The Elegant Variation

FESTIVAL OF BOOKS - SUNDAY PANELS

Lots of running around this warm and sunny Sunday. Worthy panels all over the place and, typically, at opposite ends of the campus, hence a fair bit of running around.  First stop was The Next Big Thing Panel, ironically named in light of recent publishing developments.  Noted briefly:

Josh Getlin moderator.  Covers book publishing for the Los Angeles Times.  Panelists include Stephen White, Charlie Winton (Avalon Publishing Group), Mus White and Johnny Temple (Akashic Books).

Moderator begins talking about publishing’s following of the Hollywood template of the quest for blockbusters, and immediately references recent literary scandals.  These panelists, he suggests, reflect a more creative, independent look at how to make publishing choices.

Somewhat staggering was the inclusion of the Whites, who seem like nice enough folks but a cursory examination of the home page for their company Sunswept Press suggests an outfit that’s barely a notch above self-publishing.  (Two of the three books noted are by the Whites.)  They scarcely belong on a panel with the likes of Akashic and Avalon.  Predictably, the highlights of this discussion were the comments from Temple and Winton, which I focus on here.

JT: Akashic publishes 24 books a year, mostly fiction, some political non-fiction.  Started in 1997, no background in publishing prior, was a rock musician.  Published first books on a whim and loved it.  Exciting time to be a publisher.  Thinks the gloom in publishing traces back to the gambling approach of corporate publishing, the knock one book out of the park approach.  Akashic keeps overhead down so a book that sells a few thousand copies represents a success.  Very few books sell more than several thousand copies, and so the blockbuster mentality makes failures of literature.

CW: Avalon Publishing Group has offices in NYC and SF.  Seven imprints, publish a variety of books, novels, travel, biographies, works with the Nation.  Amazon, B&N and Borders constitute 50% of the market.  Lots of big corporations filling the field, have to be focused on having an upper end of your list, having a title that people are going to get excited about.  Can’t spend multimillions on a book but will spend six figures on a project that will sell currently and for a long time.  … 

JT: Discusses taking on Marlon James’ novel, rejected by agents as too dark, too afraid to take it on.  He saw it all on the page and ran with it, resulting in great NYT review, LAT Award finalist, example of the joy of publishing and what inspires him.  Discusses a lunch with Ron Kovic and learned that Born on the Fourth of July had gone out of print.  Kovic got the rights back and Akashic took it on and sold thousands and thousands of copies.

Afterwards, I made a brief detour to check out the Sports Writers Panel to hear Martin Dugard talk about his book Chasing Lance.  (Laila’s verdict when I told her where I was headed: “Geek.”)  And although it’s true that cycling books are a bit outside of my literary brief, I was curious to find out about Dugard’s experiences with the Tour, even as I found the book itself a bit wanting.  (The book is strong on the technical aspects of the Tour and its cultural role in French life but my main criticism centers on Dugard’s efforts to create drama in what was essentially an utterly drama-less Tour.  The attempts feel even more melodramatic when reading in hindsight and with an understanding of the 2005 Tour.)  In my opinion, the great Tour de France book still awaits its definitive author.  Nevertheless, this man was out there in France, following the event I’ve dreamed about, so I came to hear what he had to say.  Notable excepts herewith:

MD:  Some resistance to writing another Lance book from the publishers, so he worked it in with a pitch for another book his publisher wanted.   Felt this was a book he really had to write, even as it seemed impossible to get Lance’s involvement given the demands on his time. … People liken his meeting Lance to meeting Christ … When they become a symbol of hope, as Lance has, they come under scrutiny that used to be reserved for Bono … It has to be tough for an up and coming athlete to aspire to being a hero these days because heroes have to be squeaky clean.  But they’re just athletes.  But I like Lance, though not always.  He can be prickly.  If you inflame him in an interview, you can swear he wants to tear your larynx out.  I know his faults, I know his weaknesses.  But I have never been as inspired as by watching Lance.  Watching him bike up a mountain makes me want to be better. … On doping:  I want to know, I’m curious.  First thing writers ask him is “So what happened to Lance and Sheryl?”  My standard answer is “He was a bigger star than her.”  But there’s a lot of stuff around the Lance thing … I do and I don’t want to know about it … I know of instances, I know of stories but do I want to do some investigation of drug use?  No.  His career is over, the French are trying to railroad him.  If something comes up later, maybe.  You want to cover them as an athlete but you’re hesitant to reveal too much as a person.  I put myself in their shoes.  Would I want someone going through my trash?  Printing rumors about me?  (He’s asked where you draw the line, and whether doping is part of his public life.)  There are scurrilous claims out there.  When it comes to things like doping, we’re going to find out a lot of things in 10-15 years.  And then we can pursue that story.  Big press conference at second to last stage of the Tour, hundreds of journalist, packed into a room.  After an hour conference, all the journalists took off their credential tags and asked him to sign them – even the French journalists.  It’s easier to write about someone who’s no longer alive … writing about a guy like Lance, there’s this attendant baggage that makes it difficult.  Title comes from the fact that there are 4000 journalists at the Tour every day, all of whom want one-on-one with Lance.  Had been trying to get Lance one-on-one since July 1st.  Lance called him on Sept. 23 as Dugard was driving down the 405.  Dugard pulled over, got his notebook out and had the long-awaited conversation, which he found a great validation, even as he confesses that the need for validation troubled him.  Lance paid him a backhanded compliment … he likes the book which is nice, and it will be in an Espy gift basket … but it still worries him that this makes him feel good.

Our final stop was a brief glimpse at the LA Lit panel, a glimpse made even briefer by my expiring laptop battery.  The panel consisted of Janet Fitch (moderator), and Chris Abani, Steve Erickson, Michelle Huneven, and Jim Krusoe.

Jim Krusoe asks the question I’ve been asking – Do writers in Pennsylvania sit around in coffee shops talking about Pennsylvania literature?

CA: References things back to Hollywood’s dominance which can overshadow LA’s rich literary history.

SE: Metaphorically and geographically, LA is as far as we can go.  We fret about how the world is going to end here but we’re very proprietary about that, too.  Something about that conceit appeals to us, we’d find it galling to suggest the world might end somewhere else.

MH:  Los Angeles used to be famous for chewing up the literary writer.  But now there are a lot of literary writers in LA and it’s become just another place to write, even as we’re trying to say it is possible to write here in the sunshine amid the swimming pools.

JK: I asked it, I’m not supposed to answer it.  And I actually thought this was a panel about California writing.  Los Angeles and NY are the only two cities in the country that generate myth, the two larger than life cities.  It’s interesting and intimidating as a writer.

JF: First time an overview of the LA art scene has been seen anywhere is on display in Paris, which she recently saw.  Had never seen it as one large story.  Does there seem to be more of an interested in the art of LA now?

CA: There are whole parts of Los Angeles that never get talked about.  When I arrived here it became Lagos.  Graceland would not have been written if I hadn’t been living in Los Angeles.  Los Angeles is a complete city of invention, exists purely by the will of the people who live here.  Discusses that although LA is multicultural, it’s also very segregated, but the segregation creates rough edges that make it interesting.  It’s the only city where the natives are invisible.  You come here and you make it your home.

SE: Born and raised here.  Born in the Valley at a time when it bore a strong resemblance to the Valley that you see in Chinatown, all orchards.  I can remember orchards and ranches.  In the 60s between 62 and 67 there was this mega-lurch from a very rural valley and a bypassed suburbia and it moved into a mega suburbia.  Which seemed completely normal to me at the time.

Which is precisely when my battery gave up the ghost.  Will try to cobble up some additional recollections on the panel before the day ends.

My own big question for the organizers – where is your panel on book blogging?  That’s the second year in a row the role of book blogs have been utterly ignored, whereas BEA began discussing blogs two full Expos ago.  Hope that will be remedied by next year.

FESTIVAL OF BOOKS - FIRST FICTION, FINDING VOICE

Panelists:  Marlon Jones, Laila Lalami, Adrienne Sharp, Lisa Fugard, Mark Rozzo – Moderator

I arrived late, scrambled for my seat and missed some of the opening remarks – Laila shook her head in bemusement at my perpetual disarray.  Herewith, the notes from the discussion, which was considerably more interesting than yesterday’s First Fiction panel.

Panelists begin by describing the earliest works that inspired them to write.  James references Salman Rushdie.  Laila discusses the question of language, of the baggage that comes with a colonial education as she sought her voice.  Sharp thinks that material helps define voice.  Sharp tells anecdote about Ann Beattie, in which she was rejected from her class for essentially writing Ann Beattie imitations.  Fugard references growing up “in a house of writers … language was a part of my experience … words were delicious things in my house.”  Found her voice by writing was difficult, the things she was scared to write about. 

Rozzo is an intelligent moderator who displays familiarity with the works at hand.

Fugard tells anecdote about cracking a problem character, turning her from Eva to Evan and then breaking through.

Rozzo asks the dreaded – is an MFA necessary – question.

MJ:  I’m working backwards … wrote the book then went to get the MFA … many criticisms are valid … Schools which shall remain nameless produce fiction all of the same kind … on the other hand, at my program, guys said Mailer and Hemingway didn’t get an MFA.  Teacher responded Hemingway went to the school of Stein and Mailer went to the school of Perkins.  All of which was a creative writing class.  I’ve met a couple of editors and they’re not quite bookish … That kind of nurturing environment is not going to exist in the industry.  Solid critical thinking that will make a difference can be found in MFA world.

LL:  I don’t have an MFA, I don’t plan on getting one … limited use … can teach how to write but can’t teach you how to have something interesting to say … not going to help you write a book that will be worthwhile.  That has to come from you, from the practice, from the habit of fiction.

AS: Benefit is friends who become readers for the rest of your life. 

LF: Don’t have an MFA, sometimes intimidated by people who do but went to a lot of writing conferences.  They were stunning for me, two weeks being immersed, a couple of writers who worked with me who were so encouraging and supporting, I really recommend the writing conferences.

LL: Underscores problem of a workshop where people are writing wildly varying kinds of work but are in a position to provide criticism.

MJ: Sometimes can be a bunch of people who are not quite there yet trying to give advice … a slight cluelessness.  Points out the tendency of much criticism to take the form of “here’s the way I would have written it” …

MR: Worst advice any of you got?

LL: I was asked to move my story to Miami and put Cuban immigrants instead of Morrocan immigrants.

AS: There’s always the mean person, the nasty one who makes you go home and cry.

LF: Need for a discerning eye, the capacity to reject certain criticism when you know what you’re doing. 

AS: Anything you hear from your friends, you’ll hear from editors, so it’s a valuable preview.

MJ: Best advice.  Third draft, friend in a workshop told him “You don’t have a clue about women.”  Advice was go and read Sula and go and read Song of Solomon afterwards.  I was given Toni Morrison as medicine.  Any writing problem can be solved by reading.

MR: First novels tend to be autobiographical, coming of age.  Each novel feels very personal and intimate but they’re filled with reporting, history, knowledge, politics.

LL: Was really trying not to write about me, such a cliché for the first book to be roman a clef, and this next book is actually a lot more personal.  As I was working I saw so many parallels between characters and myself, it’s not a coincidence – the book is about immigration and I am an immigrant.

AS: First book published is not necessarily the first book written.  Many dreadful books sitting under a bed.

LF: Posits that stuttering father character in the book might be revenge on her eloquent father.  Was so sad that she missed South Africa in the 1980s, and so book was set in that time period so that she could experience the journey that she missed.

MR: Actual first book written?

LF: Yes.  Was a bull about getting it published.

LL: A partial about a Moroccan grad student – got bored with it after page 100.

MR: How does it feel going into real book two?

LL: It does not get easier … very sobering realization … gets harder.  New book is joyful experience but it’s excruciating to write it.  But rewarding moments, the highs are so high.

MJ: If you write with too many expectations, you’re going to write a book about expectations.  Forever sequels.

AS: Has shifted time frame to pre-revolution Russia for her second book, and although it involves dancers, history aspect is more compelling than the day-to-day lives of dancers.

LF: Sort of bumbling around with another novel … Thought I was writing the first one all over again … Writing about South Africa again, interested in the border war at Angola/Namibia border.  First drafts are just awful – I write at the top of the page “Permission to write badly” and then it all starts to fall into place.

Advantage of parentage … I never once doubted the value of sitting at a desk. Was an albatross while acting but not while writing.

MR: Asks how blogging and Moorishgirl connects to finding an audience.

LL: It’s such a different kind of writing … I wouldn’t say it’s helped at all in terms of finding a literary voice.   Helps me find the kind of books I want to find and to connect with other readers, and to connect with other bloggers who enjoy reading.  It’s been really great to discover writers I might not have come across otherwise.  It’s essentially procrastination – few posts means I’m getting good writing done, many posts means I’m at a block.

And yes, in the questions section, someone did ask "How did you get your agents?"

FESTIVAL OF BOOKS - DAY ONE GENERAL THOUGHTS

In the end, the sun came out and things warmed up considerably.

Every year, the size of the Festival seems to grow.  It's heartening to see what appears to be more and more people attending what is apparently the largest civic literary event in the country.

It's also exceptionally well managed.  They get this one right, and every year it seems to improve, lessons learned from the year before, a constant ascent. 

Despite the occasional cold stare and gossipy whisper (it is, after all, the book world) this is fundamentally a place where serious people can get together and share their love of books for the weekend.  If you didn't make it out today, do make every effort to be there tomorrow ...

FESTIVAL OF BOOKS: BOOK BIZ

I'm just back from the Book Biz: The Insiders panel, where our laptop began bluescreening itself to death.  I've figured it out - hardware problem - but I'm going off handwritten notes and general impressions of this panel, which included Agent Betsy Amster, Publicist Kim Dower, the legendary Larry Kirshbaum and the crowd pleaser Steve Wasserman (we mean that sincerely - he elicited round after round of applause - including ours - pillorying, variously, Oprah, Bush and the evils of publishing in general).  The panel was moderated by PW editor Bridget Kinsella.

Among some of the sound bites:

LK discusses the book business' lamentable (my adjective) imitation of Hollywood in the search for The Big Book.  He points out that in his day, Michener was the world's best selling author with 125,000 copies of Hawaii.  He also discusses the other end of the spectrum, the indies and the struggling authors.

As he speaks, it occurs to me that there does seem to be a parallel hear between the explosion of the gap between the richest and the poorest Americans, and the gap between the blockbuster books and the the rest of the pack ...

BK and KD agree that writing is no longer enough - one must have a "platform" (that is, a source of interest in the writer beyond the work itself).

SW discusses the challenge of cutting through the noise of our culture to get authors heard.  In his opening statement, he references Melville, Kafka, Koestler and van Gogh, anointing them "the worthy dead"

KD infuriates me with her nitwit assertion that we need to look at books as products or entertainment, and she focuses on the selling of the author.  Let me be clear on this - she is the enemy.  She embodies everything that's wrong with the book world today.  It might be one thing if she observed this phenomenon and lamented it as an unfortunate development but perhaps necessary evil.  But she wholeheartedly and passionately embraces the commodification of the book and of the author, and she makes me fearful for the future.  At one point, she observes that "marketing is looked down upon," and well, if she's the typical spokesperson, it isn't hard to see why.  There's not even a passing concession the artistic component of the work.  Sad.

LK observes that in spite of all this, quality books do sell.  He thinks it's a fallacy that a work of real literary merit won't break out.  He goes on that publishing is a business of ideas, excitement, passion.  He thinks the product angle isn't entirely accurate and he's clearly offering a corrective.

SW shares a fascinating anecdote about his days at Times Books when, in a meeting with his editor, he was advised he could no longer acquire the 10,000 copy books but had to, instead, look for the 40-50,000 copy title.  He pointed out that this required casting about for the "sure thing" and would have resulted in Random House's passing on two gold mine titles - Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil and Primary Colors.  From there he leaps to Oprah where he castigates her for her shameful bullying of Frey, and wished that Nan Talese would have had the gumption to point the finger back at Oprah, naming her complicit in the creation of this confessional/recovery culture and reaping her own fruit.

As one might imagine, the Frey comment sparks a fact checking debate, which segues into a plagiarism discussion.  Since LK was present at the acquisition of Opal Mehta, he shared some impressions ... "I was present at the acquisition ... People there loved the book ... she came in with her parents ... I felt like a principal ... We thought the book was a very engaging story ... spoke to something all parents go through these days ... getting children into the right schools ... Some people in their infinite wisdom thought the advance made sense ... There was a movie deal, a large printing, the book appeared headed for success ... she was a telegenic author."

LK went on to try to take some of the edge off the case.  "She made a terrible mistake ... the pressure got to her ... We tend to go for vengeance, jealousy ...  schadenfreude at those who are successful ... seems to me this has been so overblown ... She tried to apologize on TV and Katie Couric was rough on her."  (TEV Note - Sounds like she's learning the lessons of Oprah Righteousness.  If only, as Wasserman pointed out, our television figures exposed our political figures to the same sort of bludgeoning we hand out to our writers.)

Contrary to today's LAT article, LK does not think this case typifies all that is wrong with publishing.  And he asks "Where is the empathy?  Where is the forgiveness?"  SW advises her to seek it from Oprah.

The session ends with SW quoting Wilde - "Never let the facts get in the way of a good story."

More dispatches to follow, and don't forget this evening's Vermin on the Mount reading at 7 p.m.

FESTIVAL OF BOOKS: CREATING COMMUNITY and FIRST FICTION

First Fiction Panel consists of Kirsten Allio (Garner), Uzodinma Iweala (Beasts of No Nation), Olga Grushin (The Dream Life of Sukhanov) and moderator Susan Salter Reynolds.  There’s an overflow crowd lined up way past the entrance to the Fowler Museum 

The volunteers are a bit overzealous here, herding the audience into specific seats.  We’re cowering quietly in the background, hoping the matrons won’t break our kneecaps.

While we’re waiting for them to settle, a few words about this morning’s Building a Creative Community panel.  The panelists were Carolyn See, John Baxter and Michael Walker.  Richard Rayner moderated.  And although the panelists were charming – Baxter is a born raconteur – time was wasted reading excerpts, which essentially left time for precisely one question before the audience questions kicked in.  They also failed to address the stated theme of the proceedings – Building a Community.  But, as a reflection on what community means to each, it was illuminating, and it’s interesting to note that the men saw the supportive creative community in terms of cities (Paris) and neighborhoods (Laurel Canyon), where as the panel’s lone woman spoke in terms of family.

The panel is starting up.  Here we go:

SSR – These are huge … risky books … have not seen anything like them in 15 years of reviewing … Writers are invited to read excerpts.  Excerpts are all too long, and too much panel time is taken up with them.  Now, she asks them how they became writers, who their mentors were, the moment they gained confidence to write.

UI:  With each new thing you start, you search for the confidence to go on because each thing is different … Wrote book in his last year of college and worked with Jamaica Kinkcaid for a year … Very harsh feedback sometimes but it allows you to hone your skills. … I don’t really know if I am a writer yet … you have to write more than one book.

KA:  (sighs heavily)  Becoming a writer?  (sighs)  From childhood I wanted to be something in the arts, translating reality into something less real.  Was cellist, dancer, had that one special professor in college who helped her along.  Feels it’s a funny juncture after the first book as it was all poured into it.  Having children forces her to economize and she works much better.

OG:  Always known, started at four.  Never thought of it as a profession, tried other things, too.  Hardest transition was trying to get her writing published, which only happened seven years ago … no mentors, no writing classes, nothing, just one ten-dollar book on getting published which told you to double-space your manuscript.

SSR:  So none of you are in it for the money?

ALL:  Laughs …

SSR:  Asks about experience in publishing, shopping the book, the editing process, how were first novelists treated?  Pressure to compromise?

UI:  Process was very streamlined.  Wrote book as senior thesis, had to be in pretty good shape or I wasn’t go to graduate.  Kinkcaid passed it to her agent, who took it on.  Little editing required by the end.  Difference between thesis and book is about a paragraph.

KA:  Oh … you lucky … Got an MFA at Brown and got an agent that way, did not work out, fired him, started all over again … Coffee House Press actually does read the slush pile and that’s how Garner got published.  Editing process did not change much at all.  Agents were interested in making it more mainstream, taking out all the questions, putting in only answers … not at all palatable. 

OG:  Did everything by the book, finished the novel, bought another book on how to find an agent, made a list of agents based on their client list, expected to go indie press route.  Some agents wanted rewrites, too experimental.  Refused to make changes.  Agent ultimately signed her quickly, Puttnam required very little editing.  British editor had more edits for the UK market – trouser for pants – but basically pretty easy.

SSR: They used to tell us write what you know.  How much did each of you follow that advice?

UI:  I think it should be write about what you want to know.  I grew up in Washington DC.  So it’s not a book about anything that happened to me.  It does contain elements of people and places I know, and I elements I knew nothing about until I did my research … tried to understand how people deal with violence. 

KA: For me, it’s really important to write about what I know… to try to translate this known and felt world … it just feels to me like a translation process.  What was most fun was the surprise that it became a historical novel … it started out contemporary.  Wanted to find a more universal and mythical voice that could hold its own next to all the nature writing in the book.  I like to write more than I like to read, so research is hard. 

OG: I can imagine myself writing about something I know nothing about.  It’s not autobiographical but I wanted to get the Russia of my childhood out of the way first.  I had to do some research … story goes back 50 years to the 1930s … some things that I had to research.  Was important to me to recreate the atmosphere of what I remembered and what I loved for the first book. 

SSR:  Relationships with your readers.  Suddenly, there are people who think they know you  Have you thought about how to deal with your readers?

UI: Thank you guys for reading.  Once you finish the work you can’t expect someone reading it to think what you were thinking.  Think about reading Faulker, you have no connection with the time and place but there’s something in the work that affects the reader.  That’s something special to be able to offer.  Have had some interesting experiences with readers – moments that make it completely worth it, your back changed the way I thought, or moments when people come up and say, Wow, I really didn’t like that.

KA:  I would echo that once it’s out of my hands it’s yours.  I’ve had lots of frustrated readers who wanted the answers or the solutions and I steadfastly refused to give it because I like the sense of asking questions instead of providing answers.  It’s also very stark and severe and withholding and I’ve taken some refuge in that.  I love to hear what people think about it, though.

OG:   I basically wrote the sort of thing I would like to read.  My first reader was my husband who doesn’t like what I like to read, so that was a sobering experience.  Various ways of interpreting the ending and I like that, I like that people have different opinions.  For the second book, the abstract ideal reader becomes more concrete.  Nothing better than hearing from a person who read it, not even reviews.

SSR: Second book?

UI: Kinkcaid advised him upon finishing to sit back and relax and not try to get something else finished right away.  Has been working on and off for two years but largely writing to write, in order to know what one wants to write about before writing.

KA: Deep into a second novel about homesickness, trying to be contemporary.  Also have about 10 or 12 short stories going.  But I’m not in a rush.

OG: Also working on a second novel.  It’s coming along, not as quickly as hoped but no rush.

LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK AWARDS

8:05 p.m. Blogging live (more or less) from the Los Angeles Times Book Awards, a pleasantly cool Friday evening in Westwood. Walking up to Royce Hall, I happened to pass by as Joan Didion emerged from her town car. She is every bit the frail, petite wisp of legend. I also had the pleasure of bumping into my good pal Mr. Steve Wasserman, present in his famed seersucker. He received me graciously, as ever, and inquired after my cycling results, noting that I had been competing in the “Old Guys” category …

I’ve rendezvoused with Laila and her husband, and now we’ve settled in for the Book Awards ceremony. Presenters will include Dana Gioia, David Ulin and Adam Gopnik. We’ll be paying special attention when LBC nominee Garner comes up in the First Ficion category. In the fiction category, we think Veronica has a good chance, as L.A. loves its tales of drugs and prostitution. More anon.

8:11 p.m. We’re being treated to a multimedia presentation on the history of the Los Angeles Times. It’s predictably self-congratulatory but the audience does seem to enjoy it. The Book Awards are 26 years old as of this evening.

8:14 p.m. LAT editor Dean Baquet takes the microphone. Gives a nice, elegant speech and introduces Kenneth Turan.

8:16 p.m. So odd to watch Turan, knowing that voice I know so well from NPR. He’s introducing the judges reading down a fairly long category by category list. Too many names for a slow typist like me to catch. Now he introduces NEA chairman Dana Gioia, who has just called himself a “working class Latin kid from L.A.” Interestingly, his cultural references so far have been film – Quentin Tarrantino and Fritz Lang. But now he’s reminiscing quite pleasantly about his reading youth at Hawthorne Public Library. Although in the end, like too many others, he’s now marching down the path of Los Angeles Insecurity – truly, folks, when oh when oh when will this city stop feeling it necessary to excuse itself? Vaguely disappointing. Crowing about how Californians read more than New Yorkers. It’s unseemly stuff.

8:28 p.m. First up the science and technology awards, announced by Robert Lee Hoates. He’s just taken a nice firm whack at the anti-science stance of the religious right. Applause dots the room, led by yours truly. The winner is … Diana Preston for Before the Fallout.

So, they’ve got one of these women in a sexy black dress meeting the winners, and I just have to wonder why is there always a hot babe? You never see a handsome, tuxedoed square jawed type. Now, don’t misinterpret my thoughts here – it just seems an oddly retrograde and sexist choice for something as supposedly enlightened as a literary award, that’s all.  Hey, Ulin, who's to blame for this?

8:35 p.m. Dana Goodyear takes the stage to give the poetry award. The winner is … Jack Gilbert for Refusing Heaven. They have an audiotape of Gilbert reading “A Brief for the Defense.” It’s a lovely, lovely poem. They got this one right … He isn’t here to accept the award.

8:45 p.m. Ronald Brownstein takes the stage to give the current interest award. Updike’s art book is among the nods … The winner is … Night Draws Near by Anthony Shadid. He’s on assignment in the Middle East with the Washington Post and accepts via taped statement.

8:51 p.m. Time for the Art Seidenbaum First Fiction Award. David Ulin is the presenter. Nice to see him taking the center stage, his first festival appearance since becoming editor of the LATBR. And the winner is … Beasts of No Nation by Uzodinma Iweala. A brief speech in which he uses “hopefully” incorrectly … (Laila called this win out in the lobby before the show.)

8:57 p.m. Mary Higgins Clark takes the stage to award the Mystery/Thriller award. The winner is … Robert Littell for Legends. He’s not present but his surrogate is reading the thanks off of her hand, which is apparently where she jotted down the names. She’s talking way too long, telling a story about Littell from the 1960s … it’s a long rambling affair and I’m wishing for Oscar music to come up right now. I remember this woman, she was at David Kipen’s Duttons reading and spent a similar amount of time talking then, too …

9:06 p.m. OK, it’s the history category, announced by Leo Brody, and I’m pulling hard for Tony Judt’s magisterial Postwar … And the award goes to Adam Hocschild for Bury the Chains.

9:12 p.m. Luis J. Rodriguez takes the stage to give the fiction award. It’s a somewhat strange category this year, with the likes of Nick Hornby up against E.L. Doctorow. Mary Gaitskill is nominated as well, as are Gabriel Garcia Marquez (think he’ll show – c’mon guys, what’s this one all about?) and Haruki Murakami. Not much in the way of hometown fiction – why not nominate Updike and Roth while you’re at it. Just not that interesting, I think – the first fiction list is considerably more compelling. The award goes to Garcia Marquez. Surprise – he couldn’t make it. His son, though, is here and he’s giving a funny and charming talk, recounting his father’s request that he come and accept the award. “How long do you have to talk?” Father asks. “Oh, I don’t know they said be brief – a minute or two.” Silence and a sigh. “An eternity.”

9:21 p.m. Adam Gopnik is up now to give the Young Adult fiction award. Wow. He has a great photographer – he looks like a nervous little bird up there. And the winner is Per Nilsson for You and You and You. Translated from the Swedish – Mr. Orthofer would love this. He’s talking about the absence of titles being translated into Swedish, expressing frustration at the dearth of international titles available to him.

9:28 p.m. I’m fading and it’s Biography time. Let’s move it along, folks, we old types need our sleep. So the winner is Matisse the Master by Hilary Spurling, accepting by videotape. It’s a lovely speech describing Matisse’s love for American in general and California in particular.

9:38 p.m. Last award, the Robert Kirsch Award, their version of the Thalberg. We’re getting a video presentation on winner Joan Didion. She’s getting a well-deserved standing ovation. “I get a prize is from a paper I still read every morning … in New York.” It’s a brief but heartfelt speech, no more than three minutes and she’s gone. And that, my friends, is that. We’re logging out for the night and we’ll be back with Festival dispatches tomorrow.

WOW

Maud provides some incredibly detailed coverage of PEN's Faith and Reason event.  Go check it out - it's like being there, only without the crowds.

L.A. EVENT - DAVID MITCHELL

David Mitchell makes a rare area appearance this evening at Skylight Books at 7 p.m., where he'll read for his much-lauded novel Black Swan Green.  (Or copy is presently lent out, so we haven't had a chance to see for ourselves.)

For details about the appearances, check out the Skylight site.  Seating is limited, so early arrival is advised for this one.

OBITER DICTA - THURSDAY EDITION

Since we're going to be working bloggers all weekend, reporting live from the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, things will probably be light around here tomorrow.  In the interim, some worthy links to keep you busy:

* The newest New York Review of Books is online and full of the usual interesting stuff, including William Pfaff's look at the recent student protests in France.

* As has been noted elsewhere, the Orange Prize nominees have been announced.

* We don't share everyone else's endless fascination with the recent plagiarism scandal, but we do note one amusing thing - a laudatory look at the book in question (dated April 19) remains on the home page of the Harvard Crimson, which broke the story.  (Look down left under Arts.  It's titled "There's a True 'Opal' in There, Somewhere.")  Webmaster asleep at the switch?  The only other question we have - and perhaps it's been answered somewhere - is what prompted that enterprising young Harvard reporter to do the comparison?  The original article doesn't mention a tipoff, making it sound like original research but we'd be curious to know what prompted the story ...

* Slate - a bit late in the game - looks at how Capote the film explains Capote the writer.

* Just as The Plot Against America was not against Bush, it appears that Everyman is not about Roth.

* Literary documents pertaining to Oscar Wilde have been donated to the University of Leeds in northern England.

* There's a terrific new George Saunders interview - 120 questions worth - up at, of all places, AOL ... (Thanks to Randy Johson for the link.)

* Lost Magazine - devoted to exploring loss in all its forms - has gone online with a fine looking website.

* In a first, this year's Magnesia Book of the Year - it's a Czech book award - has gone to a book of photographs.

* Jack Kerouac's 1966 Hyannis residence has finally sold for $300,000, down from its asking price after almost five months on the market.  Clearly, the literary-residence-housing bubble has burst.

* Finally, we've meant to link to this piece for ages - this Poets and Writers series on publishing has been quite interesting - so if you're interested in the life of a publicist and why it is, exactly, that litbloggers get tons of books on our doorstep daily, this article is for you.

EAST COAST EVENT - NEWBURYPORT LITERARY FESTIVAL

If you're not on this side of the country this week, there are still book fairs out there for you, most notable the Newburyport Literary Festival, whose guests will include Richard Russo, Peter Orner and Verlyn Klinkenborg.  Check out the details of the lineup here.