October 2007, eNewsletter 
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eNewsletter
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October
2007
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Author
and Social Critic Camille Paglia to Announce
National Book Award Finalists from the Oldest
Continuously Operating US Public Library
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The
eagerly-awaited announcement of the twenty
Finalists for the 2007 National Book Awards
will take place on October 10 at The
Library Company of Philadelphia,
the oldest continuously operating public
library in America.
Philadelphia-based
author and social critic Camille
Paglia will make the
announcement at approximately 9:30 a.m.
eastern time. Harold Augenbraum, the National
Book Foundation's executive director,
will co-host. Previous announcements have
taken place at the Fitzgerald Theater
in St.
Paul, MN, at William
Faulkner's home in Oxford,
MS, and at the famed City Lights
Bookstore in San
Francisco, CA.
If
you are not a registered eNewsletter recipient
and would like to receive a list of the
twenty Finalists for the 2007 National
Book Awards on October 10, please send
an email to nationalbook@nationalbook.org
and state in the subject line
"Email Finalists on October 10."
Photo © Misa Martin
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Joan
Didion and Terry
Gross to Receive the Foundation's
Lifetime Achievement Awards
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On
September 10, the National Book Foundation
announced
novelist and essayist
Joan
Didion as
this year's recipient of the Medal for
Distinguished Contribution to American Letters
and
Terry
Gross,
host and executive producer of National
Public Radio's "Fresh
Air," as the
recipient of the Literarian Award for Outstanding
Service to the American Literary Community.
Novelist
Michael
Cunningham will present
the medal to Didion and Ira
Glass, host and producer
of the public radio show "This
American Life,"
will present the award to Gross. Both
will be honored at the 2007 National Book
Awards ceremony on Wednesday, November
14. Writer and humorist Fran
Lebowitz will host
the Awards for the second consecutive
year.
Photos:
Didion © Brigitte Lacombe, Cunningham
© Richard Phibbs, Gross © Will
Ryan, Glass © Nancy Updike.
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National
Book Foundation Spotlights Emerging Fiction
Writers
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For
the second year in a row, the National
Book Foundation will celebrate the work
of the next generation of young fiction
writers at the "5 Under
35" party and reading.
Five fiction writers under the age of
35 were selected by National Book Award
fiction authors who found the young writers'
work to be particularly promising and
exciting and among the best of a new generation
of writers.
The
writers being recognized this year are:
- Kirstin
Allio, Garner
(Coffee House Press, 2005)
Selected by Dana
Spiotta
2006 NBA Fiction Finalist for Eat
the Document
- Dinaw
Mengestu, The Beautiful
Things that Heaven Bears
(Riverhead Books, 2007)
Selected by Jess
Walter
2006 NBA Fiction finalist for The
Zero
- Asali
Solomon, Get Down: Stories
(Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2006)
Selected by Jennifer
Egan
2001 NBA Fiction Finalist for Look
at Me
- Anya
Ulinich, Petropolis
(Viking Press, 2007)
Selected by Ken
Kalfus
2006 NBA Fiction Finalist for A
Disorder Peculiar to the Country
- Charles
Yu, Third Class Superhero
(Harcourt, 2006)
Selected by Richard
Powers
2006 NBA Fiction Winner for The
Echo Maker
The
invite-only event kicks off National Book
Award Week and will take place at Tribeca
Cinemas. Each writer
will be introduced by the National Book
Award writer who selected them and will
read an excerpt from their most recent
book, at an evening hosted by Sam
Lipsyte.
Photos
Allio © Michael K. Allio; Mengestu
© Blair Fethers; Solomon © Patrick
Hinely; Ulinich © Lisa Sciascia;
Yu © Michelle Jue. |
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Want
to See All of This Year's National Book
Award Finalists at Once?
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Even
though tickets for the National Book Awards
are by invitation only, all twenty of this
year's National Book Award Finalists
will appear on the same stage on November
13 at 7 p.m. at the New School University
in New
York City. Hosted by Director of
the New School Writing Program Robert Polito,
and emceed by novelist Bret
Anthony Johnston, a
2006 "5 Under 35" selection, each
Finalist will read for five minutes from
his or her nominated work. Tickets for the
always sold-out event are on sale at $10.00
per person and are available from the New
School Box Office at (212)
229-5488.
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Shelf-talkers,
Posters and Medallions Available
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Free
shelf-talkers and a limited number of posters
that promote the 2007 National Book Award
Finalists are available and can either be
used alone or together with the distinctive
Finalist silver medallion stickers. The
newly designed gold metallic shelf-talker
and the attractive bold-color poster will
catch the eye of readers in bookstores and
in libraries. If you would like to receive
a batch of 10 Winner and 10 Finalist shelf-talkers
or a poster e-mail Sherrie Young at syoung@nationalbook.org.
Silver medallion stickers (and gold medallions)
are also available to booksellers at a modest
cost. For information about medallion stickers
email haugenbraum@nationalbook.org.
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Seats
Available for the 2007 National Book Award
Teen Press Conference
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On Tuesday, November 13, 250 middle and
high school students attending New
York City public and private schools
will gather at the Donnell Library's
auditorium for the popular Teen Press
Conference to interview the 2007 National
Book Award Finalists in Young People's
Literature.
Students will prepare for the event by reading
one of the five finalists' books and
drafting questions based on the text, the
writing life, and what it means to be a
National Book Award Finalist. At the event,
each participating student will receive
a professionally designed press kit with
biographical information on each author,
excerpts from their books, and materials
related to the National Book Awards.
Authors will read from their work before
the floor is turned over to the students
for the Press Conference. Following the
Conference, students will be invited to
meet with the authors at a reception in
Nathan Straus Young Adult Center of the
Donnell Library.
Funding for this program is made
possible through a generous grant from Con
Edison.
Teachers and students interested in attending
the National Book Awards Teen Press Conference,
must contact Rebecca Keith at rkeith@nationalbook.org,
no later than Friday, October 26. Include
your name, name of school, telephone number,
and number of students attending. This event
is popular and seats are filling up quickly.
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Mark
These Dates for the National Book Awards
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October
9, The Library Company presents
"Winning Words: the History
& Meaning of Book Prizes,"
with Harold Augenbraum, Executive Director
of the National Book Foundation, James English,
Professor of English at the University
of Pennsylvania and Director of the
Penn English Program in London;
and Carlin Romano, books columnist and critic
for The Philadelphia Inquirer,
Philadelphia,
PA
October
10, Announcement of this year's
National Book Award Finalists, Philadelphia,
PA
November
12, National Book Awards Week
begins with 5 Under 35, a celebration
of the next generation of fiction writers,
New
York City
November
13, National Book Awards Teen
Press Conference at Donnell Library, New
York City
November
13, National Book Awards Finalist
Reading at The
New School, New
York City
November
14, 58th National
Book Awards Ceremony and Dinner, New
York City |
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The
National Book Foundation thanks the following
sponsors for their generous support:
Barnes
& Noble; Theodore
H. Barth Foundation; Bloomberg;
Borders; Central National-Gottesman Inc.;
Coral Graphics; R.R.
Donnelley; Educational
Foundation of America; Hachette
Book Group USA; HarperCollins Publishers;
Ingram Book Group, Inc.; Levenger, Inc.;
National
Endowment for the Arts; National Endowment
for the Humanities;
Penguin
Group
(USA);
Quebecor World; Random House, Inc.; John
Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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