“I just finished a poem where St. Francis and St. Clare double-date with Thoreau and Evita and it just makes me very happy.” My mother was the winner of the 2011 Prairie Schooner Book Prize because she is as good as it gets. No brag. Just fact. Prairie Schooner recently interviewed her as well and I recommend looking at it, partly because this my mother we’re talking about and she makes me very proud and partly because it raises the old interview bar, so to speak. Clearly I need to put more work into my own.
- Once in a great while my husband’s occupation and my own will intersect. He is a screenwriter and will alert me to interesting news items on the cinematic side of things. This week he pointed me to a ScriptShadow piece. If you are unfamiliar with the site it’s where a fellow going by the name of “Carson Reeves” reads and reviews the scripts that have recently sold in Hollywood and critiques them long before they are turned into films. Each Friday Carson has something he calls Amateur Friday where folks submit their own screenplays for his review. Last Friday someone handed in a script called Fifi, A Monkey’s Tale. Those of you familiar with the story behind Curious George will recognize this as the original title of that manuscript. The script essentially tells the tale of the Reys’ escape from the Nazis in WWII. Only to punch it up a bit the screenwriter (and I kinda love this) rewrote history so that Goebbels himself wants Mr. Rey destroyed. Something you have to see for yourself, I think.
- Do you like awards? Do you like children’s books that come from countries other than America? Well then, folks, have I got great news from you. After her recent trip to Italy to judge the awards, Jules at 7-Imp let me know that the winners have been announced:
The 2012 Bologna Ragazzi Awards have just been announced! Here are links for interested folks:
Fiction winner and mentions: http://www.bolognachildrensbookfair.com/en/boragazziaward/images_award/fiction;
Nonfiction winner and mentions:http://www.bolognachildrensbookfair.com/en/boragazziaward/images_award/non_fiction;
New Horizons winner and mentions:http://www.bolognachildrensbookfair.com/en/boragazziaward/images_award/new_horizons;
Opera Prima winner and mentions (Opera Prima is for new artists):http://www.bolognachildrensbookfair.com/en/boragazziaward/images_award/opera_prima.
- I long for the day Save NYC Libraries can be shut down, but until that happy day occurs it’s a hugely useful and well-organized site for fighting mayoral cuts. Recently the mayor rolled out his old budget again and yep. You guessed it. We’re
5 Comments on Fusenews: Shelve the books but shelve them slant, last added: 2/24/2012Display Comments Add a Comment
Your mom is, as always, kind of amazing. I aspire to her grasp of the sestina…
And all this time I have been here in Kalamazoo reading about and admiring yet another astonishingly good writer from the Kalamazoo area… I never knew. I can see your mother in you. Wear that pride proudly!
Thanks, too, for posting the various award lists–I always appreciate seeing what is available internationally (and then become seriously miffed that we don’t have places close to my home that will have the actual books).
Thanks, Tanita! And Ed, if you ever stopped by the Athena Bookshop back in the day you would have run into her. These days she does do some work with the libraries. FYI!
Loved Athena and visited often. Was sad to see it go away. I’m sure I must have had several conversations with you mom (and George Hebben). The staff in general was excellent and they also provided all the books for the KPL events.