National ambassador for young people’s literature Jon Scieszka speaks at length to the LAT about getting kids, and boys in particular, to read. “My first tip is to include not just fiction in your idea of reading. Include graphic novels, include Calvin and Hobbes. Third- and fourth-grade boys devour those — and they’re really sophisticated, but parents will say, ‘Oh, that’s not really reading.’ ” He recalls that “I first saw fairy tales in ‘The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show,’ and they sounded kind of familiar. Then I read the fairy tales. Then I wrote my own books [in which he […]
Authors
Rushdie's Day in Court
Salman Rushdie appeared in London’s High Court to hear former policeman and author of ON HER MAJESTY’S SERVICE Ron Evans apologize and admit that the first version of the book contained 11 “falsehoods.” Rushdie told the press after the hearing to settle his libel suit, “It is a very difficult thing to do, to stand up in the High Court of London and admit to be a liar. If they do that, it is enough for me.” (He did not seek damages.) An attorney for Evans and publisher John Blake still tries to insist that they “have voluntarily removed the […]
Bread Loaf's Literary Waiters
The Washington Post looks at the “two dozen young writers who serve as waiters for the two-week summer summit [at the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference], donning aprons and name tags to serve breakfast, lunch and dinner to the 225 participants…. Most are professors, graduate students in the fine arts or prize-winning writers, chosen from 600 applicants for work-study scholarships that cover the $2,300 tuition. “When they’re not taking in poetry readings, learning about character development or getting other pointers from Pulitzer Prize winners, they can be found in the dining hall of the Victorian-era Bread Loaf Inn, taking orders or […]
Rushdie Wins Some Concessions from Author
Salman Rushdie’s lawyer Mark Stephens says that author of On Her Majesty’s Service Ron Evans has “accepted that much of the story published in the Mail on Sunday [excerpted from the forthcoming book] was false,” adding that Evans “was a police driver making out he was an armed special protection officer.” Stephens also says that “the authors have admitted that there were falsehoods in the original manuscript and have made amendments accordingly.” Publisher John Blake expects to have a revised version of the book ready for release next week.Guardian
Kafka's Estate, Possible Pornography in the News
The recent death of Esther Hoffe, secretary to the man who famously defied Franz Kafka’s wish for his papers to be burned, has put the estate in question – and in the news again. As her mother did, reports the NYT, Hava Hoffe is keeping scholars and archivists up at night wondering about the condition of what they believe are letters, diaries, photographs and perhaps unpublished works of Kafka and Brod. “This material belongs in Jerusalem,” argued Mark Gelber, a Kafka scholar and a professor of comparative literature at Ben Gurion University in Beersheba. “Brod became a Zionist before the […]
"Lost" Sir Walter Scott Works to Be Published
Even though Sir Walter Scott’s final two novels, The Siege Of Malta and the incomplete Bizarro, were kept under wraps by his family for fear of sullying his literary reputation (the author had suffered three strokes by then), University of Edinburgh Press has published them, corrected and in a single volume, leading to accusations of “grave robbing.” Paul Scott, who published a book based on Scott’s journals, was surprised to learn their wishes had been overturned, said: “Scott’s health deteriorated quite markedly and you can see that from his journal. It starts off as a very intelligent, very well written […]