Book News

Shenandoah's $2,500 Glasgow Prize for Emerging Writers Goes to Catherine Barnett

Catherine Barnett of New York, NY has been named recipient of the 2004 Glasgow Prize for Emerging Writers, awarded annually by Shenandoah and Washington and Lee University, for her book Into Perfect Spheres Such Holes Are Pierced (Alice James Books, 2004). Poets who have published one book of poetry were eligible for consideration for the $2,500 prize.  As part of the prize, Barnett will also give a reading at Washington and Lee University during the 2004-05 academic year.  Poet Talvikki Ansel was recipient of the first Glasgow Prize awarded in 2001. 

Barnett’s poetry has appeared in Barrow Street, The Iowa Review, The Massachusetts Review and elsewhere.  She has published essays on poets Billy Collins (Teachers & Writers Magazine, March-April 2002), Adrienne Rich (World Poets, Scribner’s, 2000) and Zora Neale Hurston (Sing the Sun Up: Creative Writing Ideas from African American Literature (Teachers & Writers Collaborative, 1998).  Barnett’s collection of poems was also winner of the 2003 Beatrice Hawley Award.  She is a graduate of Princeton University and the MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College and currently teaches at New York University and Teachers and Writers Collaborative in New York City. 

Receiving honorable mentions for the 2004 Glasgow Prize were Miracle Fruit (Tupelo Press, 2003)  by Aimee Nezhukumatathil of Dunkirk, NY and Open House: Poems (Zoo Press, 2002)  by Beth Ann Fennelly of Oxford, MS. 

Next year’s Glasgow Prize will go to a writer who has published only one book of creative nonfiction.  The judge will be announced after the winner has been selected.  Submissions should be sent to R. T. Smith, c/o The Glasgow Prize, Shenandoah, Mattingly House, 2 Lee Avenue, Washington and Lee University, Lexington, VA  24450-0303 and must be postmarked between March 15 and March 31, 2005.  All contestants should include a vita, one copy of the submitted book, an unpublished essay, an sase and a submission fee of  $22 (either from the author or  publisher), which also brings a year’s subscription to Shenandoah. 

Spark's Notebook on Film

In 1996, the world was introduced to the romantic tales of Nicholas Sparks with his first novel, The Notebook. The story captured readers imaginations and lead to the sequel, The Wedding. Nicholas Sparks says the inspiration for Noah and Allie was the story of his wife's grandparents. "They had a truly magical relationship, one that withstood the test of time and circumstance. When I first met them, they had been married over sixty years and I remember marveling at how much they still seemed to care for each other. The Notebook attempts to describe such a love."

This summer the story is retold as a feature film starring Ryan Gosling (Noah Calhoun) and Rachel McAdams (Allie Hamilton). James Garner and Gena Rowlands capture the aging Noah and Allie as he reads "the notebook" to her each day to help her remember their love. The Notebook is a classic film romance done with the style of Hollywood's Golden Years.

Truman Capote: Against a Copper Sky

Truman Capote: Against a Copper Sky is a one-man play based on the life of Alabama writer Truman Capote, written by Norman McMillan. Dr. McMillan is the author of the memoir, Distant Son: An Alabama Boyhood and lives in Montevallo. Nick Crawford, a theatre major at the University of Montevallo, performs the title role.

Friday, July 30, 7:30 p.m. and
Saturday, July 31, 2:30 p.m.
Bernheim Hall, Mobile Main Library

701 Government Street, Mobile, Alabama

 

Tickets are $10. A portion of the proceeds will go toward the renovation of the Main Library in Mobile. For more information please call (251) 208-7097.

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The Library Dragon
by Carmen Agra Deedy
July 12 - August 7

A world premiere of the beloved children's book! Ms. Deedy brings the award-winning story about a thick-skinned librarian with a burning love of books to the Alley Stage at Theatre in the Square in Marietta, Georgia.

Performances are in English on Monday through Friday at 11 a.m. and Saturdays at 10:30 a.m. and in Spanish on Saturdays at 1:00 p.m.
Tickets are $7 for children and $10 for adults.

FMI, call: 770-422-8369

Discounts are available for groups of ten or more and one adult gets in free for every ten children in a group.

Elvis on Stage

 The world is celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Elvis's first recording. The King is on the musical theatre stage in two productions.

All Shook Up, a new musical comedy inspired by and featuring the songs of Elvis Presley, will begin previews February 20, 2005, and open March 24, 2005, at Broadway's Palace Theatre (1564 Broadway at 47th Street). Directed by Christopher Ashley, with a book by Joe DiPietro, choreography by Jodi Moccia, and musical direction and arrangements by Stephen Oremus, All Shook Up will receive its world premiere in Chicago in a five-week, pre-Broadway engagement at Chicago’s Cadillac Palace Theatre, December 21, 2004 through January 23, 2005.

Set in 1955, All Shook Up is not a biographical revue. Somewhere in middle America one girl’s wish and a surprise visit from a mysterious leather-jacketed, guitar-playing stranger will lead a small town to discover the magic of romance and the power of rock & roll. The musical features 24 legendary Elvis classics including: Heartbreak Hotel, Love Me Tender, Dont Be Cruel, Cant Help Falling in Love, and All Shook Up.

Across the Pond, Jailhouse Rock -- The Musical (Playwrights: Rob Bettinson, Alan Janes) continues to play at London's Piccadilly Theatre through September 18, 2004. The show is loosely based on the 1957 movie -- loosely in the sense that they've kept the plot but failed to secure rights to the Lieber and Stoller songs, including the hit title number. So, the musical does not include the film classics: "Jailhouse Rock," "Treat Me Nice," "Don't Leave Me Now," and "Young and Beautiful."

The only early Presley songs included are "Blue Suede Shoes," "Good Rockin' Tonight," "A Fool Such as I" and "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" The two showstoppers are songs made famous by with country star Charlie Rich -- "Lonely Weekends" and "Big Boss Man."