Friday, June 06, 2008

Some Things to Keep You Busy

Here are some things I heard and read this week that you might enjoy.
Ursula LeGuin was this week's essayist for the series You Must Read This on NPR. She discusses Dr. Zhivago in her piece entitled Pain, Betrayal and Love in Old Russia. In it she says:
Only now do I realize how much I learned about writing a novel from Pasternak — the way a writer can leap across miles and years, so long as you land in the right place; the way accuracy of detail embodies emotion; the way that leaving more out allows you to get more in.
J.K. Rowling delivered her Commencement Address at the Annual Meeting of the Harvard Alumni Association. The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination is an interesting piece. As she begins, she says:
On this wonderful day when we are gathered together to celebrate your academic success, I have decided to talk to you about the benefits of failure. And as you stand on the threshold of what is sometimes called ‘real life’, I want to extol the crucial importance of imagination.
Over at Chicken Spaghetti, Susan shares an original by J. Patrick Lewis. It's a wonderful piece called I'm Learning to Speak English.

The latest Horn Book podcast takes listeners along for a night out in New York with Roger, Elizabeth Law (Vice President and Publisher, Egmont USA), Douglas Pocock (Executive Vice President, Egmont USA), and Newbery Medalist Richard Peck.

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