Postscripts
Mixed Notes
By Clay Smith, Fri., Sept. 19, 1997
|
|
Tickets officially go on sale Sept. 18 at the Austin Writers' League (AWL) monthly meeting (where James Manguson, director of the Texas Center for Writers, will speak) for the Big Hair Follies, starring Ann Richards, Liz Carpenter, and the gang from Esther's Follies to benefit the AWL. The meeting will be held at the First Unitarian Church, 4700 Grover, at 7pm; it is free and open to the public. There will be 300 tickets and 25 discounted standing-room tickets available. Suzy Spencer, AWL board member, called to say that they've already had plenty of requests for tickets far in advance of the sell date, so if that's any indication, get your tickets now...
Hays County Preservation Associates, Inc. and Southwest Texas State announced on Sunday, Sept. 14 their latest work to preserve the Katherine Anne Porter House in Kyle. The university plans to establish a Creative Writers in Residence Program at the home/museum...
he locals forming the National Writers Union local report that their August meeting was extraordinarily successful and that plans to become an official local are operating as planned -- world domination is next. Attend their next monthly meeting, Sept. 25, 7pm, Scholz Garten...
The Jung Society of Austin is sponsoring a lecture and workshop by Robert Bly, with the lecture, "The Appearance of the Sibling Society," being held Friday, Sept. 26, 7:30-9pm, and the workshop, "Exploring Fairy Tales," on Saturday, Sept. 27, 9:30am-4:30pm. Both events are to be held at St. David's Episcopal Church, 304 E. Seventh, and discounts are available until Sept. 19.
Author Appearances
Texas mystery and horror author Joe Lansdale appears at Borders, Friday, September 19, 7pm to read from Bad Chili...
Some of our local Internet genius will be showing up at Borders on Saturday, September 20 at 3pm for a round table discussion and Q&A to discuss their works and Internet development; authors include Ed Tittel, Jill Ellshworth, James Gaskin, Theo Mandel, and Scott Hamlin...
BookPeople will feature Michael Moore with the paperback version of Downsize This! Random Threats From an Unarmed American at around 10pm due to Moore's schedule earlier in the evening at UT to screen his new documentary The Big One. And on Wednesday October 1, Kinky Friedman and Willie Nelson will appear at BookPeople at noon to sign copies of Friedman's new novel Roadkill, which features Nelson as a character...
DiverseArts hosts L.A. poet LGJaffe for the Unprotected Poetry World Tour on Friday, September 19, 11pm, at Mojo's; Saturday, September 20, 4pm, at the Heritage House, 810 E. 13th, with a reception there at 5pm where Dr. Marvin G. Kimbrough, PhD, and Floyd Freeman will join him, and then lastly at Quackenbush's Special Feature, 7pm that same evening. LGJaffe practices an Antonin Artaud-like confrontational aesthetic and asks "Who can protect you now that you have had unsafe poetry?" Attend and find out if he's your panacea...
Don't forget about the many authors appearing at the Whole Life Expo to take place October 3-5 at the Palmer Auditorium. Call 335-4759 for more info or 800/551-EXPO to buy tickets.
Banned Books
Banned Books Week takes place September 20-27, and although our local stores don't really have specific events planned to honor the week's theme (I take that back-- BookPeople may have Michael Moore speak to the issue at his appearance there on the 25th) they all nonetheless have displays planned to feature some of the books that have been challenged or removed from our nation's library shelves. One local author, Louis Sachar, is a children's writer whose 1989 The Boy Who Lost His Face was challenged in 1993 in the Jackson Township Elementary School in Clay City, Indiana due to "unsuitable words," and was also challenged at the Golden View Elementary School in San Ramon, California that same year because of its "profanity, frequent use of obscene gestures, and other inappropriate subject matter." In fact, the book was removed from Cuyler Elementary School in Red Creek, New York in 1993 because "the age level and use of some swear words may make it inappropriate to younger children." Humph! And to think we live in the Nineties...
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 such as characters, theme, plot, setting, etc. 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, who is Isaac Bashevis Singer's translator and editor, and Brad Meltzer, author of the successful The Tenth Justice. Submit by September 26 to: Larry Elsner, Works in Progress Coordinator, 1608 Preston Av., Austin, TX, 78703. For info, contact 331-1144.
Book news for "Postscripts" must be received at least one week prior to issue date. Mail to: The Austin Chronicle,
PO Box 49066, Austin, TX, 78765; fax 458-6910; or e-mail [email protected]
