Kay Ryan, the 16th Poet Laureate of the United States (2008-2010) and a person of wry wisdom, today won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry. Hear, hear! Specifically, the prize was for her book “The Best of It: New and Selected Poems” (Grove Press). The Pulitzer people described the book this way: “a body of work …
Word’s going out today that the National Book Festival, heading into its 11th year on the National Mall, will be a two-day event for 2011. The festival will take place on the National Mall, from 9th Street to 14th Street, on Saturday, Sept. 24 from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and on Sunday, Sept. 25 …
The 10th annual National Book Festival may have faded into memory, but we’re doing what we can to keep those memories alive–and to share them with people who didn’t have a chance to experience them in person. As usual, we’re posting tons of webcasts of author presentations, which you can find here. (A few others …
Monday would have been the 100th birthday of a poet whose translation of Homer’s “The Odyssey” brought me one of the really memorable reading experiences of a lifetime. Robert S. Fitzgerald, who awoke to his interest in poetry at a high school in Springfield, Illinois and whose work translating Homer’s Greek into English – while …
This is the second in a series of guest posts by Abigail Van Gelder, who with her husband, Josh, have set out across the country on the Library’s “Gateway to Knowledge” traveling exhibition. The rolling exhibit launched Sept. 25 at the National Book Festival: As we roll down the road on our way to Winchester, …
We try to give book-lovers as much information as possible about the National Book Festival, in a useful way, on our website. It might seem a little daunting, what with six author pavilions and numerous other attractions spread out across four city blocks on the National Mall and a sea of about 130,000 other people …
After a very long time in the planning stages, our “Gateway to Knowledge” traveling exhibition is finally becoming a reality. We were emailed a photo today (shown at right) that got everyone buzzing. It’s the first picture I have seen of the actual truck, rather than a rendering. (Don’t worry; I don’t think it was …
Looking for something free and “thrilling” to do in the DC area this evening? There are still tickets left for our special “Hardcover Mysteries” program tonight at 7 p.m. in the Library’s Coolidge Auditorium. The event features mystery authors David Baldacci, Sandra Brown and Kathy Reichs, who will discuss their writing careers, the inspirations for …
One of the challenges bibliophiles often face at the National Book Festival is merely getting to see everything they want to see. The day is jam-packed with author presentations, book signings, and plenty more to see and do. That’s why if you’re one of said bibliophiles, you might want to make your battle plan early. …