Bloomsday, Short Story Contest
Friday, June 15, which is Bloomsday, the annual worldwide celebration of Leopold Bloom’s day as described in James Joyce‘s Ulysses, is being feted by the Ransom Center at the Dog & Duck Pub (406 W. 17th) at 4pm. UT English professors Elizabeth Richmond-Garza, Larry Carver, Brian Dougherty, Mia Carter, and poet Jeff Knight are a few of the Joyceans who will be reading passages from Ulysses. But then there’s an open mike in which everyone is invited to share his or her favorite passage from any of Joyce’s works. The first 10 people who sign up for the open mike get a free pint of Guinness. See Arts Listings or call 471-8944 for more information… Send us your 2,500-word-or-less, typed, and previously unpublished short story postmarked by June 25 for our 10th Annual Austin Chronicle Short Story Contest. We print the best five stories, distribute $1,500 among the winners, and BookPeople is hosting an event this fall where the winning writers will read their stories. See page 41 for the full details… The Writers’ League of Texas’ radio program Writing on the Air, which can be heard every Saturday at 4pm on KOOP 91.7FM, is sponsoring a creative nonfiction writing contest. Entries must be less than 500 words in length, original and unpublished. The deadline for submission is August 18. The winner will be notified on September 5, and the work will be featured on the September 8 broadcast. Call 499-8914 for submission information… The Austin Public Library continues the celebration of its 75th anniversary at the Oak Springs branch (3101 Oak Springs) this Saturday, June 16, 1-4pm. At 1, there’s a puppet show; at 2, dancers Burk McRae and Mandy Akin will teach the Shim Sham; and from 3-4, APL’s Steve Reich will perform with the Barons of Rhythm swing band. Free. Call 926-4453 for more information… David Allan Sibley, whose The Sibley Guide to Birds is causing critics to compare him to John James Audubon, will be at BookPeople on Tuesday, June 19, at 7pm. At that event, BookPeople will hold a contest of sorts among those who have bought a copy of The Sibley Guide to Birds in which an estimated seven people will be randomly chosen to go birdwalking with Sibley the following morning.
Inside Books Project
Austin’s Inside Books Project, a nonprofit that distributes books free of charge directly to Texas prisoners, needs donations of books, time, and money. Prisoners write to Inside Books, requesting specific titles or genres and Inside Books sends them what they want, but there’s always a backlog of requests to fill. Here’s how to help: Drop off books, preferably paperback, at 12th Street Books (827 W. 12th) between 10am and 6pm Monday through Saturday. Especially needed are dictionaries (the most requested items), GED training books, books teaching English as a second language, books in Spanish, and trade/job skills manuals, though books of most any topic, fiction or nonfiction, can be put to use. Or donate supplies (manila envelopes, package tape, markers, stamps) or your time by answering mail from inmates and filling their orders. Call 647-4803 for more information.
This article appears in June 15 • 2001.