Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton, original author of the cliché "It was a dark and stormy night," will be the subject of a debate on August 30 in Lytton, British Columbia. Bulwer-Lytton's 1830 novel, Paul Clifford, begins, "It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents - except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the housetops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness."
According to the Guardian, Henry Lytton Cobbold, of Hertfordshire, England, will defend great-great-great-grandfather's honor against Professor Scott Rice, founder of the International Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest. Since 1982, the contest has encouraged entrants to write the "opening sentence to the worst possible novel."
Rice will attempt to demonstrate that "It was a dark and stormy night" is a "literary tragedy."
The Guardian
The Best Books of Indiana 2008 have been announced by the Indiana Center for the Book.
- Breathing Out the Ghost by Kirk Curnutt (River City Publishing, 978-1-57966-070-3) won in the fiction category
- Sailing the Inland Sea by Susan Neville (Quarry Books, 978-0-253-21902-2) in nonfiction
- When I Crossed No-Bob by Margaret McMullan (Houghton Mifflin, 978-0-618-71715-6) in children's literature
- Day Dreamer to Dream Catcher by Joe Cooper as told to Suzanne Bailer Smith (Self-published) won the State Librarian's Award for Excellence in Nontraditional Literature.
Breathing Out the Ghost was chosen last year for the ForeWord Book Club and was a finalist in the 2007 Book of the Year Awards.
Indiana Center for the Book
The Los Angeles Times reports that the newly reopened Exposition Park - Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune Regional Branch Library is South LA's first "green" building. The renovations to the building, which took place this summer, reduced the building's water use by thirty percent, optimized energy use with double glazed windows and naturally lit reading rooms, and utilized environmentally safe content including bamboo flooring and cotton insulation.
According to the article, the remodeled library, which meets standards set by the U.S Green Building Council, has doubled in size and has more computers, a meeting room, adult literacy center, and storytelling areas.
Los Angeles Times
Library fines have been in the news lately, beginning with an article in the Guardian, titled "Noisy row breaks out in libraries over fines." The UK paper reported on a debate in an online forum and highlights a library in New Zealand that is offering patrons the chance to challenge librarians to Guitar Hero to have their late fees forgiven.
Some libraries in the US are also offering ways to eliminate fines for overdue books. The Westfield Washington Public Library in Indiana is holding a Food for Fines drive.
"Patrons who donate non-perishable food, personal hygiene, paper and cleaning products will receive a one dollar credit against any fines," reports the
Indianapolis Star.
The York County Library in Virginia is holding a school supplies drive and one item will pay one fine, no matter how large. And for patrons of the County of Los Angeles Public Libraries, this week is fine-free week. Any overdue materials can be returned this week without incurring fines. Current overdue fees will be reduced by half if paid this week.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reports that a children's knitting group will have to find a new place to gather after the Long Sault Library in Long Sault, Ontario, has banned arts and crafts.
"I really had fun in there in the library, and I'm really sad that they stopped that," Kingston Currie, a six-year-old member of the group, told the CBC.
The library is using the time they gain to promote literacy-based activities like book clubs and Scrabble nights.
cbcnews.ca
Updated: 8/21/2008
MEET AUTHOR GAIL KARWOSKI - Gail is the author of River Beds: Sleeping in the World's Rivers. Gail's thoughts on the importance of children's picture books are included in ForeWord's Author Pages.
FOREWORD BOOK CLUB - A collection of German short stories in translation.
FAST FOREWORD - News, awards and announcements from our wire.
FOREWORD FOOTNOTES - Titles of note from our review stacks.
updated: 08/20/08
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The Hands of Day
If we believe the ancient Greeks, the poet is a maker, "poet" being derived from the Greek poiesis: making. In The Hands of Day, beloved Chilean poet and Nobel Laureate Pablo Neruda crafts his love song to the human hands that transform the physical world to create roads, tools, and other useful things to support life. He also reconciles himself with his destiny and work as a poet. He begins with a guilty lament that he has not used his hands well: "Why did I not make a broom? / Why was I given hands at all?" He moves toward linking the work of the manual laborer with the work of the poet. Along the way, his radiant and unadorned images remind us of the beauty of the world---the "gutteral crystal" of birdsong---and of human endeavor.
"Who am I, if I created nothing?" he asks,....
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 To celebrate its tenth year, ForeWord Magazine named the first Independent Publisher of the Year in conjunction with its annual Book of the Year Awards. Kunati Books, a publisher of fiction and nonfiction which released its first titles just over two years ago, is the first recipient of this title. Read more about the award
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