November 2005, eNewsletter 
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Newsletter
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November
2005
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National
Book Awards Dinner and Ceremony
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The
National Book Awards Dinner and Ceremony
will take place at The New York Marriott
Marquis in Times Square on Wednesday
evening, November 16th at 6:30 p.m.,
hosted by Garrison Keillor. At the event,
Toni Morrison will present Norman Mailer
with the Foundation's Medal for Distinguished
Contribution to American Letters, Jessica
Hagedorn will present Lawrence Ferlinghetti
with the new Literarian Award for Outstanding
Service to the American Literary Community,
and the Foundation will bestow the National
Book Awards for Fiction, Non-fiction,
Poetry and Young People's Literature.
For more information, call the National
Book Awards Foundation at (212) 685-0261.
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Young
People's Literature Finalists at the
Donnell Library Center of The NYPL
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On
the morning of Tuesday, November 15th,
this year's Finalists for the National
Book Award in Young People's Literature-Jeanne
Birdsall,
Adele
Griffin, Chris
Lynch, Walter
Dean Myers, and
Deborah
Wiles-will appear
at a "press conference" for middle-
and high-school students at the Donnell
Library Center of The New York Public
Library in Manhattan. At the event,
students will pepper the panel with
questions about the writing life, followed
by a reception with the authors. They
will then return to their schools to
write about their impressions of the
writers and the meeting. |
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Finalists
to Read at the New School
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Tickets
for the National Book Awards
are by invitation only, but on November
15th at 7 p.m. at the New School University
in New York City, all twenty-one of
this year's National Book Award Finalists
will appear on the same stage (as of
this writing). Hosted by Director of
the New School Writing Program Robert
Polito and emceed by Paris Review
editor-in-chief Philip Gourevitch, each
Finalist will read for five minutes
from his or her nominated work. Though
the event always sells out, as of this
writing a few tickets were still available
from the New School Box Office at (212)
229-5488. |
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National
Book Awards in the News
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| Photo
Credit: Nathan Latil/ Univ. of
MS Imaging Services |
John
Grisham's October 12th announcement
of this year's Finalists for the National
Book Award from the porch of Rowan Oak,
William Faulkner's home in Oxford, Mississippi,
drew a crowd of 200 people and was reported
in 177 newspapers, magazines, and web
sites around the world. Among the many
major articles that have appeared: on
Monday, October 24th, Nonfiction Finalist
Joan Didion was interviewed on Charlie
Rose; on Sunday, October 30th,
the New York Times published
a story on Fiction Finalist Mary Gaitskill;
and on Sunday, November 6th, the New
York Times Magazine published an
interview with Literarian Award Recipient
Lawrence Ferlinghetti. |
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Eat,
Drink and Be Literary (Two)
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Now
in its second year, the National
Book Awards and the Brooklyn
Academy of Music (BAM) will
present nine acclaimed authors for Eat,
Drink & Be Literary: Dinner and
a Reading in BAMcafé. The events
will begin at 6:30 p.m. with live music
and wine-provided by Napa Valley's award-winning
Pine Ridge Winery-followed by a delicious
buffet dinner in the BAMcafé prepared
by executive chef, Carlos Baca. At 8
p.m. the literary program begins with
authors reading from their works, participating
in a discussion with the moderator,
and answering questions from audience
members. The Shakespeare & Co. BAMshop
will provide books for purchase and
signing.
The
featured authors and moderators are:
- January
12: Gish Jen, with Kurt Andersen
- January
26: Julian Barnes, with Kurt Andersen
- February
9: Caryl Phillips, with Kurt Andersen
- February
23: Jonathan Safran Foer, with Kurt
Andersen
- March
16: John Sayles, with Jessica Hagedorn
- April
6: Julia Alvarez, with Jessica Hagedorn
- April
20: Jonathan Lethem, with Jessica
Hagedorn
- May
18: Mary Gaitskill, with Jessica
Hagedorn
- June
1: Nicole Krauss, with Jessica Hagedorn
Tickets
are $42 per event, including admission
to the reading, dinner, wine, tax, and
tip. A 20% discount is available
to those who buy tickets to five or
more events. Subscription and
single tickets may be purchased through
BAM Ticket Services 718.636.4100. Single
tickets may also be purchased online
at BAM.org
and in person at the BAM Box Office,
Peter Jay Sharp Building, 30 Lafayette
Avenue, Brooklyn. BAMcafé is on the
second floor of the BAM Peter Jay Sharp
Building. |
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Attention,
Booksellers and Librarians
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In
conjunction with the American
Booksellers Association, the
National Book Awards recently sent shelf-talkers
free-of-charge to over 1,200 independent
bookstores across the United States
to promote this year's National Book
Award Finalists. Shelf-talkers can be
used alone or as an adjunct to the distinctive
Finalist's silver medallion stickers,
which are affixed to book covers. These
attractive white and blue labels are
meant to catch the eye of bookstore
customers. Booksellers who did not receive
shelf-talkers or would like to order
additional ones should call Sherrie
Young at (212) 685-0261 or e-mail syoung@nationalbook.org.
Silver medallion stickers (and gold
medallions) are also available to booksellers
at a modest cost and are available from
Meredith Andrews at mandrews@nationalbook.org.
The
National Book Awards and the American
Library Association (ALA)
have teamed up to bring librarians
up-to-the-minute information on the
National Book Awards. A
special page on the Foundation's Web
site provides
librarians with information on how
to invite National Book Award Finalists
to their libraries. In the future,
the National Book Awards will also
promote other American Library Association
efforts, such as the recent Banned
Books Week.
For
librarians with face-out shelving
of this year's National Book Award
Finalists, shelf-talkers are also
available (see above). Call Sherrie
Young at (212) 685-0261 or e-mail
syoung@nationalbook.org.
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