide bombers. When Bassam and Rami learn of each other’s stories, they recognize the loss that connects them and attempt to use their grief as a weapon for peace.

 

 
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Sue Monk Kidd

Monday, May 4, 7:30 p.m.
Location: First United Methodist Church
 
The Book of Longings, the new novel from Sue Monk Kidd, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Secret Life of Bees, is an extraordinary story set in the first century about a woman who finds her voice and her destiny in a time of great despair and great hope. It opens with “I am Ana. I was the wife of Jesus.” Kidd says, “I wanted to portray Jesus as fully human. Writing from a novelist’s perspective and not a religious one, I was drawn to his humanity, which can often be overlooked. Ana wandered into my imagination and I couldn’t ignore her.” Ana is a seeker with a brilliant mind and daring spirit. Defying the expectations placed on women, she engages in furtive scholarly pursuits and writes secret narratives about neglected and silenced women. When she meets the 18-year-old Jesus, he awakens both her intellect and her heart. 
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David Sedaris

Monday, May 11, 7:30 p.m.
Location: McFarlin Auditorium, Southern Methodist University
Promotional Partner: KERA
 
Hailed as the “rock star of writers” and one of America’s preeminent humorists, beloved satirist David Sedaris returns to Dallas for the eleventh consecutive year to read new and unpublished material full of incisive social critiques and sardonic wit. Among Sedaris’s bestselling books are Barrel Fever and Holidays on Ice, as well as collections of personal essays, including Me Talk Pretty One Day and Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim. Sedaris’s two newest books, Calypso and Theft by Finding: Diaries (1977–2002), give darkly hilarious insight into his personal experiences.
 
 
 
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A Moveable Feast Book Club: The Book of Longings

Wednesday, May 20, 11:45 a.m.

Join fellow book lovers for lunch in the DMA’s Cook Boardroom as you enjoy the opportunity to delve more deeply into Sue Monk Kidd’s The Book of Longings, a meticulously researched yet imaginative new novel set during the life and times of Jesus in 1st-century Nazareth. Kidd focuses on Jesus’s humanity, which is often overlooked, and tells the story of Ana, a seeker with a brilliant mind and a daring spirit. Jesus becomes a floodgate for her intellect and awakens her heart, and she becomes his wife. The conversation will be facilitated by Kathleen Kent, the author of three bestselling and award-winning historical novels, as well as The Dime and The Burn, contemporary crime novels set in Dallas. Please note that this is a book discussion, not an author event.

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