Podcasts about american letters

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 7, 2021 1:31

Subscribe to Quotomania on Simplecast or search for Quotomania on your favorite podcast app!Don DeLillo is the author of seventeen novels including White Noise, Libra, Underworld, Falling Man, and Zero K. He has won the National Book Award, the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, the PEN/Saul Bellow Award, the Jerusalem Prize for his complete body of work, and the William Dean Howells Medal from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. His story collection The Angel Esmeralda was a finalist for the Story Prize and the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction. In 2013, DeLillo was awarded the Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction, and in 2015, the National Book Foundation awarded DeLillo its Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. From https://www.simonandschuster.com/authors/Don-DeLillo/1098974. For more information about Don DeLillo:Previously on The Quarantine Tapes:“Don DeLillo, The Art of Fiction No. 135”: https://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/1887/the-art-of-fiction-no-135-don-delillo“We all Live in Don DeLillo's World. He's Confused By It Too.”: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/10/12/magazine/don-delillo-interview.html

BONUS: To Keep Going with Walter Bargen

Hometown: Earth

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 18, 2021 8:45

Nature has been an inspiration for poets, writers, artists, and more throughout time. In this episode, I had the great opportunity to sit down with Walter Bargen. Walter is an established writer and has published nineteen books of poetry. Some of his most recent books include Endearing Ruins (2012), Trouble Behind Glass Doors (2013), Quixotic (2014), Gone West (2014), and Three-Corner Catch(2015). He was appointed the first poet laureate of Missouri and has won numerous awards for his work. His poems, essays, and stories have appeared in over 300 magazines, including American Literary Review, American Letters & Commentary, Beloit Poetry Journal, and more. Today, Walter will read one of his poems, To Keep Going, that has appeared in his books, Remedies for Vertigo (2006) and in Days Like This are Necessary: New & Selected Poems (2009). Following the poem, you will hear brief but beautiful commentary from Walter that threads all of the pieces together. Purchase Walter's books - https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Walter+bargen&ref=nb_sb_noss_2 Episode Shownotes - https://lenasamford.com/hometown-earth/to-keep-going-with-walter-bargen/

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Quotomania 033: Toni Morrison

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 3, 2021 1:31

Subscribe to Quotomania on Simplecast or search for Quotomania on your favorite podcast app!Toni Morrison is one of the most celebrated authors in the world. In addition to writing plays, and children's books, her novels have earned her countless prestigious awards including the Pulitzer Prize and the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama. Toni Morrison was born on February 18, 1931 in Lorain, Ohio. In 1949, Morrison decided to attend a historically black institution for her college education. She moved to Washington, D.C. to attend Howard University.After teaching at Howard University for seven years, Morrison moved to Syracuse, New York to become an editor for the textbook division of Random House publishing. Within two years, she transferred to the New York City branch of the company and began to edit fiction and books by African-American authors. Although she worked for a publishing company, Morrison did not publish her first novel called The Bluest Eye until she was 39 years old. Three years later, Morrison published her second novel called Sula, that was nominated for the National Book Award. In 1993, Morrison became the first Black woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. Three years later, she was also chosen by the National Endowment for the Humanities to give the Jefferson Lecture, and was honored with the National Book Foundation's Medal of Distinguished Contribution to American Letters.Morrison's work continued to influence writers and artists through her focus on African American life and her commentary on race relations. Following this, Morrison's books were featured four times as selections for Oprah's Book Club. While writing and producing, Morrison was also a professor in the Creative Writing Program at Princeton University. Her work earned her an honorary Doctorate degree from the University of Oxford, and the opportunity to be a guest curator at the Louvre museum in Paris. In 2000, she was named a Living Legend by the Library of Congress. Morrison also wrote children's books with her son until his death at 45 years old. Two years later, Morrison published the last book they were working on together and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in that same month. Morrison passed away in 2019 from complications of pneumonia.From https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/toni-morrisonFor more information about Toni Morrison:Previously on The Quarantine Tapes:Edwidge Danticat on Morrison, at 04:30: https://quarantine-tapes.simplecast.com/episodes/the-quarantine-tapes-018-edwidge-danticatAyad Akhtar on Morrison, at 27:35: https://quarantine-tapes.simplecast.com/episodes/the-quarantine-tapes-156-ayad-akhtarElizabeth Gilbert on Morrison, at 31:50: https://quarantine-tapes.simplecast.com/episodes/the-quarantine-tapes-155-elizabeth-gilbertEddie S. Glaude, Jr., on Morrison, at 25:15: https://quarantine-tapes.simplecast.com/episodes/the-quarantine-tapes-104-eddie-s-glaude-jrToshi Reagon on Morrison, at 08:48: https://quarantine-tapes.simplecast.com/episodes/the-quarantine-tapes-065-toshi-reagonViet Thanh Nguyen on Morrison, at 15:18: https://quarantine-tapes.simplecast.com/episodes/the-quarantine-tapes-052Elizabeth Alexander on Morrison, at 08:51: https://quarantine-tapes.simplecast.com/episodes/the-quarantine-tapes-062-elizabeth-alexander“Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am”: https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/toni-morrison-the-pieces-i-am-documentary/16971/“Toni Morrison and What Our Mothers Couldn't Say”: https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/toni-morrison-and-what-our-mothers-couldnt-say

Quotomania 029: Ursula K. Le Guin

First Cup of Coffee with Jeffe Kennedy

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 30, 2021 1:31

Subscribe to Quotomania on Simplecast or search for Quotomania on your favorite podcast app!Ursula Kroeber Le Guin (1929-2018) was a celebrated author whose body of work includes 21 novels, 11 volumes of short stories, 11 volumes of poetry, 13 children's books, five essay collections, and four works of translation. The breadth and imagination of her work earned her six Nebula Awards, seven Hugo Awards, and SFWA's Grand Master, along with the PEN/Malamud and many other awards. In 2014 she was awarded the National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, and in 2016 joined the short list of authors to be published in their lifetimes by the Library of America.Ursula Kroeber was born in 1929 and grew up in Berkeley, California. Her parents were anthropologist Alfred Kroeber and writer Theodora Kroeber, author of Ishi. She attended Radcliffe College and did graduate work at Columbia University. She married historian Charles A. Le Guin, in Paris in 1953; they lived in Portland, Oregon, beginning in 1958, and had three children and four grandchildren. Le Guin died peacefully in her home in January, 2018.Few American writers have done work of such high quality in so many forms. Her oeuvre comprises 21 novels, 11 volumes of short stories and novellas, six volumes of poetry, 12 children's books, four collections of essays, and four volumes of translation. Le Guin's major titles have been translated into 42 languages and have remained in print, often for over half a century. Among many honors her writing received are a National Book Award, nine Hugo Awards, six Nebula Awards, the Howard Vursell Award of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the PEN/Malamud Award, and the National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. In 2000, she was named a Living Legend by the Library of Congress, and in 2016 she joined the short list of authors to be published in their lifetimes by the Library of America. Three of Le Guin's books have been finalists for the American Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize.From: https://www.ursulakleguin.com/biographyFor more information about Ursula Le Guin:Previously on The Quarantine Tapes:Naomi Klein about Le Guin, at 14:10: https://quarantine-tapes.simplecast.com/episodes/the-quarantine-tapes-158-naomi-kleinTracy Jeanne Rosenthal about Le Guin, at 25:45: https://quarantine-tapes.simplecast.com/episodes/the-quarantine-tapes-019-tracy-rosenthal“Ursula Le Guin - National Book”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Et9Nf-rsALk“Ursula K. Le Guin, The Art of Fiction No. 221”: https://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/6253/the-art-of-fiction-no-221-ursula-k-le-guin“The Fantastic Ursula K. Le Guin”: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/10/17/the-fantastic-ursula-k-le-guin

First Cup of Coffee - October 26, 2021

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 26, 2021 19:26

The vicissitudes of publishing, commercialism, art, knowing what's good, Ursula Le Guin and why some books take off and others don't. Also, a story about my brief stint as a cheerleader and pompon girl wannabe. The award I mention was the National Book Foundation's Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters in 2014 and Ursula Le Guin's speech is here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2v7RDyo7os).You can order DARK WIZARD here (https://jeffekennedy.com/dark-wizard) and preorder FIRE OF THE FROST here (https://jeffekennedy.com/fire-of-the-frost).If you want to support me and the podcast, click on the little heart or follow this link (https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/jeffekennedy).You can watch this podcast on YouTube here (https://youtu.be/27UCV3N6DOY).First Cup of Coffee is part of the Frolic Podcast Network. You can find more outstanding podcasts to subscribe to at Frolic.media/podcasts!Support the show (http://paypal.me/jeffekennedy)

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Quotomania 011: Joan Didion

The Managing Expectations Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 12, 2021 1:31

Subscribe to Quotomania on Simplecast or search for Quotomania on your favorite podcast app!Joan Didion was born in Sacramento, CA in 1934, the daughter of an officer in the Army Air Corps. A shy, bookish child, Didion spent her teenage years typing out Ernest Hemingway stories to learn how sentences work. She attended the University of California, Berkeley where she got a degree in English and won an essay contest sponsored by Vogue magazine. The prize was a research assistant job at the magazine where Didion would work for more than a decade, eventually working her way up to an associate features editor. During this time she wrote for various other magazines and published her first novel, a tragic story about murder and betrayal, called RUN RIVER in 1963. The following year she married fellow writer John Gregory Dunne and the two moved to Los Angeles. The couple adopted a daughter whom they named Quintana Roo after the state in southern Mexico.Didion's first volume of essays, entitled SLOUCHING TOWARDS BETHLEHEM, was published in 1968 and was a collection of her feelings about the counterculture of the 1960s. The New York Times referred to it as “a rich display of some of the best prose written today in this country.” Her critically acclaimed second novel PLAY IT AS IT LAYS (1970) was about a fading starlet whose dissatisfaction with Hollywood leads her further and further away from reality. Herself engaging in the Hollywood lifestyle, Didion would go on to co-write four screenplays with her husband: PANIC IN NEEDLE PARK (1971), PLAY IT AS IT LAYS (1972, based on her novel), A STAR IS BORN, (1981) and UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL (1996). A second book of essays, THE WHITE ALBUM, was published in 1979 about life in the late 1960s and the 1970s.Throughout the years Didion has written many more essay collections on subjects that have swayed her. Her fascination with America's relations with its southern neighbors could be seen in SALVADOR (1983) and MIAMI (1987). POLITICAL FICTIONS (2001) focuses on her thoughts on American politics and government. Didion and her family moved back to New York in the 1980s, and her observations of the city can be read in AFTER HENRY (1992). She reflects on California's past and present in her 2003 collection WHERE I WAS FROM.Joan Didion's husband died in 2003. Didion wrote about the grief she felt at Dunne's death in THE YEAR OF MAGICAL THINKING (2005). The book has been called “a masterpiece of two genres: memoir and investigative journalism,” and won the National Book Award in 2005. Sadly, also in 2005, Didion lost Quintana Roo to acute pancreatitis. Didion wrote a memoir about the loss of her daughter called BLUE NIGHTS, which was published in 2011.Didion's work, which has been associated with the “New Journalism” movement, has been recognized on many occasions. She received the American Academy of Arts & Letters Gold Medal in Criticism and Belles Letters in 2005 and won the National Book Foundation's Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters in 2007. She is a member of the Academy of Arts & Letters, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and The Berkeley Fellows. She received an honorary Doctor of Letters from Harvard University in 2009 and an honorary degree from Yale in 2011. In 2013, she was awarded a National Medal of Arts and Humanities by President Obama, and the PEN Center USA's Lifetime Achievement Award.From https://www.thejoandidion.com/about. For more information about Joan Didion:Previously on The Quarantine Tapes:David Ulin about Didion, at 18:55: https://quarantine-tapes.simplecast.com/episodes/the-quarantine-tapes-085-david-ulin“‘After Life' by Joan Didion”: https://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/25/magazine/after-life.html“What We Get Wrong About Joan Didion”: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/02/01/what-we-get-wrong-about-joan-didion“Joan Didion, The Art of Fiction No. 71”: https://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/3439/the-art-of-fiction-no-71-joan-didion

The Quarantine Tapes: Quotation Shorts - Toni Morrison

The Quarantine Tapes

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 20, 2021 0:45

Today's Quotation is care of Toni Morrison.Listen in!Subscribe to the Quarantine Tapes at quarantinetapes.com or search for the Quarantine Tapes on your favorite podcast app! Toni Morrison is one of the most celebrated authors in the world. In addition to writing plays, and children's books, her novels have earned her countless prestigious awards including the Pulitzer Prize and the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama. Toni Morrison was born on February 18, 1931 in Lorain, Ohio. In 1949, Morrison decided to attend a historically black institution for her college education. She moved to Washington, D.C. to attend Howard University.After teaching at Howard University for seven years, Morrison moved to Syracuse, New York to become an editor for the textbook division of Random House publishing. Within two years, she transferred to the New York City branch of the company and began to edit fiction and books by African-American authors. Although she worked for a publishing company, Morrison did not publish her first novel called The Bluest Eye until she was 39 years old. Three years later, Morrison published her second novel called Sula, that was nominated for the National Book Award. In 1993, Morrison became the first Black woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. Three years later, she was also chosen by the National Endowment for the Humanities to give the Jefferson Lecture, and was honored with the National Book Foundation's Medal of Distinguished Contribution to American Letters.Morrison's work continued to influence writers and artists through her focus on African American life and her commentary on race relations. Following this, Morrison's books were featured four times as selections for Oprah's Book Club. While writing and producing, Morrison was also a professor in the Creative Writing Program at Princeton University. Her work earned her an honorary Doctorate degree from the University of Oxford, and the opportunity to be a guest curator at the Louvre museum in Paris. In 2000, she was named a Living Legend by the Library of Congress. Morrison also wrote children's books with her son until his death at 45 years old. Two years later, Morrison published the last book they were working on together and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in that same month. Morrison passed away in 2019 from complications of pneumonia.From https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/toni-morrison For more information about Toni Morrison:Previously on The Quarantine Tapes:Edwidge Danticat on Morrison, at 04:30: https://quarantine-tapes.simplecast.com/episodes/the-quarantine-tapes-018-edwidge-danticatAyad Akhtar on Morrison, at 27:35: https://quarantine-tapes.simplecast.com/episodes/the-quarantine-tapes-156-ayad-akhtarElizabeth Gilbert on Morrison, at 31:50: https://quarantine-tapes.simplecast.com/episodes/the-quarantine-tapes-155-elizabeth-gilbertEddie S. Glaude, Jr., on Morrison, at 25:15: https://quarantine-tapes.simplecast.com/episodes/the-quarantine-tapes-104-eddie-s-glaude-jrToshi Reagon on Morrison, at 08:48: https://quarantine-tapes.simplecast.com/episodes/the-quarantine-tapes-065-toshi-reagonViet Thanh Nguyen on Morrison, at 15:18: https://quarantine-tapes.simplecast.com/episodes/the-quarantine-tapes-052Elizabeth Alexander on Morrison, at 08:51: https://quarantine-tapes.simplecast.com/episodes/the-quarantine-tapes-062-elizabeth-alexander“Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am”: https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/toni-morrison-the-pieces-i-am-documentary/16971/“Toni Morrison and What Our Mothers Couldn't Say”: https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/toni-morrison-and-what-our-mothers-couldnt-say

The Quarantine Tapes: Quotation Shorts - Ursula Le Guin

The Quarantine Tapes

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 16, 2021 3:44

Today's Quotation is care of Ursula Le Guin.Listen in!Subscribe to the Quarantine Tapes at quarantinetapes.com or search for the Quarantine Tapes on your favorite podcast app!Ursula Kroeber Le Guin (1929-2018) was a celebrated author whose body of work includes 21 novels, 11 volumes of short stories, 11 volumes of poetry, 13 children's books, five essay collections, and four works of translation. The breadth and imagination of her work earned her six Nebula Awards, seven Hugo Awards, and SFWA's Grand Master, along with the PEN/Malamud and many other awards. In 2014 she was awarded the National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, and in 2016 joined the short list of authors to be published in their lifetimes by the Library of America.Ursula Kroeber was born in 1929 and grew up in Berkeley, California. Her parents were anthropologist Alfred Kroeber and writer Theodora Kroeber, author of Ishi. She attended Radcliffe College and did graduate work at Columbia University. She married historian Charles A. Le Guin, in Paris in 1953; they lived in Portland, Oregon, beginning in 1958, and had three children and four grandchildren. Le Guin died peacefully in her home in January, 2018.Few American writers have done work of such high quality in so many forms. Her oeuvre comprises 21 novels, 11 volumes of short stories and novellas, six volumes of poetry, 12 children's books, four collections of essays, and four volumes of translation. Le Guin's major titles have been translated into 42 languages and have remained in print, often for over half a century. Among many honors her writing received are a National Book Award, nine Hugo Awards, six Nebula Awards, the Howard Vursell Award of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the PEN/Malamud Award, and the National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. In 2000, she was named a Living Legend by the Library of Congress, and in 2016 she joined the short list of authors to be published in their lifetimes by the Library of America. Three of Le Guin's books have been finalists for the American Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize. From: https://www.ursulakleguin.com/biography For more information about Ursula Le Guin:“Ursula Le Guin - National Book”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Et9Nf-rsALk“Ursula K. Le Guin, The Art of Fiction No. 221”: https://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/6253/the-art-of-fiction-no-221-ursula-k-le-guin“The Fantastic Ursula K. Le Guin”: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/10/17/the-fantastic-ursula-k-le-gui

Book Club #3 Bluebeard by Kurt Vonnegut

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 14, 2021 77:02

Book Club #3 Bluebeard by Kurt Vonnegut — Wenger, Jared, & Tirzah explore the autobiography of Abstract Expressionist Rabo Karabekian, and the place of Vonnegut as satirist among the giants of American Letters. And at some point somebody says something funny.

book club kurt vonnegut bluebeard vonnegut tirzah american letters

How Bestselling Crime Novelist Walter Mosley Writes

The Writer Files: Writing, Productivity, Creativity, and Neuroscience

Play Episode Listen Later May 5, 2021 27:47

#PodcastersForJustice Celebrated author, Walter Mosley, took a timeout to chat with me about how he didn't write a sentence he liked until age 35, the sprawling muse of Los Angeles, and his conflicted feelings after winning a big National Book Award. “Write your truth, and believe in it. And if your mother doesn’t like it ... too bad.” – Walter Mosley Walter is the first Black man to receive the National Book Foundation’s Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters for lifetime achievement in writing. The critically acclaimed author, playwright, screenwriter, and producer has written over 60 books including fiction (literary, mystery, and science fiction), writing guides, memoir, a YA novel, has won dozens of prestigious awards (including an Emmy), and been translated into 25 languages. His bestselling historical mysteries feature infamous, hard-boiled detective "Easy" Rawlins, a black PI living in the Watts neighborhood of LA. Blood Grove (Easy Rawlins Book 15) is the latest in that series and described as "... a novel of vast scope and intimate insight, and a soulful call for justice by any means necessary." Walter's work has also been adapted for film and TV including Devil in a Blue Dress (starring Denzel Washington, Don Cheadle and Jennifer Beals) and the HBO production of Always Outnumbered (starring Laurence Fishburne and Natalie Cole). Stay calm and write on ... And Stay Tuned: I’m cooking up some extras for fans of the show in the coming weeks you won’t want to miss including the option to have episodes, extras, and added insights delivered straight to your inbox, and maybe even some Writer Files merch on the way. Preview a sample of a podcast at the break from this week's sponsor Look Closer: The Found Fiction Podcast, more at foundfiction.org. If you’re a fan of The Writer Files, please "Follow" us to automatically see new interviews. In this file Walter Mosley and I discussed: His winding career path How the apex of post-hippie Los Angeles, California affected his writing What it was like to work with the late, Oscar-nominated filmmaker John Singleton (Boyz N the Hood) Why you need to read your drafts out loud And more! Show Notes: WalterMosley.com Blood Grove (Easy Rawlins Book 15) by Walter Mosley (Amazon) Walter Mosley Amazon author page Writing Los Angeles: A Literary Anthology: A Library of America Special Publication (Amazon) Roger Zelazny Amazon author page Walter Mosley on Facebook Kelton Reid on Twitter

The Poetry of Language/ The Language of Poetry, Becka McKay, Ph.D.

In Conversation

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 12, 2021 29:13

Dean Horswell engages in conversation with Becka McKay, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Translation and Creative Writing, and Director of the MFA in Creative Writing, as they discuss her passion for the written word, what inspires her to write, and her process on how she constructs her own poetry.Dr. McKay is an Associate Professor in the Department of English, for the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, at Florida Atlantic University.Her first book of poems, A Meteorologist in the Promised Land, was published by Shearsman Books in 2010. She has published three translations of fiction from the Hebrew: Laundry (Autumn Hill Books, 2008), Blue Has No South (Clockroot, 2010), and Lunar Savings Time (Clockroot, 2011). She has received awards and grants from the Seattle Arts Commission and the American Literary Translators Association, and a Witter Byner Poetry Translation Residency. In 2006 she was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Her poems and translations have appeared in American Letters & Commentary, ACM, Third Coast, The Iowa Review, Hotel Amerika, Rhino, Natural Bridge, Rattapallax and elsewhere.

Upcoming: The Poetry of Language/ The Language of Poetry, Becka McKay, Ph.D.

In Conversation

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 29, 2020 2:02

Dean Horswell engages in conversation with Becka McKay, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Translation and Creative Writing, and Director of the MFA in Creative Writing, as they discuss her passion for the written word, what inspires her to write, and her process on how she constructs her own poetry.Dr. McKay is an Associate Professor in the Department of English, for the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, at Florida Atlantic University.Her first book of poems, A Meteorologist in the Promised Land, was published by Shearsman Books in 2010. She has published three translations of fiction from the Hebrew: Laundry (Autumn Hill Books, 2008), Blue Has No South (Clockroot, 2010), and Lunar Savings Time (Clockroot, 2011). She has received awards and grants from the Seattle Arts Commission and the American Literary Translators Association, and a Witter Byner Poetry Translation Residency. In 2006 she was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Her poems and translations have appeared in American Letters & Commentary, ACM, Third Coast, The Iowa Review, Hotel Amerika, Rhino, Natural Bridge, Rattapallax and elsewhere.

Ep. 12: Walter Mosley (Part II) – Being Walter, Our Humanity, and A Legacy

Here’s To Life with Tori Reid

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 16, 2020 36:07

Part II: Tori, and her guest co-host, Patrick A. Howell, continue discussing the art of literature, living, legacy and being human with one of the world’s most versatile and admired writers. 100 years ago, the Harlem Renaissance began, and a hundred years from now, the world will be celebrating his legacy. He has received a Grammy, NAACP Image awards, the Los Angeles Review of Books/UCR Lifetime Legacy Achievement Award and PEN America’s Lifetime Achievement Award. They talk about his historic first as a winner of the National Book Foundation’s most prestigious award, the Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. He’s the first African American man to win the award. Previous recipients of the lifetime legacy award have included Isabel Alleende, Maxine Hong Kingston, Stephen King, Norman Mailer and Toni Morrison. They also talk about what’s inspiring him right now, how he defines success, some of his other works, and so much more! Here’s to our beloved master storyteller, Walter Mosley. Credits: Host/Producer: Tori Reid Executive Producer: Patrick A. Howell Executive Producer: Tom Lutz Producer: William Broughton Writer: Patrick A. Howell Recorded and Edited by William Broughton Voiceover Artist: Vïntóry Blake Moore Music: Noir Cold Open – “Vic’s Van” Produced by William Broughton Intro – “Try” Produced by San Palo Outro – “Fall” Produced by San Palo Logo Photography: Bobby Holland / MPTV Images www.victoryandnoble.com a Victory & Noble production 2020 Victory & Noble LLC All Rights Reserved

On Writing by Stephen King: Why boredom is the key to great writing

Steph's Business Bookshelf Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 20, 2020 16:23

Sign up to the bookmark newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/1119b1358a84/thebookmark About the Book On Writing Immensely helpful and illuminating to any aspiring writer, this special edition of Stephen King’s critically lauded, million-copy bestseller shares the experiences, habits, and convictions that have shaped him and his work. Part memoir, part master class by one of the bestselling authors of all time, this superb volume is a revealing and practical view of the writer’s craft, comprising the basic tools of the trade every writer must have. King’s advice is grounded in his vivid memories from childhood through his emergence as a writer, from his struggling early career to his widely reported, near-fatal accident in 1999—and how the inextricable link between writing and living spurred his recovery. Brilliantly structured, friendly and inspiring, On Writing will empower and entertain everyone who reads it—fans, writers, and anyone who loves a great story well told. Source: amazon.com About the Author Stephen King is the author of more than fifty books, all of them worldwide bestsellers. His first crime thriller featuring Bill Hodges, MR MERCEDES, won the Edgar Award for best novel and was shortlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger Award. King co-wrote the bestselling novel Sleeping Beauties with his son Owen King, and many of King’s books have been turned into celebrated films and television series including The Shawshank Redemption, Gerald’s Game and It. King was the recipient of America’s prestigious 2014 National Medal of Arts and the 2003 National Book Foundation Medal for distinguished contribution to American Letters. In 2007 he also won the Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America. He lives with his wife Tabitha King in Maine. Source: amazon.com Links: Buy the book from The Book Depository - https://www.bookdepository.com/On-Writing/9781444723250/?a_aid=stephsbookshelf Would you like to take better notes from the books you read? Get your copy of Archley's beautiful book journal, the Book of Books here: https://www.archleys.com/?ref=JamVyS-U4mVR Also listen to other episodes: What I talk about when I talk about running by Haruki Murakami: What you can learn about life from running The 12 Week Year by Brian Moran & Michael Lennington: How to stop wasting your time and your years BIG IDEA 1 (6:39) – Be ready. Stephen argues that good ideas come from nowhere. It might be two unrelated ideas in your brain that will suddenly collide and create something beautiful. Your job is not to find these ideas but to recognise them when they show up. So you need to be ready, to listen, look around and see where those ideas might appear. This means turning off the TV and putting away other screens to start noticing things in order to be ready for the good ideas to arrive. He also talks about readiness by taking writing seriously, being intentional and approaching the blank page with meaning. BIG IDEA 2 (8:21) – Kill your darlings (and your adverbs). Creating a space between the original writing and your final draft can make a world of difference. When it comes to editing, Stephen said that when you write a story, you are telling yourself the story. But when you re-write, your main job is to take out the things that are not the story. Editing involves killing the words, paragraphs and even characters that you put in and that you are so attached to, but you have to let go of in order to tell the best story. One of the quotes in the book says that “writing is refined thinking.” It is not just talking on paper. This also includes killing your desire to use longer words than necessary. He said that the best words you should use are the first ones that come to your mind, if they do the job. And whilst you are busy killing your darlings, you should be killing your adverbs too. They are a lazy way of describing an action or dialogue which should have been made obvious by the preceding prose. BIG IDEA 3 (12:13) – Read a lot, write a lot. Reading equals writing. Stephen said that if you don’t have the time to read, you don’t have the time, or the tools, to write. Reading broadly let’s you work out what you do and don’t like and can help you find your style. Joining writing classes might not give you the silver bullet to writing, but helps you find good critics. There is no secret ingredient, just read a lot and write a lot. This goes back to the big idea number one about being serious and not coming lightly to the blank page. It takes intent and a lot of practice to write well. Music By: Cinematic Ambient Piano by OlexandrIgnatov (via Envato Elements) Let’s Connect LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/steph-clarke Instagram: @stephsbizbookshelf Enjoying the show? Please hit subscribe so you don’t miss an episode and leave a review on iTunes to help others find us. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Reading Envy 186: This is Gravity with Jeff Koeppen

Reading Envy

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 6, 2020

Jeff joins Jenny to chat books we have read and enjoyed recently, but also what it's like to work from home, what kind of reading we feel like doing right now, and more.Download or listen via this link: Reading Envy 186: This Is Gravity Subscribe to the podcast via this link: FeedburnerOr subscribe via Apple Podcasts by clicking: SubscribeOr listen through TuneIn Or listen on Google Play Listen via StitcherListen through Spotify Books discussed: Letters from an Astrophysicist by Neil DeGrasse TysonThe Light Brigade by Kameron HurleyNo Time to Spare by Ursula K. Le Guin Real Life by Brandon Taylor A Woman in the Polar Night by Christine RitterOther mentions:Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy EllmannThe Testaments by Margaret AtwoodAbsalom, Absalom by William FaulknerCarrie BrownsteinStarTalk Radio ShowCosmos (tv show)The Order of Time by Carlo RovelliMeet Me in the Future by Kameron HurleyKameron Hurley blog post about timeline for The Light Brigade The Stars are Legion by Kameron HurleyGod's War by Kameron HurleyThe Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le GuinThe Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le GuinAlways Coming Home by Ursula K. Le GuinUrsula K. Le Guin - speech for the National Book Foundation's Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters at the 65th National Book Awards on November 19, 2014. Unformed Landscape by Peter StammAn Intimate View of Robert G. Ingersoll by Isaac Newton BakerUpright Women Wanted by Sarah GaileyRelated episodes:Episode 090 - Reading Envy Readalong: East of Eden with Ellie and JeffEpisode 093 - Spewing Science with Jeff Koeppen Episode 099 - Reading Envy Readalong: The Secret HistoryEpisode 116 - Make Margaret Atwood Fiction Again with Jeff KoeppenEpisode 148 - Multiple Lives with JeffEpisode 167 - Book Pendulum with ReggieEpisode 172 - The It Book of NYC with Jon Laubinger Episode 185 - The Loyal Swineherd (Odyssey readalong) Stalk us online:Jenny at GoodreadsJenny on TwitterJenny is @readingenvy on Instagram and LitsyJeff at GoodreadsJeff on Twitter Jeff is @BestDogDad on Litsy

spotify time new york city woman future books reading stars darkness fiction letters real life stitcher google play literature legion odyssey gravity cosmos ducks no time spare novels tunein nonfiction goodreads neil degrasse tyson margaret atwood absalom national book award ws stalk left hand astrophysicists testaments william faulkner le guin ursula k asin ingersoll feedburner carlo rovelli robert g newburyport light brigade dispossessed brandon taylor carrie brownstein sarah gailey distinguished contribution serviceversion kameron hurley marketplace us peter stamm american letters id asinimage god's war litsy format sl250 always coming home jon laubinger reading envy reading envy podcast

Ray Bradburys verhaal 'De misthoorn', voorgelezen door acteur Marcel Faber

Uitgelezen Verhalen: acteurs lezen de mooiste verhalen voor

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 1, 2020 32:24

Beluister een fantastische voordracht van het spannende verhaal De misthoorn van Ray Bradbury uit 1951, door de acteur Marcel Faber. Het werd opgenomen in onze voorstelling eind 2017 in Theater Bouwkunde, Deventer. Je hoort dit keer geen nagesprek, maar na afloop wel interessante feiten over het verhaal en de schrijver. The Dutch language audio broadcasting of 'The Fog Horn' is granted by Don Congdon Associates, Inc., New York. (c) 1953 Ray Bradbury Estate.De vertaling van het verhaal, De misthoorn, is in 1980 verschenen in de science fiction bundel De gouden appels van de zon, bij Elsevier. Vertaler van dit verhaal is J. Post die we niet hebben kunnen opsporen.Ray Bradbury (1920-2012) was een Amerikaanse science fiction en fantasy-schrijver. Hij kreeg in 2000 de National Book Award Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. Zijn meest bekende roman is Fahrenheit 451 (1953) en The Martian Chronicles (1950). Daarnaast schreef hij honderden verhalen, zijn favoriete genre. Het verhaal De misthoorn uit 1951 hoort bij het fantasy-genre; twee vuurtorenwachters in de jaren 50 van de twintigste eeuw maken een spannende nacht mee tijdens hun werk.Acteur Marcel Faber deed al vijf keer mee aan de voorstellingen van Uitgelezen Verhalen, waaronder de gedenkwaardige Lowlands-editie in 2015. We vragen hem telkens terug omdat hij zo'n perfecte vertolker is. Hij studeerde in 1987 af aan de Amsterdamse toneelschool. Fabers eerste grote rol was die van Karel Fijndraad in de televisieserie Vrouwenvleugel. Later speelde hij enkele afleveringen in Westenwind en Goede tijden, slechte tijden. Faber speelde in meer dan zestig toneelproducties bij gezelschappen als Hotel Modern, Het Zuidelijk Toneel, Rast, Nieuw-West en Growing up in Public. Daarnaast was hij te zien in een groot aantal films en tv-producties. Ook las hij lange tijd poëzie voor in het radioprogramma Vers op Vijf.Voor de biografische gegevens van Bradbury heb ik dankbaar gebruikgemaakt van The Bradbury Chronicles van Sam Weller uit 2005.Deze aflevering is ondersteund door:Gemeente DeventerPrins Bernhard Cultuurfonds OverijsselAan deze aflevering werkten mee:Postuum: Ray BradburyJ. Post voor de vertalingDirkjan van Ittersum (voor de montage)De herkenningsmelodie is van Instant Classical - Amir Swaab en Sietse van Gorkom.Pieter van Scherpenberg (samenstelling en presentatie)Productie: Stichting Uitgelezen Verhalen, Deventer.

Ray Bradburys verhaal 'De misthoorn', voorgelezen door acteur Marcel Faber

Uitgelezen Verhalen: acteurs lezen de mooiste verhalen voor

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 31, 2020 32:25

Beluister een fantastische voordracht van het spannende verhaal De misthoorn van Ray Bradbury uit 1951, door de acteur Marcel Faber. Het werd opgenomen in onze voorstelling eind 2017 in Theater Bouwkunde, Deventer. Je hoort dit keer geen nagesprek, maar na afloop wel interessante feiten over het verhaal en de schrijver. The Dutch language audio broadcasting of 'The Fog Horn' is granted by Don Congdon Associates, Inc., New York. (c) 1953 Ray Bradbury Estate.De vertaling van het verhaal, De misthoorn, is in 1980 verschenen in de science fiction bundel De gouden appels van de zon, bij Elsevier. Vertaler van dit verhaal is J. Post die we niet hebben kunnen opsporen.Ray Bradbury (1920-2012) was een Amerikaanse science fiction en fantasy-schrijver. Hij kreeg in 2000 de National Book Award Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. Zijn meest bekende roman is Fahrenheit 451 (1953) en The Martian Chronicles (1950). Daarnaast schreef hij honderden verhalen, zijn favoriete genre. Het verhaal De misthoorn uit 1951 hoort bij het fantasy-genre; twee vuurtorenwachters in de jaren 50 van de twintigste eeuw maken een spannende nacht mee tijdens hun werk.Acteur Marcel Faber deed al vijf keer mee aan de voorstellingen van Uitgelezen Verhalen, waaronder de gedenkwaardige Lowlands-editie in 2015. We vragen hem telkens terug omdat hij zo'n perfecte vertolker is. Hij studeerde in 1987 af aan de Amsterdamse toneelschool. Fabers eerste grote rol was die van Karel Fijndraad in de televisieserie Vrouwenvleugel. Later speelde hij enkele afleveringen in Westenwind en Goede tijden, slechte tijden. Faber speelde in meer dan zestig toneelproducties bij gezelschappen als Hotel Modern, Het Zuidelijk Toneel, Rast, Nieuw-West en Growing up in Public. Daarnaast was hij te zien in een groot aantal films en tv-producties. Ook las hij lange tijd poëzie voor in het radioprogramma Vers op Vijf.Voor de biografische gegevens van Bradbury heb ik dankbaar gebruikgemaakt van The Bradbury Chronicles van Sam Weller uit 2005.Deze aflevering is ondersteund door:Gemeente DeventerPrins Bernhard Cultuurfonds OverijsselAan deze aflevering werkten mee:Postuum: Ray BradburyJ. Post voor de vertalingDirkjan van Ittersum (voor de montage)De herkenningsmelodie is van Instant Classical - Amir Swaab en Sietse van Gorkom.Pieter van Scherpenberg (samenstelling en presentatie)Productie: Stichting Uitgelezen Verhalen, Deventer.

Egyptian, XCloud & Coppola

Nerds Amalgamated

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 27, 2019 63:40

Hooray, it is episode 90 and all is well. This week we walk like Egyptians, question the cloud, and applaud Francis Coppola. But first up, have you got your tickets for Supanova Brisbane? Not long to go now. We are excited for it and are looking forward to watching all the awesome cosplayers and other amazing antics happening on the Saturday. Stop by and say hi if you are there.Now first up we have news about the most incredible discovery of Egyptian sarcophagi of this millennium, the best in the last century also. Now, we have to say that it is due to a very sneaky priest who hid them to avoid the thieving grave robbers. So, thank you wise priest with your cunning plan. Because of you these remains are safe and will be protected at the new museum being built at Gaza. There were males, females, and children in these sarcophagi, if you want to know more listen in.Next up we talk about a cloud. Not the soft fluffy kind you see floating through the sky, no, this is an xcloud. What is an xcloud you ask? It is a cloud that is brought to you by xbox and is intended to support mobile gaming with a cross platform goal in the long term. Sounds awesome right, you will finally be able to see the xbox tribe battle against the Playstation civilisation. Not that I’m biased mind you (Playstation rules). If you want to really get a grasp of the situation the Professor has a lot to say about it. So listen in and see what is happening.Now, for the movie Nerds we have had Francis Coppola slamming Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy as being kind of boring and pointless. To which James Gunn has taken umbrage, and spoken out claiming all sorts of nonsense. Buck takes great offense and gives a passionate response which is worthy of an Oscar Hall of Fame speech. Truly he seems to struggle to remain calm at times. Truly this could be one of his better grumpy old man moments, especially as it gets Professor to become passionate on the subject. If nothing else this is worthy of a listen.As normal we have the shout out’s, remembrances, birthdays and special events of interest for the week. Also we would like to say good luck to all those undertaking exams at this time, study hard, and do well. Remember, fear is the mind killer, and stress is a by-product of fear, so relax, just think of the Frodo waking up in Rivendell at the end of the Lord of the Rings. That is the joy when you finish your last exam. Until next week, take care of yourselves, look out for each other, and stay hydrated.EPISODE NOTES:Egyptian discovery- https://www.news.com.au/technology/science/archaeology/30-perfectly-preserved-ancient-egyptian-coffins-unearthed/news-story/fb3984d1247b0102520aed7621b4ff94- https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/archaeology/egyptian-coffins-mummies-nile-luxor-antiquities-archeology-a9163776.htmlProject Xcloud - https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2019/10/project-xcloud-preview-serves-as-a-passable-portable-xbox-one/Francis Coppola’s anti marvel remarks and James Gunn’s response - https://deadline.com/2019/10/james-gunn-marvel-francis-ford-coppola-martin-scorsese-guardians-of-the-galaxy-1202764709/Games currently playingBuck- World of Tanks - https://worldoftanks.asia/Rating : 4/5Professor- Battletech - https://store.steampowered.com/app/637090/BATTLETECH/Rating : 7/10DJ- Magic The Gathering : Arena - https://magic.wizards.com/en/mtgarenaRating : 4/5Other topic discussedMidnight Oil ((known informally as "The Oils") are an Australian rock band composed of Peter Garrett (vocals, harmonica), Rob Hirst (drums), Jim Moginie (guitar, keyboard), Martin Rotsey (guitar) and Bones Hillman (bass guitar)).- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midnight_OilThe Beatles (English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. With a line-up comprising John Lennon,Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, they are regarded as the most influential band of all time.)- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_BeatlesLuxor (is a city in Upper (southern) Egypt and the capital of Luxor Governorate. As the site of the Ancient Egyptian city of Waset, known to the Greeks as Thebes, Luxor has frequently been characterized as the "world's greatest open-air museum", as the ruins of the temple complexes at Karnak and Luxor stand within the modern city.)- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LuxorKing Tutankhamun’s “curse” also know as "curse of the pharaohs" (probably fuelled by newspapers seeking sales at the time of the discovery)- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tutankhamun#Rumored_curseCurse of the Pharaohs and their deaths (alleged curse believed by some to be cast upon any person who disturbs the mummy of an Ancient Egyptian person, especially a pharaoh)- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curse_of_the_pharaohs#Deaths_popularly_attributed_to_Tutankhamun%27s_curse“Cursed” gems- https://mentalfloss.com/article/68465/8-supposedly-cursed-gemsStar of India (a 563.35-carat star sapphire, one of the largest such gems in the world)- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_of_India_(gem)Koh-I-Noor (one of the largest cut diamonds in the world, weighing 105.6 carats (21.12 g).[a] It is part of the British Crown Jewels.)- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koh-i-NoorAfrican sacred ibis also known as Bin Chicken (A species of ibis, it is especially known for its role in the religion of the Ancient Egyptians, where it was linked to the god Thoth, hence the ibis's name.)- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_sacred_ibisCats in ancient Egypt (Several Ancient Egyptian deities were depicted and sculptured with cat-like heads such as Mafdet, Bastet and Sekhmet, representing justice, fertility and power)- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cats_in_ancient_EgyptMixer (Seattle-based video game live streaming platform owned by Microsoft.)- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mixer_(service)Google Stadia (upcoming cloud gaming service operated by Google.)- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_StadiaPlaystation Now (cloud gaming subscription service developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment.)- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_NowGoogle stadia recent disappointment- https://www.cnet.com/news/google-stadias-latest-disappointment-founders-may-not-even-get-it-at-launch/Ninja moves to Mixer from Twitch- https://www.businessinsider.com.au/ninja-brought-more-streamers-to-mixer-not-more-viewers-2019-10?r=US&IR=TSteam Link (hardware and software applications that enable streaming of Steam content from a personal computer or a Steam Machine wirelessly to a television set.)- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_LinkTimeline of Scorcese’s hot take on marvel movies and their responses- https://deadline.com/2019/10/martin-scorsese-dismisses-marvel-movies-not-cinema-theme-park-james-gunn-the-irishman-1202752509/- https://deadline.com/2019/10/robert-downey-says-martin-scorsese-stance-on-marvel-makes-no-sense-1202755148/- https://deadline.com/2019/10/jon-favreau-marvel-films-martin-scorsese-francis-ford-coppolas-comic-book-movies-iron-man-1202766208/- https://www.indiewire.com/2019/10/kevin-smith-martin-scorsese-marvel-movies-emotional-attachment-1202180734/- https://deadline.com/2019/10/francis-ford-coppola-backs-scorseses-marvel-superhero-movies-analysis-1202764668/- https://deadline.com/2019/10/james-gunn-marvel-francis-ford-coppola-martin-scorsese-guardians-of-the-galaxy-1202764709/Logan (2017 American superhero film starring Hugh Jackman as the titular character.)- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logan_(film)Francis Coppola (American film director,producer,screenwriter,film composer, and vintner. He was a central figure in the New Hollywood film making movement of the 1960s and 1970s. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest filmmakers of all time.)- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Ford_CoppolaBram Stoker's Dracula (1992 American gothic horror film directed and produced by Francis Ford Coppola, based on the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker.)- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bram_Stoker%27s_DraculaHow Would You Carry a Jaeger From Pacific Rim?- https://www.wired.com/2013/07/how-would-you-carry-a-jaeger-from-pacific-rim/The Power of Friendship (Trope)- https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ThePowerOfFriendshipThe Rainmaker (1995 novel by John Grisham)- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rainmaker_(novel)The Rainmaker (1997 American legal drama film based on John Grisham's 1995 novel of the same name, and written and directed by Francis Ford Coppola.)- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rainmaker_(1997_film)Sergio Leone (Italian film director, producer and screenwriter, credited as the inventor of the Spaghetti Western genre and widely regarded as one of the most influential directors in the history of cinema.)- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergio_LeoneLord of the Rings (film series)- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lord_of_the_Rings_(film_series)Wacław Sierpiński and his works- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Li59EitdJUkStar Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Final Trailer- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Qn_spdM5ZgEverybody wants to be a Cat (TNC Podcast)- https://thatsnotcanon.com/ewtbacpodcastFloof and Pupper (TNC Podcast)- https://thatsnotcanon.com/floofandpupperpodcastShoutouts20 Oct 2019 – Borderlands turn 10. Borderlands was a textbook case of being the right game at the right time. It was unique, irreverent, and so full of guns that spending time in its wasteland meant a carefree and cathartic shooting gallery, with plenty to find and collect. - https://www.ign.com/articles/2019/01/30/37-of-the-biggest-video-game-anniversaries-in-201921 Oct 1959 - In New York City, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum opens to the public. The museum was a work of art in itself. Inside, a long ramp spiraled upwards for a total of a quarter-mile around a large central rotunda, topped by a domed glass ceiling. Reflecting Wright’s love of nature, the 50,000-meter space resembled a giant seashell, with each room opening fluidly into the next. - https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/guggenheim-museum-opens-in-new-york-city21 October 1973 - 16-year-old John Paul Getty III’s ear is cut off by his kidnappers and sent to a newspaper in Rome. Because of a postal strike the ear does not arrive until November 8. It is starting to rot. - https://flashbak.com/news-in-photos-john-paul-getty-iiis-ear-is-hacked-off-by-mafia-kidnappers-16309/Remembrances21 Oct 1805 - Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronté, British flag officer in the Royal Navy. He was noted for his inspirational leadership, grasp of strategy, and unconventional tactics, which together resulted in a number of decisive British naval victories, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars. He was wounded several times in combat, losing the sight in one eye in Corsica at the age of 36, as well as most of one arm in the unsuccessful attempt to conquer Santa Cruz de Tenerife. On 21 October 1805, the Franco-Spanish fleet came out of port, and Nelson's fleet engaged them at the Battle of Trafalgar. The battle was Britain's greatest naval victory but during the action Nelson, aboard HMS Victory, was fatally wounded by a French sharpshooter. His body was brought back to England where he was accorded a state funeral. Nelson's death at Trafalgar secured his position as one of Britain's most heroic figures. The significance of the victory and his death during the battle led to his signal, "England expects that every man will do his duty", being regularly quoted, paraphrased and referenced up to the modern day. Numerous monuments, including Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square, London, and the Nelson Monument in Edinburgh, have been created in his memory and his legacy remains highly influential. He died at the age of 47 in HMS Victory, off Cape Trafalgar - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horatio_Nelson,_1st_Viscount_Nelson21 Oct 1969 - Wacław Sierpiński, Polish mathematician. He was known for contributions to set theory (research on the axiom of choice and the continuum hypothesis), number theory, theory of functions and topology. He published over 700 papers and 50 books. Three well-known fractals are named after him (the Sierpinski triangle, the Sierpinski carpet and the Sierpinski curve), as are Sierpinski numbers and the associated Sierpiński problem. He died at the age of 87 in Warsaw - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wac%C5%82aw_Sierpi%C5%84ski21 Oct 2014 - Edward Gough Whitlam, 21st Prime Minister of Australia, serving from 1972 to 1975. He won the 1974 election before being controversially dismissed by the Governor-General of Australia, Sir John Kerr, at the climax of the 1975 Australian constitutional crisis. Whitlam remains the only Australian prime minister to have his commission terminated in that manner. The Whitlam Government implemented a large number of new programs and policy changes, including the termination of military conscription, institution of universal health care and free university education, and the implementation of legal aid programs. The propriety and circumstances of his dismissal and the legacy of his government have been frequently debated in the decades after he left office. Some say he deposed as part of a CIA plot. He was the longest-lived Australian Prime Minister. He died at age of 98 in Elizabeth Bay, New South Wales - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gough_Whitlam21 Oct 2015 - Norman W. Moore, British conservationist and author who worked extensively on studies of dragonflies and their habitats and was one of the first people to observe and warn of the adverse effects of DDT and other organochlorine pesticides on wildlife. His pioneering work on nature conservation and his pesticide research led to requests for advice from governmental and other scientific organisations in Europe, India, Australia and the United States. It was his work on dragonflies and conservation that led to him coining the term "the birdwatcher's insect", aiming to raise public interest in the role of insect monitoring in ecosystem conservation. The Independent described him in his obituary as one of the most influential figures in nature conservation in the second half of the 20th century. The British Dragonfly Society administers an award in Moore's honour, called the 'Norman Moore Award Fund'. In addition to this, several species of dragonflies and damselflies are named after Moore. He died at the age of 92 in Swavesey - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_W._MooreFamous Birthdays21 Oct 1883 - Alfred Bernhard Nobel, Swedish businessman, chemist, engineer, inventor, and philanthropist. Nobel held 355 different patents, dynamite being the most famous. The synthetic element nobelium was named after him. Known for inventing dynamite, Nobel also owned Bofors, which he had redirected from its previous role as primarily an iron and steel producer to a major manufacturer of cannon and other armaments. After reading a premature obituary which condemned him for profiting from the sales of arms, he bequeathed his fortune to institute the Nobel Prizes. His name also survives in modern-day companies such as Dynamit Nobel and AkzoNobel, which are descendants of mergers with companies Nobel himself established. He was born in Stockholm - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Nobel21 Oct 1929 - Ursula Kroeber Le Guin, American author. She is best known for her works of speculative fiction, including science fiction works set in her Hainish universe, and the Earthsea fantasy series. She was first published in 1959, and her literary career spanned nearly sixty years, yielding more than twenty novels and over a hundred short stories, in addition to poetry, literary criticism, translations, and children's books. Frequently described as an author of science fiction, Le Guin has also been called a "major voice in American Letters", and herself said she would prefer to be known as an "American novelist". Le Guin's writing was enormously influential in the field of speculative fiction and has been the subject of intense critical attention. She received numerous accolades, including eight Hugos, six Nebulas, and twenty-two Locus Awards, and in 2003 became the second woman honored as a Grand Master of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. The U.S. Library of Congress named her a Living Legend in 2000, and in 2014, she won the National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. Le Guin influenced many other authors, including Booker Prize winner Salman Rushdie, David Mitchell, Neil Gaiman, and Iain Banks. She was born in Berkeley, California - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ursula_K._Le_Guin21 Oct 1956 - Carrie Frances Fisher, American actress, writer, and comedian. Fisher is best known for playing Princess Leia in the Star Wars films, a role for which she was nominated for four Saturn Awards. Her other film credits include Shampoo,The Blues Brothers, Hannah and Her Sisters, The 'Burbs and When Harry Met Sally... She was nominated twice for the Prime time Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for her performances on the television series 30 Rock and Catastrophe. She was posthumously made a Disney Legend in 2017, and in 2018 she was awarded a posthumous Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album. She also worked on other writers' screenplays as a script doctor, including tightening the scripts for Hook,Sister Act,The Wedding Singer, and many of the films from the Star Wars franchise, among others. In later years, she earned praise for speaking publicly about her experiences with bipolar disorder and drug addiction. She was born in Burbank, California - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrie_FisherEvents of Interest21 Oct 1940 - The first edition of the Ernest Hemingway novel For Whom the Bell Tolls was published. It was priced at $2.75 for 75,000 copies. It tells the story of Robert Jordan, a young American volunteer attached to a Republican guerrilla unit during the Spanish Civil War. As a dynamiter, he is assigned to blow up a bridge during an attack on the city of Segovia. The novel is regarded as one of Hemingway's best works, along with The Sun Also Rises, A Farewell to Arms, and The Old Man and the Sea. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/For_Whom_the_Bell_Tolls21 Oct 1944 - HMAS Australia struck in first kamikaze attack during the Battle of Leyte Gulf. The plane was carrying a 441-pound bomb, but it did not explode. Still, it inflicted serious damage to the ship and its crew. The Australia survived the attack and was repaired in 1945-46. It returned to the water after the war and was retired in August 1954. - http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/on-this-day/September-October-08/On-this-Day--Japanese-Pilots-Begin-Kamikaze-Campaign.html21 Oct 1983 – The metre is defined as the distance light travels in a vacuum in 1/299,792,458 of a second. This definition only makes sense because the speed of light in vacuum is measured to have the same value by all observers; a fact which is subject to experimental verification. Experiments are still needed to measure the speed of light in media such as air and water. - http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/physics/Relativity/SpeedOfLight/measure_c.htmlIntroArtist – Goblins from MarsSong Title – Super Mario - Overworld Theme (GFM Trap Remix)Song Link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GNMe6kF0j0&index=4&list=PLHmTsVREU3Ar1AJWkimkl6Pux3R5PB-QJFollow us onFacebook- Page - https://www.facebook.com/NerdsAmalgamated/- Group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/440485136816406/Twitter - https://twitter.com/NAmalgamatedSpotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/6Nux69rftdBeeEXwD8GXrSiTunes - https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/top-shelf-nerds/id1347661094RSS - http://www.thatsnotcanonproductions.com/topshelfnerdspodcast?format=rssGeneral EnquiriesEmail - Nerds.Amalgamated@gmail.com

united states america american california new york city lord australia europe power google rock battle england british star wars french games professor marvel australian microsoft hall of fame twitch greek congress african rome fame republicans sea curse britain cats nerds experiments independent farewell cia liverpool playstation ninjas lord of the rings prime library swedish galaxy egyptian emmy awards gaza steam rings guardians berkeley dracula stockholm edinburgh scotland guardians of the galaxy arms buck polish prime minister deaths science fiction nobel hook grammy awards rise of skywalker cursed john lennon old man paul mccartney james gunn nobel prize santa cruz borderlands catastrophe hugh jackman new south wales neil gaiman magic the gathering upper mixer numerous tanks francis ford coppola bram stoker library of congress warsaw google stadia hemingway george harrison oils ernest hemingway burbank ringo starr tenerife coppola nebula blues brothers frodo baggins shampoo grandmasters salman rushdie princess leia sister act royal navy when harry met sally burbs governor general rainmaker xcloud booker prize ddt living legends ancient egyptians segovia pharaohs wedding singer spanish civil war john grisham luxor koh thoth david mitchell le guin bell tolls corsica new hollywood robert jordan trafalgar spaghetti westerns wac ursula k bront comedy series napoleonic wars trafalgar square tutankhamun hugos guggenheim museum thebes scorcese australian prime minister disney legends earthsea saturn awards sekhmet karnak sony interactive entertainment bastet steam machines rivendell akzonobel locus awards distinguished contribution fantasy writers peter garrett whitlam her sisters horatio nelson francis coppola iain banks amalgamated solomon r guggenheim american letters leyte gulf bofors hms victory john paul getty iii rob hirst franco spanish jim moginie best spoken word album elizabeth bay nelson's column

Learning From Le Guin: Kim Stanley Robinson

Long Now: Conversations at The Interval

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 12, 2019 94:47

The legacy of Ursula K Le Guin lives beyond the page  in generations of writers who have learned from her. She used fantastic fiction to imagine ideals for the real world. Kim Stanley Robinson, her student 40 years ago and now a celebrated science fiction writer himself, reflects on Le Guin the teacher,  her impact on his work, and how she changed the world. Kim Stanley Robinson is an American novelist, widely recognized as one of the foremost living writers of science fiction. His work has been described as "humanist science fiction" and "literary science fiction." He has published more than 20 novels including his much honored "Mars trilogy", New York 2140 (02017), and Red Moon due out in October 02018. Robinson has a B.A. in Literature from UC San Diego and an M.A. in English from Boston University. He earned a Ph.D. in literature from UCSD with a dissertation on the works of Philip K. Dick. Ursula K Le Guin was one of the greatest imaginative writers of all time. Her science fiction and fantasy stories (as well as children's books, poetry, essays, and many other genres & forms) have sold millions of copies, earned dozens of awards, and stayed constantly in print. Her honors include six Nebula awards, seven Hugos, and the National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. In 02003 she became the 20th writer ever to receive the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America's Grand Master award. She passed away in January 02018. Le Guin's book of essays No Time to Spare: Thinking About What Matters won a 02018 Hugo award and the 02017 collected edition of her Hainish Novels and Stories recently won a Locus award. A documentary entitled Worlds of Ursula K. Le Guin will debut in 02018.

Poetry & Conversation: Paulette Beete, Kathleen Hellen, & Stephen Zerance

Enoch Pratt Free Library Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 9, 2019 71:15

Paulette Beete's poems, short stories, and personal essays have appeared in Crab Orchard Review, Always Crashing, and Beltway Poetry Quarterly, among other journals. Her chapbooks include Blues for a Pretty Girl and Voice Lessons. Her work also appears in the anthologies Full Moon on K Street: Poems About Washington, DC and Saints of Hysteria: A Half-Century of Collaborative American Poetry (with Danna Ephland). Her work has also been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net. She also blogs (occasionally) at thehomebeete.com and her manuscript "Falling Still" is currently in circulation. Find her on Twitter as @mouthflowers.Kathleen Hellen is the author of The Only Country Was the Color of My Skin (2018), the award-winning collection Umberto's Night, and two chapbooks, The Girl Who Loved Mothra and Pentimento. Nominated for the Pushcart and Best of the Net, and featured on Poetry Daily, her poems have been awarded the Thomas Merton poetry prize and prizes from the H.O.W. Journal and Washington Square Review. She has won grants from the Maryland State Arts Council and the Baltimore Office of Promotion & the Arts. Hellen's poems have appeared in American Letters & Commentary, Barrow Street, The Massachusetts Review, New Letters, North American Review, Poetry East, Prairie Schooner, Salamander, The Seattle Review, the The Sewanee Review, Southern Poetry Review, Spoon River Poetry Review, Witness, and elsewhere. For more on Kathleen visit https://www.kathleenhellen.comStephen Zerance is the author of Safe Danger (Indolent Books, 2018), which was nominated for Best Literature of the Year by POZ Magazine. His poems have appeared in West Branch, Prairie Schooner, Quarterly West, and Poet Lore, among other journals. He has also been featured on the websites of Lambda Literary and Split This Rock. Zerance received his MFA from American University, where he received the Myra Sklarew Award. He lives in Baltimore, Maryland. Find him on Twitter @stephnz. Instagram: stephenzeranceRead "Freddie Gray Breaks Free" and "Please Excuse This Poem" by Paulette Beete.Read "The Girl They Hired from Snow Country" by Kathleen Hellen.Read "Anne Sexton's Last Drink" and "Lindsay Lohan" by Stephen Zerance.Recorded On: Thursday, February 7, 2019

dc arts night maryland saints journal blues color baltimore witness poetry promotion mfa full moon american university lindsay lohan salamanders pushcart prize thomas merton pretty girls umberto hellen pushcart prairie schooner voice lessons lambda literary north american review west branch beete my skin pentimento poet lore sewanee review american letters split this rock poetry daily barrow street snow country maryland state arts council baltimore office best literature please excuse this poem

Poetry & Conversation: Paulette Beete, Kathleen Hellen, & Stephen Zerance

Enoch Pratt Free Library Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 8, 2019 71:15

Paulette Beete's poems, short stories, and personal essays have appeared in Crab Orchard Review, Always Crashing, and Beltway Poetry Quarterly, among other journals. Her chapbooks include Blues for a Pretty Girl and Voice Lessons. Her work also appears in the anthologies Full Moon on K Street: Poems About Washington, DC and Saints of Hysteria: A Half-Century of Collaborative American Poetry (with Danna Ephland). Her work has also been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net. She also blogs (occasionally) at thehomebeete.com and her manuscript "Falling Still" is currently in circulation. Find her on Twitter as @mouthflowers.Kathleen Hellen is the author of The Only Country Was the Color of My Skin (2018), the award-winning collection Umberto's Night, and two chapbooks, The Girl Who Loved Mothra and Pentimento. Nominated for the Pushcart and Best of the Net, and featured on Poetry Daily, her poems have been awarded the Thomas Merton poetry prize and prizes from the H.O.W. Journal and Washington Square Review. She has won grants from the Maryland State Arts Council and the Baltimore Office of Promotion & the Arts. Hellen's poems have appeared in American Letters & Commentary, Barrow Street, The Massachusetts Review, New Letters, North American Review, Poetry East, Prairie Schooner, Salamander, The Seattle Review, the The Sewanee Review, Southern Poetry Review, Spoon River Poetry Review, Witness, and elsewhere. For more on Kathleen visit https://www.kathleenhellen.comStephen Zerance is the author of Safe Danger (Indolent Books, 2018), which was nominated for Best Literature of the Year by POZ Magazine. His poems have appeared in West Branch, Prairie Schooner, Quarterly West, and Poet Lore, among other journals. He has also been featured on the websites of Lambda Literary and Split This Rock. Zerance received his MFA from American University, where he received the Myra Sklarew Award. He lives in Baltimore, Maryland. Find him on Twitter @stephnz. Instagram: stephenzeranceRead "Freddie Gray Breaks Free" and "Please Excuse This Poem" by Paulette Beete.Read "The Girl They Hired from Snow Country" by Kathleen Hellen.Read "Anne Sexton's Last Drink" and "Lindsay Lohan" by Stephen Zerance.

washington dc arts maryland saints journal blues color baltimore witness poetry promotion mfa full moon american university lindsay lohan salamanders pushcart prize thomas merton pretty girls hellen pushcart prairie schooner voice lessons lambda literary north american review west branch beete my skin pentimento poet lore sewanee review american letters split this rock poetry daily barrow street snow country maryland state arts council baltimore office best literature please excuse this poem

Poetry Re-Forms our Relationship to Nature with Kate Thorpe

The Holden Village Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 28, 2018 9:29

Kate Thorpe is a doctoral candidate in English at Princeton University. Her dissertation seeks to reexamine the trope of personification in eighteenth-century poetry from Milton to Wordsworth. She is also currently completing a poetic manuscript, The Marriage of Art and Industry, about the transformation of post-industrial architecture through art in the Ruhrgebiet, Germany based on research conducted on a Fulbright Fellowship. Kate received an M.F.A. from the Iowa Writers' Workshop and her poems have appeared in American Letters & Commentary, Court Green, Volt, and WSQ, among other literary journals. Kate teaches as a preceptor at Princeton, and has taught literature and creative writing courses at the University of Iowa, Wesleyan University, and the Technical University in Dortmund, Germany. To learn more about Holden Village, visit: www.holdenvillage.org or to listen to more audio recordings visit: http://audio.holdenvillage.org

166 Stephen King (with the Sisters of Slaughter)

The History of Literature

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 31, 2018 75:44

STEPHEN KING (1947- ) was born in the northern state of Maine, where he has lived most of his life. For more than forty years, he has been the world's leading practitioner of scary fiction. He’s also won numerous awards, including the National Book Foundation’s Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters and the National Medal of Arts from the U.S. National Medal of Arts. His books have sold more than 350 million copies. MICHELLE GARZA and MELISSA LASON (aka the SISTERS OF SLAUGHTER) have been writing horror fiction since they were young girls growing up in rural Arizona. The twin sisters have been widely praised for their demented fairytales and historical hellscapes, including Mayan Blue and Kingdom of Teeth. Their most recent work is a collaborative project, Silverwood: The Door, which delivers serialized fiction in a throwback to the era of Dickens and Little Nell. They are lifelong fans of Stephen King, The X-Files, and werewolves. Support the show at patreon.com/literature. Find out more at historyofliterature.com, jackewilson.com, or by following Jacke and Mike on Twitter at @thejackewilson and @literatureSC. Or send an email to jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

kingdom arizona arts maine sisters stephen king teeth medal x files slaughter dickens jacke national medal national book foundation distinguished contribution little nell american letters

Robert J. Sawyer, “Quantum Night” (Ace, 2016)

New Books in Science Fiction

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 15, 2018 35:43

In this episode, Rob Wolf interviews Robert J. Sawyer, the author of 23 novels, about his most recent book, Quantum Night (Ace, 2016). Sawyer is considered, as he puts it, “an optimistic and upbeat science fiction writer.” But you wouldn’t know that from Quantum Night.The book explores the nature of evil, and its conclusion is alarming: the vast majority of humans are either psychopaths, lacking empathy for others, or mindless followers. Sawyer is one of the rare science fiction authors to earn Nebula, Hugo and John W. Campbell Memorial awards, and he deftly juggles multiple plots lines in Quantum Night, everything from his main character’s painful effort to reconstruct lost memories to geopolitical machinations, including the U.S.’s invasion of Canada. The story focuses on Jim Marchuk, a psychologist at the University of Manitoba, and his discovery (which his physicist girlfriend independently confirms) that psychopathy affects two-sevenths of the world’s population—and that it can be diagnosed by taking quantum measurements of the brain. What makes this idea particularly scary, is that Sawyer was inspired by real-life theories from a wide array of disciplines, including the work of psychologists Stanley Milgram and Philip Zimbardo, physicist Roger Penrose, anesthesiologist Stuart Hammerof, and philosopher David Chalmers. (Sawyer includes in an afterword a list of over 50 non-fiction books on which he bases the theories in Quantum Night.) Like the work of Milgram and Zimbardo—who were attempting through now infamous experiments to understand the psychological underpinnings of the Holocaust—Sawyer, too, is trying to understand the origins of evil. “Could the kind of evil that was Nazi Germany happen again?” Sawyer asks during the interview. “Well there are some signs in some countries… that it is happening again.” By the time he’d finished writing Quantum Night, Sawyer had come to believe that the story he’d told was pretty close to the way the world actually works, and that humankind consists of “a large number of mindless followers and a very small number of people who are skilled at manipulating them.” But he insists humanity shouldn’t give up hope. Fighting evil is hard work but good can still prevail. In support of this idea, he cites another expert, Star Trek’s Dr. Leonard McCoy, who famously said: “I found that evil usually triumphs unless good is very, very careful.” Related link: —Ursula K. LeGuin’s speech accepting the National Book Foundation’s Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters at the 65th National Book Awards on November 19, 2014. Rob Wolf is the author of The Alternate Universe. He worked for a decade as a journalist, writing on a wide range of topics from science to justice reform. He now serves as director of communications at a think tank in New York City. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Robert J. Sawyer, “Quantum Night” (Ace, 2016)

New Books in Literature

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 15, 2018 35:43

In this episode, Rob Wolf interviews Robert J. Sawyer, the author of 23 novels, about his most recent book, Quantum Night (Ace, 2016). Sawyer is considered, as he puts it, “an optimistic and upbeat science fiction writer.” But you wouldn’t know that from Quantum Night.The book explores the nature of evil, and its conclusion is alarming: the vast majority of humans are either psychopaths, lacking empathy for others, or mindless followers. Sawyer is one of the rare science fiction authors to earn Nebula, Hugo and John W. Campbell Memorial awards, and he deftly juggles multiple plots lines in Quantum Night, everything from his main character’s painful effort to reconstruct lost memories to geopolitical machinations, including the U.S.’s invasion of Canada. The story focuses on Jim Marchuk, a psychologist at the University of Manitoba, and his discovery (which his physicist girlfriend independently confirms) that psychopathy affects two-sevenths of the world’s population—and that it can be diagnosed by taking quantum measurements of the brain. What makes this idea particularly scary, is that Sawyer was inspired by real-life theories from a wide array of disciplines, including the work of psychologists Stanley Milgram and Philip Zimbardo, physicist Roger Penrose, anesthesiologist Stuart Hammerof, and philosopher David Chalmers. (Sawyer includes in an afterword a list of over 50 non-fiction books on which he bases the theories in Quantum Night.) Like the work of Milgram and Zimbardo—who were attempting through now infamous experiments to understand the psychological underpinnings of the Holocaust—Sawyer, too, is trying to understand the origins of evil. “Could the kind of evil that was Nazi Germany happen again?” Sawyer asks during the interview. “Well there are some signs in some countries… that it is happening again.” By the time he’d finished writing Quantum Night, Sawyer had come to believe that the story he’d told was pretty close to the way the world actually works, and that humankind consists of “a large number of mindless followers and a very small number of people who are skilled at manipulating them.” But he insists humanity shouldn’t give up hope. Fighting evil is hard work but good can still prevail. In support of this idea, he cites another expert, Star Trek’s Dr. Leonard McCoy, who famously said: “I found that evil usually triumphs unless good is very, very careful.” Related link: —Ursula K. LeGuin’s speech accepting the National Book Foundation’s Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters at the 65th National Book Awards on November 19, 2014. Rob Wolf is the author of The Alternate Universe. He worked for a decade as a journalist, writing on a wide range of topics from science to justice reform. He now serves as director of communications at a think tank in New York City. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Robert J. Sawyer, “Quantum Night” (Ace, 2016)

New Books Network

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 15, 2018 35:43

In this episode, Rob Wolf interviews Robert J. Sawyer, the author of 23 novels, about his most recent book, Quantum Night (Ace, 2016). Sawyer is considered, as he puts it, “an optimistic and upbeat science fiction writer.” But you wouldn’t know that from Quantum Night.The book explores the nature of evil, and its conclusion is alarming: the vast majority of humans are either psychopaths, lacking empathy for others, or mindless followers. Sawyer is one of the rare science fiction authors to earn Nebula, Hugo and John W. Campbell Memorial awards, and he deftly juggles multiple plots lines in Quantum Night, everything from his main character’s painful effort to reconstruct lost memories to geopolitical machinations, including the U.S.’s invasion of Canada. The story focuses on Jim Marchuk, a psychologist at the University of Manitoba, and his discovery (which his physicist girlfriend independently confirms) that psychopathy affects two-sevenths of the world’s population—and that it can be diagnosed by taking quantum measurements of the brain. What makes this idea particularly scary, is that Sawyer was inspired by real-life theories from a wide array of disciplines, including the work of psychologists Stanley Milgram and Philip Zimbardo, physicist Roger Penrose, anesthesiologist Stuart Hammerof, and philosopher David Chalmers. (Sawyer includes in an afterword a list of over 50 non-fiction books on which he bases the theories in Quantum Night.) Like the work of Milgram and Zimbardo—who were attempting through now infamous experiments to understand the psychological underpinnings of the Holocaust—Sawyer, too, is trying to understand the origins of evil. “Could the kind of evil that was Nazi Germany happen again?” Sawyer asks during the interview. “Well there are some signs in some countries… that it is happening again.” By the time he’d finished writing Quantum Night, Sawyer had come to believe that the story he’d told was pretty close to the way the world actually works, and that humankind consists of “a large number of mindless followers and a very small number of people who are skilled at manipulating them.” But he insists humanity shouldn’t give up hope. Fighting evil is hard work but good can still prevail. In support of this idea, he cites another expert, Star Trek’s Dr. Leonard McCoy, who famously said: “I found that evil usually triumphs unless good is very, very careful.” Related link: —Ursula K. LeGuin’s speech accepting the National Book Foundation’s Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters at the 65th National Book Awards on November 19, 2014. Rob Wolf is the author of The Alternate Universe. He worked for a decade as a journalist, writing on a wide range of topics from science to justice reform. He now serves as director of communications at a think tank in New York City. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Grieving, Loving Ursula Le Guin

How to Survive the End of the World

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 29, 2018 11:23

Writer Ursula K. Le Guin died last week. She was 88. adrienne reflects on her relationship with the god, the writer, the thinker, the mother. (with an excerpt from Ursula K. Le Guin accepting the National Book Foundation's Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters at the 65th National Book Awards on November 19, 2014). endoftheworldshow.org www.patreon.com/Endoftheworldshow @endoftheworldPC - Music by Blue Dot Sessions --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/how-to-survive-the-end-of-the-world/message

loving grieving medal national book award le guin ursula k ursula le guin national book foundation distinguished contribution american letters

12 Days of CraftLit - Third Day

CraftLit - Serialized Classic Literature for Busy Book Lovers

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 16, 2017 53:00

Third Day of Craftlit (Find all the days ) Thank you Librivox.org. was an American realist novelist, literary critic, and playwright, nicknamed "The Dean of American Letters". He was particularly known for his tenure as editor of , as well as for his own prolific writings, including the Christmas story “” and the novels and . — (and if your screen can’t handle the graphics there, here is the ) and a — Music: It Came Upon the Midnight Clear Scotland June 2108 1-800-826-2266 Final payment 15th of March Put it on your gift list - Get for your favorite CraftLit Listener-trip to Scotland The old Christmas Carol audio files that can be played on any computer or mp3 player are here: , and 190 , and 191 Read by for A Christmas Carol—in prose, being a ghost story of Christmas by Charles Dickens Next Book: January 2018

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Publishing in the Digital Age: 2015 National Book Festival

National Book Festival 2015 Videos

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 20, 2015 44:34

Sep. 5, 2015. Lynn Freed, Geoffrey Kloske and Kevin Larimer discuss how book publishing has changed, and may change, in the age of digitization at the 2015 Library of Congress National Book Festival in Washington, D.C. Speaker Biography: Lynn Freed is the author of six novels, a collection of stories and a collection of essays. Her work has appeared in Harper's, The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, National Geographic, Narrative Magazine, Southwest Review, The Georgia Review and other publications. She has received the inaugural Katherine Anne Porter Award in Fiction from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, two PEN/O. Henry Awards, various fellowships, grants and support from the National Endowment for the Arts and The Guggenheim Foundation. Her works include the memoir "Reading, Writing and Leaving Home: Life on the Page," as well as the novels "The Servants' Quarters" and "The Mirror." Speaker Biography: Geoffrey Kloske is the vice president and publisher of Riverhead Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House. He has published many books, incluiding Paula Hawkins's recent "The Girl on the Train," the New York Times best-selling novel "The Interestings" by Meg Wolitzer, Junot Diaz's Pulitzer Prize-winning "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao," James McBride's National Book Award-winning "The Good Lord Bird" and the IMPAC award-winning novel by Juan Gabriel Vasquez, "The Sound of Things Falling." In 2005 Kloske wrote the award-winning children's book "Once Upon a Time, the End," illustrated by Barry Blitt. He has also previously worked as an editor at Simon & Schuster and Little, Brown and Co. Speaker Biography: Kevin Larimer is the editor in chief of Poets & Writers, where he edits Poets & Writers Magazine; oversees the organization's website, pw.org; directs Poets & Writers Live; and co-hosts Ampersand: The Poets & Writers Podcast. He holds a degree in journalism from the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee and received his MFA in poetry from the Iowa Writers' Workshop, where he was the poetry editor of the Iowa Review. Larimer has presented lectures on publishing at the Academy of American Poets' annual Poets Forum, The Writer's Hotel Master Class and the International Poetry Conference in Koprivshtitsa, Bulgaria, and he he has served on a number of panels on publishing at events such as the Sozopol Fiction Seminars, the Slice Literary Writer's Conference and Poets Forum. His poems have appeared in Fence, Pleiades, Verse and a dozen other literary magazines. Larimer has also written book reviews for American Letters & Commentary, American Book Review, Chelsea and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. For transcript, captions, and more information, visit http://www.loc.gov/today/cyberlc/feature_wdesc.php?rec=6927

Gina Abelkop & Jasmine Dreame Wagner - Oct. 10, 2014

the Poetry Project Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 5, 2015 52:35

Friday Reading Series Gina Abelkop is the author of I Eat Cannibals (forthcoming 2014, coimpress) and Darling Beastlettes (Apostrophe Books, 2012). She lives in Athens, GA, where she runs the DIY feminist press Birds of Lace. Jasmine Dreame Wagner is an American poet, singer-songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. She is the author of Rings (Kelsey Street Press, 2014), Rewilding (Ahsahta Press, 2013), Listening for Earthquakes (Caketrain Journal and Press, 2012), and an e-chapbook, True Crime (NAP, 2014). Her writing has appeared in American Letters & Commentary, Blackbird, Colorado Review, Indiana Review, New American Writing,Verse, and in two anthologies: The Arcadia Project: North American Postmodern Pastoral (Ahsahta Press, 2012) and Lost and Found: Stories from New York (Mr. Beller's Neighborhood Books, 2009). A collection of hybrid lyric essays on noise, silence, and aesthetics is due out from Ahsahta Press in 2016. As a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Wagner has performed at the CMJ Music Marathon, free103point9 Wave Farm, and the Olympia Experimental Music Festival. She has opened shows for bands such as Zola Jesus, Dirty Projectors, Magnolia Electric Co., and Mount Eerie. Wagner's multidisciplinary work in sound, text, and performance has earned her grants and residencies from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts, Hall Farm Center for Arts & Education, Kultuuritehas Polymer, and The Wassaic Project. In 2013, she was awarded an Artist Fellowship from the Connecticut Office of the Arts.

american education lost foundation arts press diy birds ga commentary athens wagner verse blackbird lace contemporary art beller dirty projectors zola jesus mount eerie colorado review indiana review american letters magnolia electric co connecticut office artist fellowship cmj music marathon ahsahta press

JOSH WEIL reads from THE GREAT GLASS SEA and MIKE HARVKEY reads from IN THE COURSE OF HUMAN EVENTS

Skylight Books Author Reading Series

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 25, 2014 54:02

The Great Glass Sea (Grove Press) In The Course of Human Events (Soft Skull Press) Join us for a captivating reading from two dynamic writers of fiction. Josh Weil's critically acclaimed 2009 novella collection The New Valley was the winner of the Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction, a National Book Foundation “5 Under 35” selection, and a New York Times Editor's Choice. He follows this success with his debut novel, The Great Glass Sea, an epic, dystopian tale inspired by the true story of Agrikombinat Moskovsky, an area on the outskirts of Moscow that was transformed into a 24 hour greenhouse. Set in an alternate present, Weil spins a tale of brotherly love steeped in Russian folklore that will appeal to fans of Cormac McCarthy's The Road and Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, beautifully illustrated throughout with Weil's own line drawings. In this thrilling debut novel - equal parts satire and morality play - Mike Harvkey shines a sharp light on the dark and radical underbelly of the floundering American Midwest. As he leads us down the violent spiral of a desperate youth, he explores with unflinching acuity the ugly nature of hate, the untempered force of personality, and the sometimes horrific power of having someone believe in you. Praise for Josh Weil "Weil meticulously imagines people and their histories, and presents them as a product of their places. This is perhaps the hardest thing for a fiction writer of any age, working in any form, to accomplish.."--Anthony Doerr, New York Times Book Review "[Weil] gives voice to those without, to those entombed on forgotten hillsides, to those orphaned and tending calves and tractors, reminding us that no matter how isolated, how lonely, tender hearts burn everywhere, they burn bright, and they burn on."--Don Waters, The Believer Praise for Mike Harvkey "With this stunning debut, a major new talent bursts upon the world of American Letters. In the Course of Human Events is as brave as it is brilliant, as unsettling as it is important, and unlike anything else I've read. Mike Harvkey writes scenes of uncommon imagination, characters that leap to life at a single stroke. They will grab you in a bear hug, or by the throat (and sometimes both), and carry you along through a story every bit as gripping. A fearless exploration of an uncomfortable corner of the human heart--and an America little examined and even less understood--this is an important novel. Add to that the fact that it's also so damn funny and here comes one hell of a book." - Josh Weil, author of "The New Valley" "In the Course of Human Events is a dark, and yet compassionate gaze into the frustrated, violent, and broken heart of America. Mike Harvkey has written a gripping, bold and daring novel unlike any I've had the pleasure of reading before."--Dinaw Mengestu, MacArthur Genius Fellow and author of "How to Read the Air" and "The Wonderful Things that Heaven Bears" Josh Weil is the author of the The Great Glass Sea (Grove, 2014) and The New Valley (Grove, 2009), a New York Times Editors Choice that won the Sue Kaufman Prize from The American Academy of Arts and Letters, the New Writers Award from the GLCA, and a “5 Under 35” Award from the National Book Foundation. Weil's other writing has appeared in Granta, Esquire, One Story, The Sun, and The New York Times. A recipient of fellowships from the Fulbright Foundation, MacDowell, Bread Loaf and Sewanee Writers' Conferences, he has been Distinguished Visiting Writer at Bowling Green State University and Grisham Writer-in-Residence at the University of Mississippi. He lives in the northern the Sierra Nevada mountains. Mike Harvkey grew up in rural northwest Missouri, near the city of Independence, a crystal meth stronghold long before Breaking Bad. When he moved to New York in 2001 to attend Columbia's Creative Writing MFA Program as a Bingham Fellow, he began training Kyokushin, a brutal form of martial art known for bare-knuckle fighting, and was promoted to black belt in 2006. One of his short stories won Zoetrope All-Story Magazine's short fiction contest; others have been published in Mississippi Review and Alaska Quarterly Review.

Maxine Hong Kingston - Story Hour in the Library

Writers (Video)

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 13, 2011 56:50

Award winning author and emeritus faculty member at UC Berkeley Maxine Hong Kingston reads and discusses her work, "I Love a Broad Margin to My Life." She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the National Book Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award, the presidentially conferred National Humanities Medal, and the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters from the National Book Foundation. Series: "Story Hour in the Library" [Humanities] [Show ID: 20629]

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Maxine Hong Kingston - Story Hour in the Library

Writers (Audio)

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 13, 2011 56:50

Award winning author and emeritus faculty member at UC Berkeley Maxine Hong Kingston reads and discusses her work, "I Love a Broad Margin to My Life." She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the National Book Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award, the presidentially conferred National Humanities Medal, and the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters from the National Book Foundation. Series: "Story Hour in the Library" [Humanities] [Show ID: 20629]

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Maxine Hong Kingston - Story Hour in the Library

Great Minds Gather Here (Audio)

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 13, 2011 56:50

Award winning author and emeritus faculty member at UC Berkeley Maxine Hong Kingston reads and discusses her work, "I Love a Broad Margin to My Life." She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the National Book Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award, the presidentially conferred National Humanities Medal, and the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters from the National Book Foundation. Series: "Story Hour in the Library" [Humanities] [Show ID: 20629]

library literature my life i love medal spoken word national book award national book critics circle award story hour national humanities medal national book foundation distinguished contribution maxine hong kingston american letters library humanities show id

Maxine Hong Kingston - Story Hour in the Library

Great Minds Gather Here (Video)

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 13, 2011 56:50

Award winning author and emeritus faculty member at UC Berkeley Maxine Hong Kingston reads and discusses her work, "I Love a Broad Margin to My Life." She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the National Book Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award, the presidentially conferred National Humanities Medal, and the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters from the National Book Foundation. Series: "Story Hour in the Library" [Humanities] [Show ID: 20629]

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American Letters: Herman Melville to Nathaniel Hawthorne, 1852

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Play Episode Listen Later Dec 21, 2010 3:21

A podcast series featuring staff of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University reading culturally and historically significant letters and manuscripts from its wide-ranging literary collections.

Sabrina Orah Mark - Bankhead Visiting Writers Series

Bankhead Visiting Writers Series

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 22, 2010 27:34

Sabrina Orah Mark was raised in Brooklyn, and received a B.A. from Barnard College, an M.F.A. from the Iowa Writers' Workshop, and a Ph.D. from The University of Georgia. Her poems have appeared or are forthcoming in American Letters and Commentary, American Poet, Black Clock, The Canary, Conduit, Denver Quarterly, Forklift, Ohio, Gulf Coast, The Indiana Review, Jubilat, Volt and other journals. Her poems also appear in Legitimate Dangers: American Poets of the New Century (Sarabande Press) and Best American Poetry 2007 . She has received fellowships from the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, ,the Glenn Schaeffer Foundation, and The National Endowment for the Arts. Her first book of poems, The Babies, won the 2004 Saturnalia Books Poetry Prize (judged by Jane Miller), and was published by Saturnalia Books. Her essay, “Recording Devices: Mark Levine's Poetics of Evidence,” appears in American Poets in the 21st Century: The New Poetics (Wesleyan University Press). Another essay, "Land of the Weird, Home of the Strange: Fabulism in American Fiction after 1945" is forthcoming in The Writer's Chronicle. Woodland Editions published her chapbook, Walter B.'s Extraordinary Cousin Arrives for a Visit & Other Tales. Her second book, Tsim Tsum, will be published by Saturnalia Books in 2009. She teaches literature and creative writing at Agnes Scott College and The University of Georgia where she is a Park Fellow.

American Letters: Ernest Hemingway to Ezra Pound, 1931

yale university ernest hemingway ezra pound manuscript library american letters beinecke rare book

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 9, 2010 3:26

A new podcast series featuring staff of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University reading culturally and historically significant letters and manuscripts from its wide-ranging literary collections.

American Letters: Mark Twain to Walt Whitman, 1889

yale university mark twain walt whitman manuscript library american letters beinecke rare book

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 9, 2010 3:51

A new podcast series featuring staff of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University reading culturally and historically significant letters and manuscripts from its wide-ranging literary collections.

American Letters: Rachel Carson to Raymond J. Brown, 1946

yale university rachel carson j brown manuscript library american letters beinecke rare book

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 9, 2010 4:22

A new podcast series featuring staff of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University reading culturally and historically significant letters and manuscripts from its wide-ranging literary collections.

Poetry Reading by James Shea (Audio)

Poem Present - Readings (audio)

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 31, 2009 44:27

If you experience any technical difficulties with this video or would like to make an accessibility-related request, please send a message to digicomm@uchicago.edu. James Shea is the author of Star in the Eye, selected by Nick Flynn as the winner of the 2008 Fence Modern Poets Series. His poems have appeared in various journals, including American Letters and Commentary, Boston Review, Mrs. Maybe, and Verse. He currently teaches at Columbia College Chicago and DePaul University.

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Poetry Reading by James Shea

Poem Present - Readings (video)

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 16, 2009 44:27

If you experience any technical difficulties with this video or would like to make an accessibility-related request, please send a message to digicomm@uchicago.edu. James Shea is the author of Star in the Eye, selected by Nick Flynn as the winner of the 2008 Fence Modern Poets Series. His poems have appeared in various journals, including American Letters and Commentary, Boston Review, Mrs. Maybe, and Verse. He currently teaches at Columbia College Chicago and DePaul University.

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The Holloway Series in Poetry - Tom Pickard with Graduate Poet Hillary Gravendyk

Literature Events Audio

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 11, 2008

Tom Pickard, “one of the livest truest poets of Great Britain” (Allen Ginsberg), is the author of nine books of poetry spanning four decades: from High on the Walls (1968) to The Ballad of Jamie Allan (Flood Editions, 2007). He has, in addition, made several documentaries, including We Make Ships (1988) about labor history in the north of England and Birmingham is What I Think With (1991) about the poet Roy Fisher. Hillary Gravendyk (Co-curator Autumn 2006-Spring 2008) is a PhD candidate in literature at UC Berkeley, writing her dissertation 20th century American poetry and phenomenology. She is the 2006 and 2008 recipient of the Eisner Prize in Poetry, and her poetry has recently appeared or is forthcoming in American Letters & Commentary, Octopus Magazine, Tarpaulin Sky, The Colorado Review and other publications; her chapbook of poems The Naturalist was published by Achiote Press in 2008. She also co-curates Poems Against War, sponsored by the Berkeley Architecture department. Hillary loves undergraduate teaching, and is the recent recipient of both the Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor award, and the university-wide Teaching Effectiveness Award.

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The Holloway Series in Poetry - Tom Pickard with Graduate Poet Hillary Gravendyk

Literature Events Video

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 11, 2008

Tom Pickard, “one of the livest truest poets of Great Britain” (Allen Ginsberg), is the author of nine books of poetry spanning four decades: from High on the Walls (1968) to The Ballad of Jamie Allan (Flood Editions, 2007). He has, in addition, made several documentaries, including We Make Ships (1988) about labor history in the north of England and Birmingham is What I Think With (1991) about the poet Roy Fisher. Hillary Gravendyk (Co-curator Autumn 2006-Spring 2008) is a PhD candidate in literature at UC Berkeley, writing her dissertation 20th century American poetry and phenomenology. She is the 2006 and 2008 recipient of the Eisner Prize in Poetry, and her poetry has recently appeared or is forthcoming in American Letters & Commentary, Octopus Magazine, Tarpaulin Sky, The Colorado Review and other publications; her chapbook of poems The Naturalist was published by Achiote Press in 2008. She also co-curates Poems Against War, sponsored by the Berkeley Architecture department. Hillary loves undergraduate teaching, and is the recent recipient of both the Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor award, and the university-wide Teaching Effectiveness Award.

american england phd spring poetry birmingham walls commentary great britain graduate uc berkeley ballad holloway naturalists allen ginsberg colorado review american letters jamie allan tom pickard roy fisher eisner prize poems against war

Joan Didion Receives 2007 Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters

National Book Awards Author Events

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 28, 2007

Joan Didion accepts the National Book Foundation's life-time achievement award for American writers. Recorded November 14, 2007, at the National Book Awards Dinner and Ceremony in New York City.

Michael Cunningham presents the 2007 Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters to Joan Didion

National Book Awards Author Events

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 28, 2007

Michael Cunningham presents Joan Didion with the National Book Foundation's life-time achievement award for American writers. Recorded November 14, 2007, at the National Book Awards Dinner and Ceremony in New York City.

A Talent For Conviction

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Play Episode Listen Later Dec 15, 1982 29:01

Irish literary critic Denis Donoghue gives the sixth Reith lecture in his series entitled 'The Mystery of Art'. The current Henry James Professor of English and American Letters at New York University explores societies' need to over analyse art. In this lecture entitled 'A Talent for Conviction', Denis Donoghue debates how society can increase subjectivity into art without destroying its mystery. He blames critics and their desire to explain every structure of society for devastating the ambiguity of art and asks for the arts to be kept in the margins of society. He claims that it is only in these margins that people can reflect on the art and their own desires.

The Anxious Object

english art irish anxious new york university object reith 'the mystery american letters

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 8, 1982 29:19

Irish literary critic Denis Donoghue gives his fifth Reith lecture in his series entitled 'The Mystery of Art'. The current Henry James Professor of English and American Letters at New York University explores the presence and charisma of art. In this lecture entitled 'The Anxious Object', Denis Donoghue argues that once critics are gone and titles are destroyed, art is left in its natural state. This intrinsic force and presence of art is the reason why society should give up all interpretations. He believes this is the only way that pretentiousness and vanity can be removed.

A Cherishing Bureaucracy

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Play Episode Listen Later Dec 1, 1982 29:38

Irish literary critic Denis Donoghue gives the fourth Reith lecture in his series entitled 'The Mystery of Art'. The current Henry James Professor of English and American Letters at New York University explores how critics influence perception of art. In this lecture entitled 'A Cherishing Bureaucracy', Denis Donoghue identifies how the state has created a pluralist and populist approach to art. He believes that every piece of art can be enjoyed because they are sanctioned by the state. Art has become easily comprehendible and this understanding has lead to the death of mystery in art. He argues how the very act of naming pieces of art takes away peoples hesitancy; and without this hesitancy, the mystery art is lost.

The Parade of Ideas

english art ideas irish parade new york university reith 'the mystery american letters

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 24, 1982 28:42

Irish literary critic Denis Donoghue gives the third Reith lecture in his series entitled 'The Mystery of Art'. The current Henry James Professor of English and American Letters at New York University explores how critics influence perception of art. In this lecture entitled 'The Parade of Ideas', Dennis Donoghue examines the confusing discourse surrounding art by explaining it from a critic's perspective. He explores the politics of pluralism and the sociology of the zeitgeist and calls for art to be challenged instead of adored. He argues that aesthetics must stay antagonistic and not become aligned to politics or psychology.

The Domestication of Outrage

english art irish new york university outrage domestication donoghue reith 'the mystery american letters

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 17, 1982 29:30

Irish literary critic Denis Donoghue gives the second Reith lecture from his series entitled 'The Mystery of Art'. The current Henry James Professor of English and American Letters at New York University explores society's comprehension of art. In this lecture titled 'The Domestication of Outrage', Denis Donoghue assesses how casual materials are transformed into pieces of art and how society evaluates the finished pieces. Donoghue argues that the greatness of art lies in this theological space. He looks at the way people view art and considers the relationship between artists and the art that they create. Is it an expression of character or is the individual unimportant?

The Zealots of Explanation