This Week in Reading October 25 - 31

Authors born this week -

Novelists and story writers
Andrei Bely, Vincent Starrett, Enid Bagnold, Evelyn Waugh, Dominick Dunne, Nawal el-Saadawi, Maxine Hong Kingston, Anne Tyler, Kinky Friedman, Pat Conroy, Joseph Boyden, Zadie Smith, Irina Denezhkina

Poets and Playwrights
Poets: John Keats, Paul Valery, Elizabeth Madox Roberts, Ezra Pound, John Berryman, Dylan Thomas, John Hollander, Sylvia Plath, Andrew Motion Playwrights: Richard Sheridan, Jean Giraudoux, Zoe Atkins, Ruth Gordon, Louis Malle

Thinkers, Believers, Scientists, Historians, Biographers
Thinkers: Erasmus, A. J. Ayer Scientists: Paul Farmer Historians: Thomas Babington Macaulay, Henry Steele Commager, Martin Gilbert Biographers: James Boswell, Robert A. Caro, Daniel Mark Epstein

Humorists, Essayists, Editors, Journalists, Officials, Media and Others
Humorists: John Cleese, Fran Lebowitz Essayists: Emily Post Editors: David Remnick Journalists: Dan Rather, Jane Pauley Officials: Theodore Roosevelt, Warren Christopher, Hillary Rodham Clinton Media and Others: Napoleon Hill, Fred Friendly, James Carville, Bill Gates, Matt Drudge

Mystery / Crime / Suspense Writers
Mystery: Dick Francis, Anne Perry

Fantasy / Science Fiction Writers
Science Fiction: Frederic Brown, Neal Stephenson

Visual Artists
Graphic Novelists: Jan Duursema, June Brigman Cartoonists: Bill Maudlin

Young People’s Writers
Children’s: Henry Winkler

Events to read about this week:

Chaucer is buried in Westminster Abbey, Henry Fielding becomes a justice of the peace and starts British detective work. The painter Picasso and costumer Edith Head are born, and the Erie Canal, the Patriot Act, the Federalist Papers, Harvard, and the Internet are created, while the Statue of Liberty is dedicated, much of it during Halloween week.

This Week’s Questions:

Who, born this week, said these about writing?

"I like to think of poetry as statements made on the way to the grave."

"If poetry comes not as easily as leaves from a tree, it had better not come at all."

"Too many people in the modern world view poetry as a luxury, not a necessity."

"Words should be an intense pleasure to a writer, just as leather should be to a shoemaker."

Answers to Last Week's Questions:

Winning it in 1967, Miguel Angel Asturias is so far the only Nobel literature prizewinner from Guatemala, while all the others last week were from countries that had other winners. Like some other Nobel prizewinning authors he also wrote in exile about the struggles of social cultures under totalitarianism. Asturias said, according to Contemporary Authors in Biography Resource Center, "Latin American literature is still a literature of combat ... The novel is the only means I have of making the needs and aspirations of my people known to the world."

This Week in Reading October 18 - 24

Authors born this week -

Nobel Prize in Literature
Philosopher Henri Bergson (1927), storywriter Ivan Bunin (1933), storywriter Miguel Angel Asturias (1967), playwright, novelist Elfriede Jelinek (2004), novelist Doris Lessing (2007)

Novelists and story writers
Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, Thomas Hughes, H. L. Davis, Emily Kimbrough, Marghanita Laski, Norman Rush, Terry McMillan, Nick Tosches, Bao Ninh, Patti Davis, Carrie Fisher, Rick Moody, Tracy Chevalier

Poets and Playwrights
Poets: Leigh Hunt, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Alphonse de Lamartine, Arthur Rimbaud, Will Carleton, Denise Levertov, Robert Pinsky, Ntozake Shange Playwrights: Heinrich von Kleist, Sidney Kingsley, Moss Hart, Wendy Wasserstein

Thinkers, Believers, Scientists, Historians, Biographers
Thinkers: John Dewey Believers: Deepak Chopra Scientists: Neltje Blanchan, Martin Gardner, Joyce Brothers Historians: Lewis Mumford, Tariq Ali Biographers: Randy Pausch

Humorists, Essayists, Editors, Journalists, Officials, Media and Others
Humorists: John Gould, Art Buchwald, Lewis Grizzard Essayists: Thomas Browne, Logan Pearsall Smith, Frances Fitzgerald, Michael Eric Tyson, Deborah Blum, Augusten Burroughs Editors: Pierre Larousse Journalists: Jack Reed, A.J. Liebling, Jack Anderson Media and Others: Harvey Penick, Bobby Seale, Michelle Malkin

Mystery / Crime / Suspense Writers
Mystery: Edogawa Rampo, Frederic Dannay (Ellery Queen), John Le Carre Crime: Ann Rule, Andrew Vachss Suspense: Michael Crichton

Fantasy / Science Fiction Writers
Fantasy: Ursula LeGuin, Phillip Pullman, Lynn Flewelling Science Fiction: Charles Stross

Visual Artists
Illustrators: N. C. Wyeth Cartoonists: Bob Kane

Young People’s Writers
Children’s: Sara Josepha Hale Teens: Laurie Halse Anderson

Events to read about this week:
Mason Dixon line, Cornwallis surrenders, architect Christopher Wren, Bela Lugosi, HUAC, Nelson wins at Trafalgar, Alfred Nobel, Anti-Vietnam War march, Liszt, Timothy Leary, Sarah Bernhardt, Johnny Carson, the IPod, the UN.

This Week’s Questions:
There are five winners of the Nobel Prize in Literature this week. Most from countries that had other winners but which one is the only one from a country?

Answers to Last Week’s Questions:
The National Book Award finalists were announced last week:

Fiction

Bonnie Jo Campbell, American Salvage

Colum McCann, Let the Great World Spin

Daniyal Mueenuddin, In Other Rooms, Other Wonders

Jayne Anne Phillips, Lark and Termite

Marcel Theroux, Far North

Nonfiction
David M. Carroll, Following the Water: A Hydromancer's Notebook

Sean B. Carroll, Remarkable Creatures: Epic Adventures in the Search for the Origins of Species

Greg Grandin, Fordlandia: The Rise and Fall of Henry Ford's Forgotten Jungle City

Adrienne Mayor, The Poison King: The Life and Legend of Mithradates, Rome's Deadliest Enemy

T. J. Stiles, The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt

Poetry
Rae Armantrout, Versed

Ann Lauterbach, Or to Begin Again

Carl Phillips, Speak Low

Lyrae Van Clief-Stefanon, Open Interval

Keith Waldrop, Transcendental Studies: A Trilogy

Young People’s Literature
Deborah Heiligman, Charles and Emma: The Darwins’ Leap of Faith

Phillip Hooose, Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice

David Small, Stitches

Laini Taylor, Lips Touch: Three Times

Rita Williams-Garcia, Jumped

Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters - Gore Vidal

Literarian Award for Outstanding Service to the American Literary Community - Dave Eggers

This Week in Reading October 11 - 17

Authors born this week -

Nobel Prize in Literature
Playwright Eugene O’Neill, (1936), novelist Francois Mauriac (1952), poet Eugenio Montale (1975), novelist Gunter Grass (1999)

Novelists and story writers
Michael Lermontov, Elinor Glyn, Katherine Mansfield, Nathaniel West, Conrad Richter, C. P. Snow, Ann Petry, Sumner Locke Elliot, Kathleen Winsor, Mario Puzo, Miguel Delibes, Italo Calvino, Colin Channer

Poets and Playwrights
Poets: Virgil, e. e. cummings, Paul Engle, R. H. W Dillard Playwrights: Georg Buchner, Oscar Wilde, Arthur Miller, Alice Childress

Thinkers, Believers, Scientists, Historians, Biographers
Thinkers: Friedrich Nietzsche, Hannah Arendt, Michael Foucault Believers: Mary Daly Scientists: Robert Atkins Historians: Arna Bontemps, Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. Biographers: Hugo Young

Humorists, Essayists, Editors, Journalists, Officials, Media and Others
Humorists: P.G. Wodehouse, Lenny Bruce, Dick Gregory, Stephen Clarke Essayists: John Kenneth Galbraith, John W. Dean, Thomas Boswell, Katha Pollit, Ariel Levy Editors: Noah Webster, Robert Fitzgerald, Robert Coles Journalists: Jimmy Breslin Officials: Dwight D. Eisenhower, C. Everett Koop, Sarah Ferguson Media and Others: Aliester Crowley, Lee Iacocca, Tim McCarver, Jim Palmer, Suzanne Somers, Chris Wallace, Richard Roeper

Mystery / Crime / Suspense Writers
Crime: Ed McBain, Elmore Leonard

Fantasy / Science Fiction Writers
Fantasy: Robert Jordan Science Fiction: George Turner

Romance / Historical Fiction Writers
Historical Romance: Alice Chetwynd Ley

Adventure / Westerns
Westerns: Elmore Leonard

Visual Artists
Photographers: Paul Strand Cartoonists: Herbert Block Comic Book Writers: Jerry Siegel

Events to read about this week:
Initialisms abound this week, DAR, SNL, USN, and WMDs. Also the Normans conquered Britain, and Gibbons conquered Rome. The Germans found October was the best time to drink beer, but nearly half of October was taken away when the new calendar was made. (Just that one year.) Columbus found an island but thought it was Asia, the Cardiff Giant was unearthed but it was not what it was purported to be, the World Series was held in California but didn’t get started. At least we’re grateful that the Disney Company was started so that Teen Readers and the ever growing world population could ignore the bad stuff.

Obituaries
Mystery Writers of America Grand Master mystery novelist, screenwriter Stuart M. Kaminsky (75). He wrote over seventy books, and is credited with helping to start the career of Sara Paretsky. His most recent popular character was Lew Fonseca, a process server who works for an investigation firm. Other characters were a Russian Inspector, Porfiry Rostinkov, and a Hollywood private investigator, Toby Peters.

This Week’s Questions:
The National Book Awards finalists for this year were announced this week. Who are they? And what other two awards are being given to persons of letters?

Answer to Last Week’s Questions:

James Whitcomb Riley of Indiana, the “Hoosier poet,” wrote, “When the frost is on the punkin, and the fodder's in the shock .. When the heat of summer’s over and the coolin’ fall is here," in a poem entitled by the first phrase. ‘Fodder’ means food for livestock, and ‘shock’ means usually the stalk it grows on, such as corn stalks that would have been harvested and put away in storage bins and barns to be used throughout the winter.

Riley, probably much forgotten now outside of Indiana and library children's rooms because of his too child friendly sing-song rhymes, also wrote a poem entitled “Little Orphant Annie,” from which has grown comic strips, books, Broadway plays and movies, and another one called “The Raggedy Man.” The dollmaker of the Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls, also from which grew stories, comic books, and screen features, took the name from those two poems by Riley which he found in books on his nearby bookshelf. Riley has had a huge effect on America popular culture because of his prolific writings.

This Week in Reading October 4 - 10

The 2009 Nobel Prize in Literature was announced this week, going to a Romanian-born novelist who lives in exile in Germany, Herta Muller. She writes, according to the Nobel committee, "with the concentration of poetry and the frankness of prose, [to] depict ... the landscape of the dispossessed." Her novels, few of which have been translated into English yet, are about people constrained by a dictatorial Communist regime. Ms. Muller was forbidden from publication in her home country until she moved to Germany.

Authors born this week -

Nobel Prize in Literature
Story writer Ivo Andric (1961), novelist Claude Simon (1985), playwright Harold Pinter (2005)

Novelists and story writers
Alexis Kivi, Damon Runyon, Mario de Andrade, Caroline Jordan, R.K. Narayan, Jose Donoso, James Clavell, Rona Barrett, Marie-Claire Blais, Frederick Barthelme, Benjamin Cheever, Edward P. Jones, Jonathan Littell

Poets and Playwrights
Poets: Marina Tsvetaeva, Clive James, John Lennon, Diane Ackerman Playwrights: Joshua Logan, Amiri Baraka, Vaclaw Havel

Thinkers, Believers, Scientists, Historians, Biographers
Thinkers: Richard Rorty Believers: Jonathan Edwards, Phillip Berrigan, Jesse Jackson Scientists: R. D. Laing Historians: Walter Lord, Bill James Biographers: Jill Kerr Conway

Humorists, Essayists, Editors, Journalists, Officials, Media and Others
Humorists: Roy Blount, Joy Behar Essayists: William Zinsser Editors: Denis Diderot Journalists: Brendan Gill, Shana Alexander, Steve Coll, Dan Savage Officials: Media and Others: Giuseppi Verdi, Thor Heyerdahl, Oliver North

Mystery / Crime / Suspense Writers
Suspense: Joseph Finder

Fantasy / Science Fiction Writers
Horror: Anne Rice Science Fiction: Frank Herbert, David Brin

Romance / Historical Fiction Writers
Romance: Jackie Collins, Nora Roberts Historical Fiction: Thomas Keneally

Visual Artists
Graphic Novelists: Harvey Pekar Manga: Kazuki Takashashi Cartoonists: Bill Keane

Young People’s Writers
Children’s: James Whitcomb Riley, Louise Fitzhugh, R. L. Stine Teens: Sherman Alexie

Events to read about this week:
Tyndale prints the first Bible in English; the Gregorian Calendar gets rid of several days just to catch up; Sputnik, the world's first satellite is launched; the Naval Academy, Monty Python, PBS, the first talking movie, and Homeland security are also launched, along with the life of an Armenian film director. On the bad side, Chicago nearly burned down, a baseball team's players are banned from baseball whether they threw the World Series or not, and the US began its invasion of Afghanistan.

This Week’s Questions:

It's autumn now, and "the frost is on the punkin, and the fodder's in the shock." What? Who, born this week, wrote that and what does it mean? What other well known characters and other works came out of that writer's pen?

Answer to Last Week’s Questions:
Novelist, humanitarian Elie Wiesel and President, humanitarian Jimmy Carter, who were born last week, both won the Nobel Peace Prize. (President Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace prize this week.)

Librarian of Congress Daniel Boorstin appointed Kay Ryan as U.S. Poet Laureate, and the Bancroft Library at UC, Berkeley, home of the Mark Twain papers and numerous rare books and manuscripts, is named after California historian George Bancroft.

Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood,banned in many places, made the

American Library Association’s list of Banned American Classics.

LA as Subject's 4th Annual Los Angeles Archives Bazaar

The Glendale Public Library will be participating in the 4th Annual Los Angeles Archives Bazaar, presented by LA as Subject and hosted by the USC Libraries on October 17th. The free event will take place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Davidson Executive Conference Center on the USC campus.

LA as Subject, an alliance of libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions dedicated to preserving and celebrating Los Angeles's rich history and culture, describes the Archives Bazaar thusly:

Southern California history comes alive in exhibits by local historical collections and archives. Browse rare collections, consult with experts, and learn about L.A. history, family genealogy, and much more. The annual bazaar also features educational programs, discussions about history with local authors, and documentary films about the hidden stories of L.A.'s diverse neighborhoods and communities.

Those looking to volunteer at the Bazaar (in return for free parking and food!) can find volunteer information by clicking here.

The complete program, with parking information, a list of participating institutions, and a schedule of panels, film screenings, and author events is available here.

Meet a Great Horned Owl

Harry Potter liked owls. So did Merlin.
And Winnie the Pooh and Christopher Robin are good friends with Owl.

Come see an owl for yourself and find out what the fascination with owls is all about.

The Wildlife Waysation a nonprofit refuge for wild and exotic animals, brings one of the largest owls to the Library.

Meet this amazing bird up close and learn about the global plight of wildlife, especially near cities.

Saturday, October 17
2:00 pm
Glendale Central Library Auditorium
Free

This program is part of the Library's Big Read events. The Library joins Occidental College to celebrate the life of California poet Robinson Jeffers, widely regarded as one of the founders of the modern environmental movement in America.For more information on Big Read events, click here.

Big Read 2009: Robinson Jeffers and the Ecologies of Poetry

The Glendale Public Library is proud to be a part of Big Read 2009: Robinson Jeffers and the Ecologies of Poetry, hosted by Occidental College. This year's program celebrates the life of California poet Robinson Jeffers, widely regarded as one of the founders of the modern environmental movement in America.

Jeffers learned stone masonry and built his home, Tor House and Hawk Tower, in Northern California's Big Sur. He often used rocks and stones in his poems as symbols of "dark peace."

The Library's participation in this year's Big Read includes an online update of a brochure created by the Glendale Historical Society some years ago that highlights stone castles and buildings in and around the Tujunga/Sunland area. The updated version uses Google Maps and Flickr to share images of and information about these unique structures.

Additionally, representatives from the Wildlife Waystation, a nonprofit wild animal refuge in the Angeles National Forest, will give a presentation on their organization and mission. The event will take place at the Central Library Auditorium at 2 pm on Saturday, October 17th, and will feature a live great horned owl!

Visit the Library's Big Read 2009 page for additional information on the Robinson Jeffers and the Ecologies of Poetry.