Category: News

Aaron Grunberg at Words Without Borders writes about visiting the prisoner camp on Guantanamo Bay.

“What would happen if the thousands of book clubs across the country…

… paired up with the thousands of people in the trenches of literary warfare, the people who daily struggle to bring the power of books to those who need that power most?

Book Club Works gives book clubs and literacy activists a place to find each other, adopt each other, and make a difference.”

http://www.bookclubworks.com/

If you are going to be in Lower Saxony before March 18, you can view what’s called the world’s most expensive book.

So I take a couple days off, and there’s a load of news.

Sen. Schumer was at the BookHouse in Guilderland on Saturday.

There’s a new Web site that’s the official site for Zora Neale Hurston, whose Their Eyes Were Watching God is the NEA Big Read pick (which libraries around the Capital Region are taking part in). (The site, by the way, was created by one of the bloggers at Chekhov’s Mistress.)

A blogger critiques the NYTimes Sunday Book Review, saying “I really wish the Book Review would spend more time reviewing people’s books instead of their ethnic backgrounds.”

Here’s 33 reasons why librarians matter.

The February issue of Words Without Borders is up. (This site dedicated to international literature for an American audience, is hosted by Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York.)

In his blog, poet Dan Wilcox ponders what would Anne Sexton do?

Meanwhile, Albany Poets is pushing for recognition via Metroland.

Here’s the link to Metroland’s readers’ picks.

Speaking of readers’ picks, for best local blog? I’d vote for this one http://blogs.timesunion.com/thewritingcenter/, which is dedicated to kids and writing.

The Writing Center
The Writing Center for the Greater Capital Region, Inc. provides a supportive community for students in 6th through 12th grades. What binds us together is a common love of language and a strong belief in the process of writing: that if you lay down a line of words and follow them, you will eventually find the way.

“Authors Theatre” Will Present Staged Excerpts From the Work of Black Playwright Lisa Thompson, February 5, 2007 Lisa Thompson, acclaimed emerging playwright, poet, and scholar, will answer questions following staged readings of portions of her plays about African American middle class experience on Monday, February 5, 2007 at 7:30 p.m. [NOTE EARLY START TIME] in the Assembly Hall, Campus Center, on the University at Albany’s uptown campus. The event is sponsored by the New York State Writers Institute, and is free and open to the public.

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“Vietnam: Our Father Daughter Journey”

Photographs and book signing by Ed and Zoeanne Murphy. Opening 6-9 p.m. Feb. 2.

52 James Street
Fourth Floor, Albany NY

Click more for a Times Union story about the father-daughter book of photos and essays.

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“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallow,” last in series, in stores July 21

Canadian Press

Thursday, February 01, 2007

LONDON (CP) – “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” the last of seven instalments of the boy wizard’s adventures, will be published July 21, author J. K. Rowling said Thursday.

Rowling announced the publication date on her website.

The book will be available across Canada at one minute past midnight local time on July 21, according to a statement issued by the Canadian publishers, Raincoast Books.

The AP reports on the price:

Scholastic Children’s Books, the U.S. publisher, said it would offer a hardback edition at a suggested retail price of $34.99, a deluxe edition at $65.00 and a reinforced library edition at $39.99.