Category: News

Christian Science Monitor report is here.

Of note:

The online magazine of international literature, Words Without Borders, was founded “to address a yawning gap in literary publishing,” says Alane Salierno Mason, founding editor. “We just weren’t hearing enough from voices around the world.” The e-zine is hosted by Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y.

Originally conceived as a resource for publishing professionals like Mr. Mason (a senior editor at W.W. Norton) to become exposed to international authors, www.wordswithoutborders.org has since evolved to serve a larger purpose: connecting the public directly to the hearts and minds of people beyond American shores.

From the New York State Writers Institute Calendar:

February 1 (Thursday): Fiction and nonfiction writer Susan Cheever
Seminar – 4:15 p.m., Assembly Hall, Campus Center, Uptown Campus
Reading – 8:00 p.m., Recital Hall, Performing Arts Center, Uptown Campus

Susan Cheever, novelist, nonfiction writer, and “Newsday” columnist, is the bestselling author of four extraordinary memoirs, including “Note Found in a Bottle: My Life as a Drinker” (1999), and “Home Before Dark” (1984), a portrait of her father, writer John Cheever.

Her most recent book is “American Bloomsbury” (2007), a study of the intertwined lives and love affairs of Louisa May Alcott, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Margaret Fuller, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Henry David Thoreau.

For an interview with the author written by Donna Liquori, click more.

(more…)

NPR has a story on On the Shoulder of Giants: My Journey Through the Harlem Renaissance, which takes a look back at the storied history and lasting impact of the Harlem Renaissance Ballroom.

This is the former NBA star‘s latest book. His others include:

• Brothers In Arms: The Epic Story of the 761st Tank Battalion, WWII’s Forgotten Heroes
• Giant Steps
• Black Profiles in Courage: A Legacy of African-American Achievement
• A Season on the Reservation: My Soujourn with the White Mountain Apaches

Albany-resident Frank S. Robinson’s will be making some appearances in support of his book: LIFE, LIBERTY, and HAPPINESS: An Optimist Manifesto.

MONDAY, February 5, 12 Noon
Schenectady County Public Library (McChesney Room)
99 Clinton Street
Schenectady, NY

SATURDAY, February 10, 2 PM
East Greenbush Community Library
Community Way
E. Greenbush, NY 12061

The book is a comprehensive analysis of how use of reason and human freedom are the keys to living a good life and making a better world. Reader response to it has been terrific! More information can be found at http://www.fsrcoin.com/x.html

First-time novelist Fay Rownell — who is now retired but worked as a physical therapist and in the secretarial field — has a couple of events coming up this weekend and later in support of her comic mystery “Death Straight Up.”

She’ll be at the Cohoes Public Library from 10:30 am to noon on Saturday, Feb. 3, and Bookhouse in Stuyvesant Plaza from 2 to 4.

On Feb. 10, she’ll be a the Borders bookstore at Crossgates Mall from 2 to 4 pm.

On Feb. 24, she’ll be at the Borders on Wolf Road from 2 to 4 pm.

From the New York State Writers Institute Calendar:

January 30 (Tuesday): Native American novelist Leslie Marmon Silko
Seminar – 4:15 p.m., Assembly Hall, Campus Center, Uptown Campus
Reading – 8:00 p.m., Recital Hall, Performing Arts Center, Uptown Campus
Leslie Marmon Silko, novelist, essayist, and poet, is a major figure of the Native American literary renaissance.

Her first novel, “Ceremony” (1977), received the American Book Award, sold three quarters of a million copies, and sparked a revolution in Native American literature.

This year, Penguin Classics will publish a 30th Anniversary Edition of “Ceremony,” featuring a new introduction by Larry McMurtry.

The Albany poet and peace activist Don Wilcox has his own brand-new blog. Check it out here.