This week

• Maine writer Sarah Braunstein reads from and discusses her book, “The Sweet Relief of Missing Children,” at noon Wednesday at the Portland Public Library. Her book is based in New York City, where a girl named Leonora vanishes without a trace. Years earlier and miles upstate, Goldie searches for a man to help raise her precocious son, who later discovers that the only way to save his soul is to run away. The narrative moves back and forth in time, revealing connections between these stories and clues about Leonora.

Braunstein was recently named one of “5 Under 35” fiction writers by the National Book Foundation. A play, “String Theory: Three Greek Myths Woven Together” (co-written by Michael Barakiva and Amy Boyce Holtcamp) was produced in New York in 2009 and at Vassar College last year. The recipient of a Rona Jaffe Foundation Writer’s Award, she teaches at Harvard University Extension School and the Stanford Online Writer’s Studio. Based in Portland, she is writing a second novel and a collection of essays. 

• This is the last week of the Portland Stage Company production of Lionel Goldstein’s “Halpern & Johnson,” an insightful drama that explores marriage, friendship, secrets and lies. The play is sprinkled with humor, but at the core it’s a serious show about two old men who share the unusual bond of a half-century of love for the same woman. Tickets range from $16.50 to $37. Showtimes are 7:30 p.m. Tuesday to Friday, 4 and 8 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday, April 24, which is the final show. There also is a matinee at 2 p.m. Thursday. Call 774-0465 or visit portlandstage.org for tickets. 

Coming up

• The University of Southern Maine School of Music has a new date for its Spotlight Series concert, “A Celebration of the Music of Liszt 200 Years After His Birth.” The concert, which was canceled earlier this month because of snow, will be at 8 p.m. May 6 in Corthell Concert Hall on the Gorham campus.

Pianist Anastasia Antonacos will perform a variety of Liszt originals, as well as a selection of his transcriptions. Tickets cost $15, or $10 seniors and USM employees, $5 students and children. Call the USM Box Office at 780-5555.

 

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