I have posted a gallery of my photos from last weekend’s 2009 conference in Washington D.C. A slideshow follows.
Colony Gala a Success
Don DeLillo, Joan Didion, Salman Rushdie, Toni Morrison, and many more honored Norman Mailer’s memory Tuesday night with the first annual gala and benefit celebrating his writers’ colony. Read more on The Daily Beast and The New York Times.
New Mailer Review, Volume 3
One of the century’s greatest American authors — Norman Mailer — has entered the pantheon of great writers, leaving a legacy that will offer scholars, researchers and fans endless territory for exploration, conjecture and sparkling conversation — much like when Mailer was alive. The latest issue of The Mailer Review presents scholars, writers and critics who continue to examine the multi-talented and multi-faceted author’s relevance – some with the added benefit of either having known him or having access to those who did.
Writers Colony and NCTE Announce Winners
The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) and the Norman Mailer Writers Colony have awarded the first annual Norman Mailer High School Nonfiction Writing Award to EMILY SWANAGIN of Alabama School of Fine Arts, Birmingham, Alabama, and the first annual Norman Mailer College Nonfiction Writing Award to JOHN GILMORE of Utah State University, Logan, Utah.
Mailer Self Portrait Auction
Bloomsbury Auctions will offer a self-portrait made by Norman Mailer in the sixties. The drawing is in the literary self-portrait collection of Burt Britton and was included in his 1976 book Self-Portrait. Britton writes:
It was the mid-sixties, it was below ground in The Village Vanguard, and, as Old Blue Eyes would say, “It’s – a – quarter – to – three – & – there’s – no – one – in – this – place – except – you – & – me” – I was behind the bar, Norman was on a stool, the group had been long gone, and Norman wouldn’t go home. He kept asking, “What do you want from me, Kid?” and I kept saying, “I want to lock up, go home, get some sleep.” And he’d repeat, “What do you want from me, Kid?” I kept feeding him drinks as I did all the necessaries that had to be done before closing, and when there was nothing left to be done but turn out the lights and lock the door, I said, “Norman, you really have to go.” But again, he insisted on another round, and another round of “What do you want,” etc. What was I to do? This was the writer who wrote the amazing Advertisements for Myself, a book that to this day still excites my sensibilities. This was, then, Norman Mailer. So, finally, and to this day I have no idea why I said, “Norman, here, on this piece of paper, do a self-portrait for me, drink your drink, and let’s call it a night.” And that initial drawing, done after hours at the bar of the fabled Vanguard, this self-portrait done by Mailer, which fascinated me then and fascinates me still – began all this madness.