Here are a few things that caught my eye over the past week.
What Makes Bad Writing
From Cynthia Crossen in the Wall Street Journal
Invitation to World Literature
From Gilgamesh to Gogol, the world has been enriched by the writings of gifted people from a wide range of cultural traditions and regions of the world. This remarkable series from the Annenberg Media organization provides a nice introduction to “great epics, plays, poetry, and other literary texts.” The series was produced by the WGBH Educational Foundation, and it includes testimony and commentary from scholars, artists, writers, and translators. The thirteen programs include “The Odyssey,” “My Name is Red,” “Popol Vuh,” and “Candidte.” Visitors can view each program in its entirety and then move on to the complete series site, which includes teaching materials and activities. While all of the episodes are well-done, visitors may wish to start by viewing the episodes dedicated to “The Thousand and One Nights” and Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s “One Hundred Years of Solitude,” which are particularly fine.
>From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-2012. http://scout.wisc.edu/
72 of the Best Quotes About Writing
From Zachary Petit and Writer’s Digest
1st-ever Andrew Carnegie medal winners announced
Anne Enright’s novel “The Forgotten Waltz” and Robert Massie’s biography “Catherine the Great” have won the first-ever Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in literature.
The American Library Association announced the awards Monday at its annual conference in Anaheim, Calif. The Carnegie awards for fiction and nonfiction are the first adult prizes ever sponsored by the association, which also manages the top honors for children’s literature, the John Newbery and Randolph Caldecott medals.
Your E-Book Is Reading You
By Alexandra Alter in the Wall Street Journal
Digital-book publishers and retailers now know more about their readers than ever before. How that’s changing the experience of reading.
