Shore Lit and AAM Team Up to Present Author Andrew Leland

Andrew Leland

Shore Lit and the Academy Art Museum are pleased to present a book talk with Andrew Leland, author of the acclaimed 2023 memoir The Country of the Blind: A Memoir at the End of Sight—a “Best Book of the Year” according to The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, NPR, Publishers Weekly, and LitHub.

Leland was diagnosed in his teens with a rare congenital condition that would eventually leave him blind. In his new memoir—hailed by the New York Times Book Review as “a wonderful cross-disciplinary wander”—Leland approaches his gradual sight loss from the perspective of an explorer, braiding anecdotes of professional and family life with deep research into the history of blindness and keen analysis of its resonance as a literary trope. Leland will discuss Country of the Blind— with Shore Lit Founder Kerry Folan at 6:00 pm on Thursday, March 7.

This event is free and open to the public. Reservations are required through the Academy Art Museum website.

Andrew Leland’s writing has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, McSweeney’s Quarterly, and The San Francisco Chronicle, among other outlets. From 2013-2019, he hosted and produced The Organist, an arts and culture podcast, for KCRW; he has also produced pieces for Radiolab and 99 Percent Invisible. He has been an editor at The Believer magazine since 2003. He lives in western Massachusetts with his wife and son.

 Shore Lit is based in Easton, Maryland, and aims to enhance local cultural offerings with free author events open to the public. Our programs are designed to explore relevant ideas, foster literary conversation, and build inclusive community. Upcoming events include a book talk with novelist Susan Muaddi Darraj on April 19 and a pop-up book shop featuring queer literature for all ages as part of the 2024 Delmarva Pride Festival in June. For updates, sign up for our monthly newsletter at shorelit.org.

The Academy Art Museum’s mission is to promote the knowledge, practice, and appreciation of the arts and to enhance cultural life on the Eastern Shore by making the Museum’s expanding collection, exhibitions, and broad spectrum of arts programs available to everyone. Museum admission is free and open to the public 10:00-4:00 Tuesday-Sunday.