Club member Kummer paints fictional Picasso portrait; plans Book Rap, Aug. 20

National Press Club member Luke Jerod Kummer plans to discuss his debut novel, "The Blue Period," at a Book Rap in the Cosgrove Lounge on Tuesday, Aug. 20, at 6:30 p.m.

The event is free for Club members and their guests but registration is required. Please email [email protected].

Kummer plans to sell books at the event. Please also reserve a copy when registering for the event.

In "The Blue Period," Kummer envisions the rarely-known bohemian life of young Pablo Picasso as a time of love, lust, death and despair.

“From rowdy Barcelona barrooms to the incandescent streets of turn-of-the-century Paris, Pablo Picasso experiences the sumptuous highs and seedy lows of bohemian life alongside his rebellious poet friend with a shadowy past, Carles Casagemas,” according to a press release by Kummer’s publisher.

“Lusciously written and deeply imaginative, Kummer's debut is an edgy, elegant reimagining of a period in Picasso's life that forever changed the art world,” said Karin Tanabe, author of "The Gilded Years."

Kummer has worked as a reporter, editor and travel writer. His nonfiction pieces have appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, New York magazine, New Republic, the Washingtonian and the Village Voice.

This event is the inaugural event by the Club’s Book & Author group, which plans to periodically assist members and lesser-known authors with events at the Club. Please email [email protected] if you are interested in joining the group, or for information about having the group consider a book for an event.