The Public Scholar program, a major new initiative from the National Endowment for the Humanities, is designed to promote the publication of scholarly nonfiction books for a general audience, and the first round of grants has just been announced: a total of $1.7 million to 36 writers across a broad collection of disciplines. The grants range from $25,200 to $50,400. (Full list at bottom.)
via Uncle Sam wants YOU to read ‘popular’ scholarly books – The Washington Post.
What Do We Want From the Next Librarian of Congress?
There’s a reason “librarians everywhere” were singled out for an EFF Pioneer award in 2000. Time and again, in fights against censorship and intrusive surveillance laws, librarians have been allies of the public, serving as the institutional representation of the ideals of intellectual freedom, unfettered speech, and reader privacy.
via What Do We Want From the Next Librarian of Congress? | Electronic Frontier Foundation.
Interviews
E. L. Doctorow, The Art of Fiction No. 94
Interviewed by George Plimpton
via Paris Review – The Art of Fiction No. 94, E. L. Doctorow.
Whispery and wise and flecked with eccentric humor, Garrison Keillor’s baritone has long seeped across a nation that, despite its perpetual restiveness and cravings for trends, has found comfort in his brand of Midwestern pragmatism, schmaltz and slow-motion charm.
via With grace and sly charm, Garrison Keillor prepares to exit ‘Prairie Home Companion’ – LA Times.
http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/121458623
SAN DIEGO — A critic at Comic-Con International feels less like a fish out of water than like an excluded middleman. The local currency is not skepticism but enthusiasm, and though there is plenty of room in the cavernous halls of the convention center for disappointment and disagreement, irony is thoroughly banished.
via At Comic-Con, Bring Out Your Fantasy and Fuel the Culture – The New York Times.
