Teachers are Heroes
via USC Rossier
And close to 100% don’t get the credit they deserve for working their butt off.
Today Is Walt Whitman’s Birthday
On this day in 1819 one of the most influential American poets was born—Walt Whitman. Often referred to as the father of free verse, Whitman published six books of poetry before his death in 1892—including his masterwork Leaves of Grass in 1855. Kenneth C. Davis, author of the Don’t Know Much About series, has written a “Don’t Know Much About Walt Whitman” post on his blog today, sharing little known facts about the poet.
On our list, HarperCollins is proud to have Essential Whitman, a collection of his works curated by Galway Kinnell, featuring 18 of the poet’s works.
If you’d like an even more conclusive look into the life, work, and legacy of Walt Whitman, you should read Justin Kaplan’s National Book Award-winning Walt Whitman: A Life. Here, Kaplan presents a moving, penetrating, sharply focused portrait of one of America’s greatest poet—his genius and his passions—an exuberant life entwined with the turbulent history of mid-19th-century America.
I learned the following things at Ann Patchett’s event tonight:
Ann Patchett sometimes describes State of Wonder as “Heart of Darkness for women,” but she was actually heavily influenced by Henry James’ The Ambassadors and curiously enough, Pinnochio.
Ann Patchett gets annoyed when, at age 48, people still ask her if she and her husband are ever going to have kids.
Ann Patchett’s luscious descriptions of the rainforest came from watching Werner Herzog movies.
Meryl Streep once called Ann Patchett at home to ask if she could please do the film for Bel Canto. Ann Patchett was forced to turn her down and said disappointing Meryl Streep was one of the most terrible things she’s ever had to do.
Ann Patchett believes spending more at a local bookstore than you would on that terrible website that rhymes with Glamazon will make everyone, even the cosumer who spent more, richer in the long run.
When Madeleine Miller won the Orange Prize today, Ann Patchett would like you to know that she was wearing a dress that she borrowed from Ann.
Ann Patchett thinks Rihanna is pretty.
Basically, Ann Patchett and I would be best friends.
THE SONG OF ACHILLES wins the Orange Prize for Fiction 2012
American author Madeline Miller has won the 2012 Orange Prize for Fiction with her debut novel The Song of Achilles!
Writing Contest for Brooklyn High School Students
The 7th annual “Brooklyn Lit Match” teen writing contest has started accepting submissions. All of the winning entries will be compiled into an anthology which will be published by Akashic… Books. The grand prize winner will also receive a new laptop.
The contest is open to high school students who reside in Brooklyn or those who attend a high school located in Brooklyn. Eligible candidates should feel free to turn in their stories, poems, essays, spoken word pieces and raps before the deadline on June 29th.
You’ll find more information here.
When asked, “Is there any book you wish all incoming freshmen at Harvard would read?,” Drew Gilpin Faust—president of Harvard—said, “Kathryn Schulz’s BEING WRONG advocates doubt as a skill and praises error as the foundation of wisdom. He…r book would reinforce my encouragement of Harvard’s accomplished and successful freshmen to embrace risk and even failure.”
Francis Alÿs, The Nightwatch, 2004 [x]
Surveillance cameras observe a fox exploring the Tudor and Georgian rooms of the National Portrait Gallery at night.
- The New York Times offers an eclectic list of books to read, ranging from an autobiographical pop culture read to a serious history of digital computers.
- NPR did something interesting with their summer reading list. They had indie booksellers make the picks.
- USA Today goes interactive with their picks.
- The Wall Street Journal put out a well-chosen summer reading list.
- USA Today goes interactive with their picks.
- Entertainment Weekly had perennial best seller Jennifer Wiener pick the list.
- Huffington Post suggested summer books for kids.
- The Chicago Tribune offers thrillers for standing in line at Six Flags Great America .
- The Birmingham News went literary.
Last summer my eyes were bigger than my tote bag and it took me the rest of the seasons to get through my own list. These will definitely help when I have to pick-and-choose.
Canada
by Richard Ford
“First, I’ll tell about the robbery our parents committed. Then about the murders, which happened later.”
Then fifteen-year-old Dell Parsons’ parents rob a bank, his sense of normal life is forever altered. In an instant, this private cataclysm drives his life…
Richard Ford was in the office—but I didn’t get a chance to meet him. Sigh.
