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An unprecedented pairing: The Fust and The Hermitage

November 24, 2022
By Guest Columnist

Submitted by the Johann Fust Library Foundation

Tired of thinking about your hurricane issues? Need a slight change of scenery and some enrichment with fellow book lovers?

On Thursday, Dec. 15 the Johann Fust Library Foundation invites you to attend “Notes: On Writing and Music” with Hermitage Fellows Chigozie Obioma and Levy Lorenzo at The Hermitage. This is the Library Foundation’s first collaboration with The Hermitage.

Chigozie Obioma and Levy Lorenzo.

The Library Foundation will provide admission to the event and roundtrip bus transportation from Boca Grande, for up to 55 people. This is an opportunity to visit the historic Hermitage Artist Retreat on Manasota Key. 

Bring your beach chair and soak in the beauty as you listen to these two brilliant artists. 

The bus will depart from the Johann Fust Community Library at 3:45 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 15 and will return to Boca Grande by 7 p.m. A light snack and beverage will be provided.

Nigerian-born, critically acclaimed author Chigozie Obioma was scheduled to speak in the library courtyard, but due to Hurricane Ian, the venue was changed to the beautiful Hermitage beach on Manasota Key.

Located just 20 miles northwest of Boca Grande, The Hermitage Artist Retreat has a dynamic mission: to inspire and foster the most influential and culturally consequential art and artists of our time.

Chigozie Obioma’s two novels, “The Fisherman” and “An Orchestra of Minorities,” were both shortlisted for the Booker Prize in Fiction. He will read from his work and discuss his creative process. Obioma will be joined by Filipino-American musician and instrument-maker Levy Lorenzo, whose quirky and creative work has been described as “a potent force on the side of exuberance, pleasure, and awe of virtuosity” by the New York Times.

Obioma’s two books may be borrowed from the Johann Fust Community Library or purchased at the Library Foundation’s office, located on the second floor of the library building. 

To register for the Thursday, Dec. 15 event at The Hermitage, visit the JF Library Foundation’s website JFLFBG.org. For questions, please email info@JFLFBG.org or call (941) 964-0211.