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Posted by: Matt Raymond
Have you ever had to keep a secret? A huge, exciting secret? A few weeks ago the head of our Music Division called to inform me that the third recipient of the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song would be Sir Paul McCartney. I’m fairly certain that they heard my reaction in the …
Posted by: Matt Raymond
Legendary comedian Carl Reiner spoke to a standing-room-only audience at the Library the other day, and I had the very good fortune of attending. I guess I should not have been surprised that this 87-year-old man was every bit as funny and incisive as he always has been. He spun terrific yarns, was always quick …
Posted by: Matt Raymond
The Washington Post had some nice coverage of Saturday’s National Book Festival, including a video asking authors what they would do if they were “literature czar” and what their favorite books are. Also featured was a brief interview with the always delightful poet laureate (a position appointed by the Library of Congress), Kay Ryan. By …
Posted in: Events, National Book Festival, News, Video
Posted by: Matt Raymond
Whether you can be in Washington tomorrow or not, there are many ways for everyone to be a part of the 2009 National Book Festival. I came up with at least a dozen: 1. Attend! It’s tomorrow (Sept. 26) from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. EDT on the National Mall (between 7th and 14th), rain …
Posted in: Books, Capitol Hill, Events, LC Web site, National Book Festival, News, Social Media, Technology, Washington DC
Posted by: Matt Raymond
The next two days for us will be a whirlwind of events as we celebrate the ninth annual edition of the National Book Festival. But there’s one aspect I just absolutely had to call out. Our folks have been busily working behind the scenes on a revamp of our literacy.gov website, which promotes lifelong literacy …
Posted in: Books, Collections, Education, Events, LC Web site, National Book Festival, News, Technology
Posted by: Matt Raymond
Jennifer posted earlier today about Saturday’s National Book Festival, but I had to get in my two cents. The NBF is special to me for more than one reason. First, it’s something on which a huge team of talented folks including me work intensively for about five or six months every year. It’s hard to …
Posted in: Books, Events, LC Web site, National Book Festival, Social Media
Posted by: Matt Raymond
#nbf Heads up: The first batch of podcast interviews with 2009 National Book Festival authors are now online here, on iTunes here (link opens in iTunes client) and on iTunes U here (link opens in iTunes client). Included in the first round are Junot Diaz, Rickey Minor, James Patterson, George Pelecanos, Nicholas Sparks and David Wroblewski–with more …
Posted in: Books, Events, National Book Festival, News, Podcasts, Social Media, Technology, Washington DC
Posted by: Matt Raymond
We had a few delays, but we were finally able to post all 55 minutes of the historic Feb. 23 performance by Stevie Wonder at the Library. VIEW THE WEBCAST HERE As I previously wrote (prematurely heralding what turned out to be only highlights of the evening), Wonder premiered the piece “Sketches of a Life,” …
Posted by: Matt Raymond
As I’ve previously stated (or tweeted), I felt a little bit bad that Charles Darwin shared his 200th birthday with Abraham Lincoln. It’s safe to say that one of the most widely recognized and influential scientists in history was somewhat overshadowed by the celebration of one of America’s greatest presidents. My colleague Donna Urschel recently …