Left to Right: Meg Kearney, National Book Foundation Acting Executive Director; Lane Bajardi of Bloomberg; Carlos Eire, Nonfiction Winner; Deborah Wiley, National Book Foundation Board of Directors Chair; C.K. Williams, Poetry Winner; Shirley Hazzard, Fiction Winner; Polly Horvath, Young People's Literature Winner. Photo taken at New York Public Library.

On February 18 and 19, 2004, nearly 500 readers gathered at The New York Public Library and the Princeton Public Library to hear the Winners of the 2003 National Book Award discuss "the writing life" as part of the National Book Foundation's Gold Medal Tour.

Carlos Eire, Nonfiction Winner for Waiting for Snow in Havana; Shirley Hazzard, Fiction Winner for The Great Fire; Polly Horvath, Young People's Literature Winner for The Canning Season; and C.K. Williams, Poetry Winner for The Singing, each passionately described to the audience their individual writing lives, what propelled them to become writers in their respective genres, their influences, and individual impressions of their art.

On Wednesday, February 18, National Book Foundation Board Chair Deborah E. Wiley began the evening by welcoming the audience in the majestic Celeste Bartos Forum of The New York Public Library. Ms. Wiley addressed everyone in place of Dr. Paul LeClerc, the Library's President and a trustee of the National Book Foundation. She thanked Bloomberg for their generous support of the Tour, and introduced Lane Bajardi, who spoke on behalf of Bloomberg regarding his company's dedication to educational and cultural programming. Mr. Bajardi then introduced National Book Foundation Acting Executive Director, Meg Kearney, who served as Master of Ceremonies.

Carlos Eire spoke about his childhood in pre-Castro Cuba, and its abrupt end when Castro overthrew the Batista-led goverment. Mr. Eire spoke of his experience as one of many children who were airlifted out of Cuba in 1962. With the publication of Waiting for Snow in Havana, he considers his writing life in two parts: the first as the scholarly writer of religious studies, and the second as a story teller.

Shirely Hazzard spoke about her writing life as someone who has not succumbed to technology. She writes longhand and types her work on a typewriter. Ms. Hazzard took the audience through her experiences as a young woman employed by the United Nations, and the impact of her worldwide travel on her writing life. She relayed to the audience memories of her mother's nursery rhymes, and discussed at length the impact that poetry has had on her life. Ms. Hazzard said also that our language is in crisis, and perhaps if our leaders would reference literature more often, we as a society would not be so governed by machinery.

Polly Horvath addressed the audience as the creator of Ratchet, the main character in
The Canning Season. Ratchet is a displaced child who finds a loving home, for the first time, among her eccentric, 90-year old twin aunts. Ms. Horvath explained that in writing the book, she sought to continue the legacy of her favorite childhood author, Edward Eager. Ms. Horvath wanted to write a "kids kids book," something light and easy that children would love. Though she started with an agenda for writing the book, the story and its characters soon led her astray.

C.K. Williams informed the audience that his initial attempts at writing poetry were ignorant, and though he wanted to write, he found it frustrating. He was humbled when he read the work of other poets and compared himself to them. Mr. Williams cited that at times, writing poetry was so difficult he does not know how he continued to do it. He spoke of hundreds of incomplete, yet-to-be revised poems. He closed his talk with a reading of his poem, "My Mother's Lips."

Audience at the Jewish Center in Princeton, New Jersey.

On the evening of February 19, the Tour brought the four Winners to The Jewish Center to discuss the same topic with audience members in Princeton, New Jersey. Princeton Public Library President, Harry Levine, welcomed everyone and thanked the Foundation and Bloomberg for bringing this event and the distinguished authors to Princeton. He introduced Jared Kieling, who on behalf of Bloomberg detailed the company's commitment to the Gold Medal Tour and cultural programming. Mr. Kieling then turned the program over to Ms. Kearney, who again served as Master of Ceremonies.

On both evenings, audience members asked thoughtful questions, truly making the events a discussion with the Winners. Mr. Eire was asked if he would ever return to Cuba, to which he replied he cannot, as long as Castro is in power. Mr. Williams was asked, "Why poetry, and not fiction?" He replied by saying he preferred poverty, and the audience erupted in laughter. An audience member asked Ms. Hazzard if the romance in her novel was based on her own experience. She answered by saying that nothing is based on her life exactly, but she included as much truth as possible.

In keeping with the Foundation's efforts to bring authors into underserved communities to discuss the joys of reading and writing, Polly Horvath visited The Morton School, in Newark, NJ to discuss her work and writing life with sixth, seventh, and eighth graders on the morning of Thursday February 19. All participating students received copies of The Canning Season in advance of Ms. Horvath's visit, and were prepared with questions. Ms. Horvath discussed writing-related issues with students such as prologue, and said that writing is essentially rewriting, and rethinking. She also explained to students the importance of creating a persuasive, narrative story because, ultimately, the story one is telling must be believable. Students and teachers expressed their gratitude to Ms. Horvath with a T-shirt and book of poems by Langston Hughes. The event rounded out with a group photo and refreshments provided by Bloomberg.

Later that day, Ms. Horvath visited JaZams toy store in Princeton, where she signed books for her fans.