News and notes from the San Antonio literary scene
Com v. org
Actually its not a competition, and the confused come out ahead either way. The website saevents.org, maintained by Planet of the Tapes proprietrix Angela Martinez, is an omnivorous compendium of events large and small, cinematic and performing. You can view the entire month at a glance, or select specialized calendars such as Film. Saevents.com is the internet home for the San Antonio Events Calendar, the 2005-06 edition of which just hit the streets. Like the school year and performing-arts season, it begins in the fall and encompasses fundraising galas and the rodeo as well as the usual arts and culture stuff. In addition to monthly listings, the calendar sorts events by categories such as Sporting Events and Luncheons and Day Affairs (which includes Gemini Inks Autograph Series). The price starts at $12.98 but there is a discount for ordering a dozen or more. Copies can be ordered via the website or by calling 822-7049.
Hot off the presses
The Southwest School of Art & Craft will christen its new imprint, The School by the River Press, with a chapbook excerpting The Ethical Assassin by San Antonio writer David Liss, recipient of Gemini Inks 2005 Award of Literary Excellence (see "Writing for Godot" in this issue of the Current). The book was designed and printed by Beck Whitehead and Rose Harms. The schools Paper and Book Arts Department, which is helmed by Whitehead, has been producing handmade books for five years the last three it has collaborated with Gemini Ink to celebrate their annual honoree. Liss book will be available at Geminis Inkstravaganza Gala September 8. For info, call 734-9673.
Presumably, merit is as good as excellence in the Writers League of Texas first annual Award of Literary Merit, which goes to Bel Canto author Ann Patchett, a former Guggenheim fellow and recipient of the PEN/Faulkner Award and Britains Orange Prize. The Writers League can be found online at writersleague.org.
A warm round of applause goes to San Antonio Current culture critic and UTSA professor Steven G. Kellman, whose new biography, Redemption: the Life of Henry Roth which explores the troubled man behind the American Lit masterpieces Call It Sleep and Mercy of a Rude Stream has received favorable reviews in The New York Times Book Review and the New Yorker, among other places.
On the other end of the reading spectrum, the action-oriented Wear to Shop: the Ultimate Guide to Fashionable Shopping In and Around San Antonio, by Christina Kerford Welch will have its debut at Cementville on Wednesday, September 7. We assume it is somewhat longer than The Wit and Wisdom of Spiro T. Agnew, but a little shy of Tom Wolfes A Man in Full.
Hispanic Heritage Month Lit Fest
The Universidad Autónoma de México and UTSA are co-sponsoring Punto de Partida, a celebration of Chicano literature featuring UTSA professor Norma Cantú and author John Phillip Santos, among others. 5:30-7 p.m. Thursday, September 8, in the Aula Canaria Lecture Hall in the Buena Vista Building, UTSA Downtown, 501 W. Durango. For more info, call 222-8626.
