Archive for Around the Web
Book Are . . .
“The Most Beautiful Work of All”: Patti Smith & Robert Mapplethorpe
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I’ve seen a lot of concerts over the years, but somehow one of my heroes, Patti Smith, always eluded me. But I recently saw her down in Knoxville at the Big Ears Music Festival. Twice, in fact. One show was a standard rock concert with a full band in the Tennessee Theater. The other show, titled “Words & Music,” took place in a slightly more intimate setting, the Mill & Mine. No drums, no bass. Patti on stage with only her son Jackson Smith on guitar and Tony Shanahan on keyboards and various other instruments. A cozier, chattier, more relaxed vibe. Patti performed songs, including covers of Bob Dylan (“One Too Many Mornings”) and Stevie Wonder (“Blame It On the Sun”); she gave brief readings and allowed herself the time to introduce songs at length. It was, as they say, a special night.
One of the things Patti read — maybe at the Tennessee Theater? — was the letter she wrote in 1989 to artist Robert Mapplethorpe who was in the hospital at the end of a long illness. Another bright soul taken by AIDS. Patti explained that she returned home after a hospital visit and composed a short letter to her friend, a relationship lovingly chronicled in her award-winning memoir, Just Kids.
He died the next day without ever having read it.
But you can. We can.
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Dear Robert,
Often as I lie awake I wonder if you are also lying awake. Are you in pain, or feeling alone? You drew me from the darkest period of my young life, sharing with me the sacred mystery of what it is to be an artist. I learned to see through you and never compose a line or draw a curve that does not come from the knowledge I derived in our precious time together. Your work, coming from a fluid source, can be traced to the naked song of your youth. You spoke then of holding hands with God. Remember, through everything, you have always held that hand. Grip it hard, Robert, and don’t let it go.
The other afternoon, when you fell asleep on my shoulder, I drifted off, too. But before I did, it occurred to me looking around at all of your things and your work and going through years of your work in my mind, that of all your work, you are still your most beautiful. The most beautiful work of all.
Patti
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Fingertreeprint
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“I’m a little worried about how much I’ve been thinking about my fingerprints. All the places I’ve been, the things and people I’ve touched, the marks I’ve left behind.” — The Fall, JP
In my writing, here and there, I’ve frequently returned to the idea/metaphor of fingerprints. Probably most cogently in The Fall, a book about identity and figuring out who you are (among other things).
And I’ve also been writing about trees (Blood Mountain, mostly, and in some new work not yet published). Not only writing, but trying to learn about them. Reading, stopping to look, researching.
So when I saw this meme, it resonated.
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This Saturday, 11/6, You Can Zoom Into the Rochester Children’s Book Festival — from Anywhere — and It’s Free!
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A FREE VIRTUAL EVENT
The Rochester Children’s Book Festival goes VIRTUAL this Saturday, November 6th for a full day of FREE panel discussions and readings with a diverse assortment of children’s book writers and illustrators.
I’ll be staggering around in Room 2 at 2:00pm, moderating a (hopefully!) lively and (hopefully!) entertaining conversation about chapter books and series writing with Michelle Knudsen, Laurie Calkhoven, and Judy Bradbury. See below for a full list of participating authors and events.
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You can also order signed book from all participating authors through the festival website.
REGISTER NOW by clicking this link and following the instructions.
Here’s the schedule for the day:
10:00 AM
ROOM 1
Read To Me Corner – Picture Book Stories Read By The Author
Annette Dunn
Susannah Buhrman-Deever
Unseld Robinson
ROOM 2
Picture Books: How Are You Feeling? Coping With Emotions
Heidi Stemple
Jane Yolen
Susan Verde
James Howe
11:00 AM
ROOM 1
Graphic Fiction: Drawing Demonstration (Interactive – Pencil And Paper Required)
Frank Cammuso
Steve Ellis
Brian Yanish
ROOM 2
For Our Younger Book Lovers: Stories and Songs (Interactive)
Iza Trapani
Tiffany Polino
Margaret Pence
ROOM 1
Fantastical Fantasy for Middle Grade Readers
Vivian Vande Velde
Sheela Chari
Bruce Coville
Historical Fiction – Fact and Fiction Storytelling
Keely Hutton
Elizabeth Falk
Susan Williams Beckhorn
Marsha Hayles
ROOM 1
Diverse Themes in Middle Grade Literature
Alex Sanchez
MJ and Herm Auch
Leslie C. Youngblood
ROOM 2
How Authors Use Poetry and Verse To Tell A Story
Linda Sue Park
Joseph Bruchac
Nikki Grimes
2:00 PM
ROOM 1
Picture Books: Fiction and Non-Fiction
Susannah Buhrman-Deever
Kevin Kurtz
Mylisa Larsen
Get Hooked on Chapter Books: Mysteries, Non-Fiction, and Humor
James Preller
Laurie Calkhoven
Michelle Knudsen
Judy Bradbury
3:00 PM
ROOM 1
Doing It All: Writing and Illustrating Your Books
Jeff Mack
Frank Cammuso
ROOM 2
How Picture Book Authors and Illustrators Work Together
Peggy Thomas
Kathleen Blasi
London Ladd
Yuko Jones
4:00 PM
ROOM 1
How To Write Non- Fiction That Middle Graders Want To Read
Ronny Frishman
Rose O’Keefe
Andrea Page
Sally Valentine
ROOM 2
Read To Me Corner – Picture Book Stories Read by the Author
Mylisa Larsen
Yuko Jones
Kathy Blasi
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THANK YOU
FOR SUPPORTING THE ARTS
IN THESE CHALLENGING TIMES!
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