Milton library: Kim McLarin talk

Milton Public Library will host a “Desert Island Book” salon with writer Kim McLarin on Thursday, April 23, at 6:30 p.m. (miltonscene.com) The library says registration is required for the discussion, which asks readers to talk about the books they think “everyone should read.” The event page says the program is part of the library’s salon series. (miltonscene.com) McLarin is Milton Public Library’s 2025-2026 Dr. Herb Voigt Writer-in-Residence, according to the library. The library describes her as an award-winning novelist, essayist and cultural critic, and says the residency runs through a closing session on June 1 at 6:30 p.m. (miltonlibrary.org) McLarin’s broader résumé helps explain the draw for a small local program. Her official biography says she is a former staff writer for The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Greensboro News & Record and The Associated Press. (kimmclarin.com) Emerson College, where McLarin is listed in the faculty directory, says her most recent book is *Everyday Something Has Tried to Kill Me and Has Failed* and that the book received 2024 nonfiction honors from the Massachusetts Book Awards. The college also lists her earlier bibliomemoir *Bookmarked: James Baldwin’s Another Country*. (emerson.edu) The April 23 date also lines up with World Book and Copyright Day, the annual United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization observance that promotes books and reading. UNESCO says the event is marked every year on April 23 and includes a World Book Capital program; Rabat, Morocco, is the 2026 capital. (unesco.org) Milton’s event fits the library’s current use of the writer-in-residence post as a public-facing role, not just a private fellowship. The library previously scheduled a “Meet the Writer-in-Residence” event with McLarin, where it said she would talk about why she writes and why writing matters. (miltonlibrary.libcal.com) The salon itself is built for a smaller room than a lecture hall: one author, one prompt, and a sign-up list. On April 23, the conversation in Milton is set to revolve around a simple question libraries return to every spring — which book would you save if you could keep only one. (miltonscene.com)