Make with the clicking and see what you've been mising:
- West Coast bloggers represent: Uncork those bottles—Mark Sarvas sells his novel to Bloomsbury! Further up the coast, Ed Champion reviews Poor People for the LA Times, giving the Vollmann club a shot in the arm.
- The latest issue of Failbetter is up with new stories, poems and this interview with Alice McDermott.
- We have a national librarian? Do we ever. A local librarian steps it up: "When totalitarians take over a country, what's their first instinct?" To burn books, to close libraries and printing presses. Access to information is nothing less than the basis of a free society." Amen, sister
And for those who want to help others access information around the world, here's a cause worth mentioning from author Masha Hamilton :
"My next novel is based on a real camel bookmobile that operates in isolated Northeastern Kenya near the unstable border with Somalia. I had the chance to visit last year and walk through the bush with the camels, books and librarians. It was totally inspiring to see the response in this semi-nomadic settlements to the books laid out under the acacia.
But, of course, they need more books. The bush is hard on books and sometimes in these semi-nomadic communities, the ones who have checked out the books move on before the library can return. I thought how wonderful it would be if 50 authors banded together to each send a box of about five well-loved books to the camel library. This area is also largely African Moslem, which creates another kind of bridge. Their first love is children's books and their second love is fiction. The books could be collected from friends or your own collection (think lightly used, though), donated from your publisher, or bought from your favorite independent. "
Send books directly to Kenya, the address and mailing rates are as follows:
Garissa Provincial Library
For Camel Library
Librarian in Charge, Rashid M. Farah
P.O. Box 245
Garissa, Kenya
Postage, economy, on a 5-pound box from the U.S. to Kenya is $23. Sending 10-pound box is $33.75, and a 15-pound box costs $41.10. For a 25-pound box, the cost is $55.05.
Visit Hamilton's website to see photos of the real bookmobile, as well as a short video. The camel bookdrive now has its own site.
- It's a wrap for AWP this week and many bloggers spill the beans on what really happened in Atlanta, including poet Reb Livingston (who is not afraid to be seen with fiction writers), Dan the man who knows, sees and tells all, Gwenda, Carolyn, Madam Mayo and a guest bloggers over at Jeff's place lets us in on what really happened to Liam at AWP. Whew.. we feel like we've been there…
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