Wed. Jan. 27  

Sadie Jones set her second novel “Small Wars” amidst the conflict in Cyprus, 1956, when the British, attempting to hold onto bits of its crumbling empire, battled the rebels called EOKA. If you, like me, thought: “What? Huh? Did I ever learn about this? Did I forget” … don’t feel embarrassed if the answer is “No I didn’t know a thing about this one.”
   That, says Jones, was her point of view before she embarked upon the two-a-half years research-writing process for her book. [Jones reads at Odyssey Bookshop in S. Hadley Thurs. Jan. 21 at 7 and Brookline Booksmith Wed. Jan. 27 at 7.]
  “I knew nothing,” she says on the phone from England. “I knew Cyprus was there and it was Greek and people go on holiday there. I didn’t know anything else. I was doing research, preoccupied with the military and soldier’s experience. I couldn’t let the protagonist of the last book [‘The Outcast’] go. In looking that up, I stumbled upon Cyprus and I forgot about character in last book. I looked on Google Earth and the way you fly in. The landscape was so reminiscent of Afghanistan, this arid place with people battling over it in this dessert.”

Tues. Jan. 26

 "I just found out my half-brother's sister and her 9 month old child was killed in the earthquake in Port-Au-Prince," says singer Nadia Salomon, bringing a very personal reaction to the devastation in Haiti. Nadia - who just uses her first name as a performer - is doing what musicians often do in times of tragedy: Fundraise. It just happens that Nadia founded the Emerge Music Boston Showcase at All Asia. And so ..."Emerge Music Boston will dedicate its monthly showcase and monies raised to support Haiti's earthquake victims during this immense time of need." It takes place Tuesday Jan. 26.

The monthly showcase, says Nadia, "was originally designed to give indie, emerging, female artists an opportunity to perform in and around Boston.  I created this opportunity because a lot of the local venues wouldn't give me a chance to perform, so, I decided to go it alone.  After a couple of shows, it became a permanent gig.  Funny enough a lot of male artists got wind of this showcase and asked to be a part of it. So, the showcase is now open to any emerging, indie artist who wants to perform around town." 

Mon. Jan. 25

It's dark and cold out there, dead of winter. Perfect opportunity to set yourself up at a dark but cozy bar and listen to some dark and twisted tales. Oh, and have a cocktail or two. Such is the inspiration, we'd guess behind what we'd call Noir at Noir. See, Noir is a neat little well-appointed cubbyhole in the Charles Hotel, downstairs from Regattabar and Riolto. "Boston Noir" is the collection of noir-ish short stories from Bostob-based writers edited by Dennis Lehane. And four authors from "Boston Noir" will read Monday January 27 at 7: Lynne Heitman, "Exit Interview,' Brenda DuBois, "The Dark Island," Dana Cameron, "Femme Sole," and Russ Aborn "Turn Speed." Murder, robbery, deceit all set among the locales you know and love. We don't think any Whitey Bulger surrogates make any appearances in these books - and that would be welcome relief - but we're sure you'll find yourself entertained by ficitional criminals as we so often are. Signed copies for sale of course. Co-sponsored by the Harvard Coop. The Noir bar folks suggest you try new cocktails like "Murder, My Sweet" and "White Heat." No cover.

One Bennett St., Cambridge, 617-661-8010 www.noir-bar.com/news

Sat. Jan. 23 & Sun. Jan. 24

Using simple sets, some silliness, and student actors from Boston Arts Academy, Actors’ Shakespeare Project takes their cold midwinter audiences on warm and wondrous journey to a land of fairies, frolic, and love. It's "A Midsummer Night's Dream," of course. Set against what start out as simple white sheets in the cavernous black box of Midway Studios in Boston’s Fort Point Channel, the story becomes more vivid as the play goes on, the wardrobe changes from royal court to rock concert, and the pixie dust of love begins to take over. Though the main characters in the main plot start out a bit stiff, even they become enrapt in the romance by play’s end. In the meantime, the ham-filled interlude put on by the rustic guildmembers offers a charming subplot that gives its participants more than enough room to stretch and shine. And though usual scene-stealing suspect John Kuntz is constrained to a barrel during his most energetic performance, he makes the most out of his role as play-within-a-play director Peter Quince and the most out of a scarf and other simple pieces. In contrast, the usually serious Robert Walsh lets his ass wave as the beasted Bottom, using his “monstrous little voice” to squeeze every syllable and eating up the entire performance space even as he dies on stage.

Sun. Jan. 24

 Foodies and wine aficianados – I guess we don’t call them winos – will converge upon the Seaport Trade Center for two days, concluding Sunday Jan. 24 for the 19th Annual Boston Wine Expo. Saturday sold out, but tix are available for Sunday. It’s $85. What do you get? We can tell you that there are more than 450 wine producers represented, pouring more than 1800 wines. That there will be live cooking demos with 15 celebrity chefs. (Again, we wonder about the “celebrity chef” term and its expansion to seemingly include everyone but the guys who cook our pizza at Pizzeria Regina – although they do a damn fine job!)

We asked the Wine Expo's Jim Carmody, one of co-founders, about the event. (He's also the G.M at the Seaport Hotel and President of the Guild of Oenopholists.) "It started when I was at Boston Harbor Hotel, the manager at the time. We had some success with the Wine Festival [still going, run by Daniel Bruce, see other item] and we wanted to do a regional fair like they did in France where producers came in and set up in town square, like a trade show." At the time the Anthony Spinazolla Wine Festival was going, but, says Carmody, starting to wane. "I didn't want to be known as the bullet that killed Spinazola, and I thought why not work with them to create a weeked? They'd lead off Friday and we'd do Saturday and Sunday."
The proposal flew at the first Wine Expo was launched at the World Trade Center. The first year they did 1700 people, then next 2500, and then, says Carmody, it became a case of "capping ticket sales. We max out at about 10,000."