WEALTH OF IDEAS

On Thursday, October 22, A.S Byatt will present at the Crest Theater in downtown Sacramento. Here are the event's details: A.S. Byatt Booker Prize | Bestselling Author The Children’s Book (Oct. 2009), Possession , Still Life, Angels and Insects Time of event: 7:30 pm A.S. Byatt is renowned internationally for her novels and short stories. She has received numerous literary awards including the PEN/Macmillan Silver Pen Award for Still Life , and the Booker Prize for Fiction for Possession: A Romance . Possession and her novella, Angels and Insects , are adapted into highly regarded films. A distinguished literary critic and teacher, Byatt was appointed a Dame of the British Empire in 1999 and received the Shakespeare Prize by the Alfred Toepfer Foundation in 2002. Byatt's latest novel, The Children's Book , was shortlisted for the 2009 Booker Prize. “A.S. Byatt is a storyteller who could keep a sultan on the edge of his throne for a thousand and one nights.” – The New York ...

On Monday night I hosted a performance by Brad Buchanan, professor of British Lit at Sac State, and Farrah Field from Brooklyn, New York. The two were amazing, and the open mic afterwards was energizing. That's the thing, the energy I get from these readings--I get so inspired I become restless. A surge of creativity. Brad Buchanan recited (performed) English Poetry from John Milton to Dylan Thomas, famous selections. His rendition of Yeat's "The Second Coming" was a subliminal moment. I was sitting there thinking, "Walking around with these masterpieces in your head has to have a certain effect on you own writing". And of course, Brad has writtehn two well-crafted collections, The Miracle Shirker and Swimming the Mirror , both of which I have had the pleasure to read many times. I have nearly destroyed my Miracle Shirker because of good habit of crafting my poetry inside other poets' books. I hate that empty space we leave on the right of the page...it...