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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
Right now, here and there all over the world, people are sitting down with a good book and enjoying a good read. Sprawled on the lawn, curled up on the sofa, sitting on the steps in the piazza — they’re communing with a great author, or a funny author, or an author who’s telling them …
In today’s economic environment, there are good reasons to wonder about the feasibility of working from home. And we’re not talking telecommuting, here – we’re talking about self-employment. It doesn’t have to be all about Hard Times. Perhaps you’re just ready to do what you love, all the time – like the local woman who …
There’s nothing quite like the sound of a fighter aircraft, overhead. It can be thrilling — at an airshow, for example. It can also be reassuring — the way it was, for many, in the early morning hours over the Washington, D.C. area for months after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The Library …
The Library of Congress’ popular site on Flickr now features a set of lovely, century-old photochrom images of buildings and scenery from Belgium. Even if you don’t know your Flemings from your Walloons, these 108 pictures of places like Antwerp and Blankenberghe, Liege, Ghent and Louvain will transport you to times of yore.
#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 …
In a world where we can keep tabs on our own backyards from our desks at work, via satellite, it’s difficult to imagine the impact one man armed with notebooks and pencils could have in 1861 as the Civil War began to rend our young nation. Generals on both sides of that conflict desperately needed good topographical information …