William Faulkner

Gimbling in the Wabe – What is a Writer?

(Due to this nasty thing known as a “deadline”, this Gimbling in the Wabe is a repeat of one first posted here in 2014. I think it’s still a pretty good one, if I do say so myself….) ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ So what is a “writer”? Common sense […]

You can be in James Franco's film of Faulkner's 'As I Lay Dying

Published by : TS Tate

From The LA Times: Are you feeling like a William Faulkner character? Head to Mississippi, where open call casting sessions for the film adaptation of “As I Lay Dying” begin this week. Don’t be surprised if you think you see James Franco; the Oscar-nominated actor adapted the novel for the […]

Birthdays

On this day, April 12, in 1916, children’s fiction author Beverly Cleary was born in McMinnville, Oregon. The creator of such kid lit familiars as Henry Higgins and Ramona Quimby, she struggled with reading as a child; it was a school librarian who helped her discover a love of reading and even encouraged the young girl to become a writer. She became a children’s librarian herself, and started writing her own books in an effort to create stories that children could relate to. Winner of a Newbery Medal, a National Book Award, and recognized as a Living Legend by the Library of Congress (just a few of the accolades she has received), we unfortunately lost her just a few weeks ago, at age 104.

Birthdays

On this day, December 3, in 1857, Joseph Conrad was born in Berdichev, Imperial Russia (modern
Ukraine, then a part of Poland). While he settled in England and wrote in English, he always considered himself a Pole. Heart of Darkness, one of the most famous of his 20 novels (which explores colonialism and the attitudes regarding what constitutes a barbarian versus civilized society) is considered one of the best English novels of the 20th century, as is his novel Lord Jim, which chronicles a crew’s abandonment of its disabled ship. Conrad died in England in 1924 at age 66.