Washington, DC: Laura Bush's National Book Festival, 9/27/08. |
by Barry Alpert |
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I hope you'll find this appropriate as advance coverage of "Laura Bush's National Book Festival, 9/27, 10-5". Looking forward to surveilling the "security" surrounding Salman Rushdie. Barry Wash DC, 9/26/08 LAURA BUSH'S NATIONAL BOOK FESTIVAL, 9/27/08. 10-5 A choice example of the sociology of taste. I believe Dana Gioia, James Billington, Charles Simic, and Kay Ryan are responsible for this line-up: POETRY Sponsored by National Endowment for the Arts Eavan Boland Dan Chiasson Elsa Cross Michael Lind Michael S. Harper Molly Peacock Stanley Plumly J. Allyn Rosser Kay Ryan, Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry for 2008-2009 Since I've never witnessed Eavan Boland, I'm going to try to catch her act (partly for the Stanford connection). Otherwise, I'm more intrigued by Salman Rushdie and Richard Price, though I'm unsure who made the choices in that range: FICTION & MYSTERY Louis Bayard Geraldine Brooks Sandra Brown Marisa de los Santos Philippa Gregory Andrew Klavan James McBride Brad Meltzer Richard Price Francine Prose Peter Robinson Salman Rushdie Alexander McCall Smith Actually, I'm much more interested in two films by The major Portuguese director Manoel de Oliveira being shown tomorrow and will sample writers before, between, and after the screenings, especially because the filmic & literary possibilities are geographically convenient. As for the aesthetic governing the selection of poets, Librarian of Congress James Billington sums it up simply: "[Blank] writes easily understandable short poems." Barry Alpert |
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