One of my friends, along with her sisters, is right this minute living out a true story that is so much stranger, so much more unbelievable, more gut wrenching, more gripping than any fictional novel could be that it makes one stick in one's seat, mind boggling, and think hooley dooley who knows what? is going on behind the scenes in people's lives...
I came across another true story in The Economist this week - another tale of sisters, equally inspiring. Here's hoping both come to the good and brave ending they deserve.
'When Wayétu Moore fled her home of Monrovia, Liberia with her father and two sisters in the summer of 1989, banished by the outburst of civil war, one of the few things she had was a small notebook. In Lai, the village where they hid for six months, five-year-old Wayétu and her sisters scribbled about the death and mayhem they witnessed around them. Over two decades after they left Liberia, the Moore sisters now lead successful lives in America. Their parents have reunited (their mother was a Fulbright scholar at Columbia University when they had to flee), and two brothers were born in America. But they have never forgotten their war-devastated homeland, and the fact that very few children there — especially girls — are educated, or even literate...'
Wayétu and her sisters have launched One Moore Book - a publishing company that produces books for children living in countries with low literacy rates. Great idea.
You can read the rest of the story here.
Not because I have a crush on Dave Eggers, but because this book looks completely absorbing, Zeitoun
is jostling for top spot among a pile of books on my 'next read' list.
It's not a new book, it came out in 2009, but having just seen this excellent review in the London Review of Books I have to read it. Eggers spent three years writing and researching to bring the real life story of Abdulrahman Zeitoun into the public arena.
When Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, Zeitoun, a prosperous Syrian-American and father of four, chose to stay through the storm to protect his house and contracting business. In the aftermath of the devastation he paddled the flooded streets in a secondhand canoe, passing on supplies and rescuing at least ten people. But on September 6 2005, Zeitoun abruptly disappeared, seized on his own property by police who refused to tell him why he was being arrested and would not allow him even a phone call to contact relatives or a lawyer.
Eggers’ book explores Zeitoun’s roots in Syria, his marriage to Kathy (an American who converted to Islam), their children, and the surreal atmosphere in New Orleans and the United States in which what happened to Abdulrahman Zeitoun became possible.
Proceeds from sales of Zeitoun are distributed to the Zeitoun Foundation, which aids in the rebuilding and ongoing health of the city of New Orleans.
Luckily for me Santa Claus left a very generous bookstore voucher in my Christmas stocking...so my donation comes all the way from the North Pole.
I like the sound of this accolade. David Foster has won the 2010 Patrick White Literary Award, an annual prize currently valued at $18,000, set up by White using his Nobel winnings to honour writers who have made a significant, but inadequately recognised, contribution to Australian literature.
Over the past 30 years Foster has published 15 novels along with poetry, essays, non-fiction, scientific papers and radio plays. Now 66, he has 17 grandchildren, a doctorate in inorganic chemistry, is a drummer, motorbiker and a blackbelt in tae-kwondo. Until he earned a $60,000 grant from the Australian Council for the Arts Literature Board this year, he was delivering post in the Southern Highlands to support his current writing projects.
The SMH on Saturday said: 'Foster, who can be almost as grouchy as his late patron....said White intended it "as a kind of literary loser's compo"'.
No doubt White would have been pleased at Foster's win. In 1973 he wrote a line for the cover of Foster's debut work of fiction, North South West, and remarked of it 'One reason why I like Foster's novels is that he isn't afraid of sour milk and what's repulsive in life.'
Previous winners are John Romeril in 2008 and Gerald Murnane in 1999. Neither rings a bell? Exactly.
Two renowned writers televised from the Sydney Opera House in two days. A veritable feast of erudition. Stephen Fry and Tariq Ali.
Stephen Fry. Polymath, writer, TV host, blogger, Twitterer and progenitor of a million other projects, was in Sydney to talk about language and his five Ws: Waugh, Wodehouse, Wilde, words and writing.
Best bits:
His ability to not only quote ad nauseum from the three of his Ws who wrote before him, but also to continually demonstrate their relevance.
His quips. Peppering his conversation with admissions such as having three attributes which would render him infallible in Hollywood: gay, Jewish and bi-polar.
And his ENORMOUS brain.
Just a pity he didn't bring along that Alan bloke from QI, he's a crackup.
Tariq Ali, who was a guest of the Sydney Festival of Dangerous Ideas, and whose latest tome is The Obama Syndrome, is a serious brainiac. I haven't read any of his books but I have read some of his editorials and opinion pieces - enough to know that I'm not qualified to comment on his commentary... Instead a couple of observations from tonight's show where he was the stand out panelist:
Ali knows more about Australia's foreign policy than KRudd.
He has a great voice and an impeccable turn of phrase - especially for an academic, eg - 'he made a nutty speech'. ...that comment was funny at the time. Maybe it was the accent.
Best call of the night goes to his opinion on the euthanasia bill debate:
'In the short term we should have an experimental phase whereby we restrict euthanasia to politicians.'
QandA watchers now all aTwitter debating who should kickstart said trial...
I have a crush on Dave Eggers. Sigh. His list of literary accomplishments is one thing; his life story-so-far - a tale of heartbreak, resilience and aspiration - is another; but the real clincher for me is 826 Valencia.
826 Valencia is a writing studio in San Francisco dedicated to supporting kids between the ages of 6 and 18 with their writing skills and helping teachers to get their students fired up about the literary arts.
Eggers and his mate Ninive Clements Calegari founded the centre in 2002, which has grown since then to include seven chapters across the United States, under the not-for-profit umbrella 826 National.
Some of the great things the Centres offer kids are writing workshops, drop-in tutoring, field trips and student publishing in all kinds of formats and new media.
Field trips you may ask? They sound really cool - check this out:
"Storytelling and Bookmaking
This is our most popular field trip. Students are charged with the task of writing, as a group, a story, with the help of 826 volunteers. While the students decide on character and plot points, an 826 volunteer is typing the story into a computer, which is projected onto the wall. The students can track the story’s progress, and make corrections as needed. Meanwhile, the story is being illustrated by a professional artist. As the pages are finished, they’re being copied — one set for each student — and collated in our back production room. Thus, as soon as the class finishes creating the story, we’re ready to bind the books with our in-house tape bindery. The students illustrate their covers, add their photo to the back (for an About the Author page), and go home with personalized books created as a class. This field trip teaches students about collaboration, self-editing, the bookmaking process, and elements of successful storytelling. And it’s really a good time for all. Recommended for students 7–11 years old."
Sounds awesome. I want to go! (Even if Dave himself can't make it..)
Oh, and the San Francisco Centre also has a Pirate Supply Store, perfect for those swashbuckling, seafaring essentials every great storyteller needs.
