Postscripts

Mod Books

Switch gears this week from reading books to take some time out to judge a book by its cover at the Harry Ransom Hxumanities Research Center's new exhibit entitled Modern American Book Arts at the Ransom Center, held at UT's Leeds Gallery, on the fourth floor of the Flawn Academic Center, from September 8 until January 30, 1998. The exhibit is to include, of course, books, but also original book designs and correspondence of four prominent 20th-century book designers whose work is well represented in the Center's collection: Merle Armitage, Bruce Rogers, W.A. Dwiggins, and Carl Hertzog. The exhibit will also highlight the collaborative work of Larry Rivers and Terry Southern, Eric Fischl and Jamaica Kincaid, Francesco Clemente and Alberto Savinio, and Louise Bourgeois and Arthur Miller, as well as the individual work of Robert Rauschenburg, Mark Beard, and Susan King, among others. Olivia Primanis and
Rich Oram co-curate.

To Be Vain or Not Vain

Austin abounds with literary educational opportunities this fall. On September 17, Austin Writers' League's Virginia Watkins will host a 14-session novel-writing workshop designed for the writer with a novel-in-progress which meets two hours weekly. The class accepts six writers and costs $150 for members and $185 for non-members. Other AWL classes include Publish Your Poetry, September 27, 9am-noon, taught by John Herndon, to cover the steps involved in taking a poetry collection from manuscript to publication, with an emphasis on helping potential authors avoid the pitfalls of `vanity publishing.' Hmmm...Call 499-8914 for more info. Dougherty Arts Center hosts the first of its Fine Arts Classes with Hoa Nguyen's Poet as Maker, to be held eight Mondays, 6:30-8:30pm, beginning September 8 at the Center. This workshop focuses on "writing from `place,'" and wants to foster "the intersection of onself with the world." Cost is $55; call 397-1457 for more info. For what seems to be the bare-bones scoop on how to get published, attend a "not creative writing" class sponsored by Jefferson State Community College of Alabama on the evening of September 17 and/or all day September 18. 888/493-6149.

Authors Appear

Local poet Robert Rene Galvan will read and sign his new book of poems, Meteors, at BookPeople September 7, 3pm...Local non-poet (we mean this kindly) Kinky Friedman will be reading from his new novel Roadkill at Barnes & Noble Arboretum September 6, 3-5pm; the Geezinslaws will be appearing there as well. Mary Willis Walker will be meeting with the Mystery Discussion Group at Borders at 7:30pm, September 10, to discuss Under the Beetle's Cellar.

Ongoing:

The organizers of the Austin Jewish Community Center Book Fair 1997 think that you could be one of four writers picked to read your work at its Works in Progress event as long as your material contains some Jewish element. The work must be unpublished. This is the Book Fair's 14th year, but its first to feature a Works in Progress event. Literati scheduled to appear at this year's fair include Devorah Telushkin, Isaac Bashevis Singer's translator and editor, and Brad Meltzer. Submit by September 26 to: Larry Elsner, Works in Progress Coordinator, 1608 Preston Av., Austin, TX, 78703. 331-1144.