In December, 2011 The Detroit Public Library Commission voted to close four branches of the city library. Some library-loving Detroit 4th graders decided to take matters into their own hands and fight back.
The 4th grade class at Detroit’s Marcus Garvey Academy, with help from University of Michigan instructor Melanie Manos, designed an alternative library for their community. The students built and installed waterproof bookcases for their outdoor library and set-up in front of a shuttered local library branch. After an outpouring of local support, the kids created five more free outdoor libraries. Each operates on the honor system and is sustained by donated books.
Michigan-based artist Thomas Allen creates exceptional lively and entertaining illustrations using figures that he cuts and folds from secondhand and castaway books. Some of his earlier book art was based on the always saucy cover art from pulp fiction paperback novels of the 1950s and 60s. His newest work is more lighthearted, less provocative, but still very clever. Check-out his website to learn more .
In 1981, Philip K. Dick saw a television show featuring a segment about the soon to be released Ridley Scott film Blade Runner, based on his iconic novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. In response he wrote an impassioned letter to the Ladd Company, producers of the movie. Somehow that 30 year-old letter has recently surfaced. And like a good Blade Runner fanatic, I have to share it with you.
April 23rd is a big day (and night) for book lovers and bibliophiles around the world. Since 1995 the day has been designated by UNESCO as World Book and Copyright Day in honor of the birth and death of Shakespeare and the death of Miguel Cervantes in 1616. And since last year, the date has been celebrated as World Book Night.
The annual World Book Night celebration was begun in the UK and Ireland in 2011 and has now spread to the United States and Germany. During WBN this year, 25,000 volunteers will each give away 20 books in their communities. A half million specially printed copies of 30 different titles will be distributed tonight. Nearly 750 bookstores and libraries will be holding WBN events.
World Book Night is a great opportunity to celebrate and spread the joy of reading, the love of bookstores and to treasure the printed book. This year’s list of titles are all wonderful examples of books to share and cherish. Some of my favorite titles this year are: The Namesake, The Lovely Bones, The Glass Castle, The Book Thief, and The Things They Carried.
City2Cities: International Literature Days Utrecht is an exciting international literature festival. Each year City2Cities, in short C2C, connects the city of Utrecht in the Netherlands with two other literary cities. In 2011 those cities were Edinburgh and Stockholm, this year the guest cities are Barcelona and Prague, and in 2013 the cities will be Lisbon and Berlin. They invite the renowned writers from these cities to the Netherlands, search for new talent and try to discover on which points Utrecht and its two guest cities differ and overlap. The festival focuses explicitly on the three cities, but these cities also represent a country, a culture and a language area. There are debates about urban literary culture with writers and translators from the three cities, stories and poems are translated and the fringe festival also has programs in theatre, music and movies. This year’s festival is being held from April 21 through 29th.
The two guest cities are primarily chosen based on their qualities as literary cities. The cities appear in many novels and poems and they have a flourishing writing- and publishing scene. Like Utrecht, they also have to have a university. Their geographical site can be a point of interest as well; cities in contrasting areas have preference. This way City2Cities creates axes through Europe. In the period leading up to Utrecht as Cultural Capital 2018 the maintenance and expansion of the network created by City2Cities is being highlighted.With the rich literary history of the city, the leading modern writers and poets, publishers and bookstores , City2Cities shows Utrecht to the world as the city of literature.
This year’s line-up includes: Paul Auster, Carlos Ruiz Zafón, Mark Strand, Mercedes Abad, Herman Koch and Tomas Zmeskal, as well as tributes to Vaclav Havel and Franz Kafka.
Well today is the first round of voting in the French elections and things are not looking up for Sarkozy. These clever pieces of street art have been turning up all over Paris lately.
Are you eligible to vote today ? Who are you voting for ?
The Harlem Book Fair is coming to Newark, New Jersey for the first time and celebrating two days of literary-filled events next week. Newark Mayor Cory Booker and city leaders kicked off the “2012 as Year of Newark Literacy” campaign earlier this month from the Newark Public Library, coinciding with National Library Week.
Started in 1998, the Harlem Book Fair is billed as a large-scale, multi-cultural literary festival that has graced cities like Boston, Atlanta, Philadelphia and New York. Organizers expect the event, taking place April 27 and April 28, to draw thousands of attendees along with more tha 100 exhibitors.
Founder Max Rodriguez described the Harlem Book Fair as an “outdoor book party.” The book fair is free to the public and will be held at Rutgers-Newark at the Paul Robeson Center and the outdoor plaza.
The theme of this year’s book fair is “Let Us Read” and according to Rodriguez, publisher of “QBR The Black Book Review” based in New York, there will be a little bit of something to interest every reader. Just a few of the events on schedule include: “Art to Books”, an exhibition on book illustrators; a Hip-Hop Literature exhibit; screenings of literary films; and a huge secondhand book sale.
On Friday, April 27, events start at 10 a.m. and go until 3 p.m. and include a Young Reader’s Pavilion which focuses on children’s and young adult literature.
On Saturday, April 28, events run from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
For dyed-in-the-wool bibliophiles there’s nothing quite as pleasing as the unique aroma of old books. When we enter an antiquarian bookshop or historic library, we invariably assume the soporific mien of a somnambulist. Now, our friends at Abebooks.com in conjunction with University College London have produced an informative film exploring the intoxicating effect of old book vapors. [Full disclosure: My book business has had a commercial relationship with Abebooks for many years]
Koh Samui is the third largest island in Thailand and one of the most popular destinations for travelers. The tropical beach resort offers all types of accommodations ranging from backpacker bungalows to five star resort complexes, but bibliophiles will only have eyes for The Library. This amazing 26 suite hotel, located on Chawey Beach is a booklover’s dream come true. The hotel offers the usual amenities, pools, restaurant, etc., but the heart of the little resort is the Library. Guest are encouraged to borrow books to read on the beach, poolside, in the restaurant (called Pages of course) or to just hang in the cool library.
Lucie and Simon are Paris-based artists/photographers/videographers who create suspenseful and enticing works that invite the viewer to create a personal narrative for their stunning work. The eerie, post-apocalyptic environment of their film Silent World is a sterling example, with spot-on music by Philip Glass. It’s well worth seven of so minutes of your time.
Travel Between The Pages 