William Gibson, The Man Who Saw Tomorrow, coming to Troy, NY

The Guardian celebrates the 30th birthday of the science fiction novel Neuromancer by William Gibson, scifi author and technology prophet (according to many). Gibson visits RPI under the cosponsorship of the New York State Writers Institute, on Sunday, November 9th.

More about Gibson's upcoming event:  http://www.albany.edu/writers-inst/webpages4/programpages/vws.html#Gibson

From the Guardian:

On its release, Neuromancer won the "big three" for science fiction: the Nebula, Philip K Dick and Hugo awards. It sold more than 6m copies and launched an entire aesthetic: cyberpunk. In predicting this future, Gibson can be said to have helped shape our conception of the internet. Other novelists are held in higher esteem by literary critics, but few can claim to have had such a wide-ranging influence. The Wachowskis made The Matrix by mashing Gibson's vision together with that of French philosopher Jean Baudrillard. Stieg Larsson's Lisbeth Salander is a facsimile of Molly Millions, the femme fatale in Neuromancer. Every social network, online game or hacking scandal takes us a step closer to the universe Gibson imagined in 1984.

More in the Guardian:   http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/jul/28/william-gibson-neuromancer-cyberpunk-books

Full schedule of upcoming events:  http://www.albany.edu/writers-inst/webpages4/programpages/vws.html#lurie

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Lydia Davis Interviewed on NPR

 

Lydia Davis, Writers Institute Writing Fellow who will be the featured guest at RPI's 73rd Annual McKinney Writing Contest and Reading (Wed., April 16, free and open to the public) was interviewed last week by NPR's Rachel Martin.

More about Lydia's appearance at Rensselaer:  http://www.albany.edu/writers-inst/webpages4/archives/davis_lydia14.html

From Rachel Martin's interview:

On the moment when she realized that she didn't need to write long to write well
I can date that pretty precisely to the fall of 1973. So I was 26 years old and I had just been reading the short stories or the prose poems of Russell Edson. And for some reason, I was sparked by those. I thought, "These are fun to read, and provocative and interesting, and I'd like to try this." So I set myself the challenge of writing two very short stories every day just to see what would happen.

On how she knows when to end a story
I think I have a sense right in the beginning of how big an idea it is and how much room it needs, and, almost more importantly, how long it would sustain anybody's interest. And that's sometimes been a problem with a story when it's sort of offered me two ways that it could go, and I have to choose one or the other.

More on the NPR website:  http://www.npr.org/2014/04/06/299053017/lydia-davis-new-collection-has-stories-shorter-than-this-headline

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Remembering a "Rock Star" Gangster in the Times Union

Paul Grondahl writes about legendary Capital Region gangster Legs Diamond with some anecdotes supplied by William Kennedy and attorney E. Stewart Jones:

The Collar City was Mob City in the Prohibition era, and no bootlegger was a bigger rock star of the underworld than Jack "Legs" Diamond.

He swaggered through throngs lined up on the sidewalks around the Rensselaer County Courthouse, where he was put on trial two weeks before Christmas in 1931 on charges of kidnapping and assault.

Diamond walked a few blocks across Second Street each morning to the courthouse from the office of his lawyer, Abbott Jones, and basked in the adulation of Trojans who shouted Diamond's name, cheered and reached out to clasp his hand.....

More in the Times Union:  http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/The-unfinished-business-of-Legs-Diamond-5053434.php

Picture: NYPD mugshot of Jack Diamond.

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The Lyrical Violence of J. G. Ballard at RPI

EMPAC at Rensselaer (RPI) will present "Ballard," a theatre piece inspired by the work of innovative English writer J. G. Ballard (1930-2009), author of Crash, Empire of the Sun and a variety of dystopian and apocalyptic works of fiction.

Ballard

Kris Verdonck

A Two Dogs Company

September 7, 2013, 7PM

After spending three weeks in residence, Belgian theater maker and visual artist Kris Verdonck invites the audience to an open studio and lecture demonstration of his innovative stereoscopic (3D) filming techniques developed with the EMPAC team. The presentation will provide insight into the microcosmic sets built on the theater stage, and a behind-the-scenes look at the development process.
BALLARD inhabits the world and characters from the apocalyptic science-fiction novels of J.G. Ballard, whose visionary descriptions of a future world resemble today’s neoliberal society more and more.

Verdonck’s visual arts, architecture, and theater training is reflected in the work he produces: his creations are situated in the transit zone between visual arts and theater, installation and performance, and dance and architecture.

Reservations are recommended and can be made in person at the box office or over the phone at 518.276.3921.

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Atheist Loves Christian Writer

 

Writing in the New Yorker, self-described atheist Mark O'Connell explains why he loves Marilyn Robinson's work, though it is steeped in Christianity.

Robinson visits RPI tomorrow:  http://www.albany.edu/writers-inst/webpages4/archives/robinson_marilynne13.html

"When I say that I love Marilynne Robinson’s work, I’m not talking about half of it; I’m talking about every word of it."

More in the New Yorker: http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2012/05/marilynne-robinson.html



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The Kennedys of Troy

On his Troy-centric website, "A Small American City," Duncan Crary has produced some audio podcasts about the Albany Kennedy clan's Troy connections.

The first of two episodes features Bill's son Brendan and his family, who live in historic downtown Troy. The second episode profiles Bill and his wife Dana in their capacity as grandparents of Brendan's three little girls-- Annabella, Scarlett and Evelyn.

“I love this house. I love this neighborhood. I love Troy! I love their life here” — William Kennedy

For the first episode: http://asmallamericancity.com/podcast-episode/the-kennedys-part-1/

For the second: http://asmallamericancity.com/podcast-episode/the-kennedys-part-2/

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Troy Street Kid

Bill Kennedy's talk in Saratoga next week:  “I’ll talk about John Morrissey, a Troy street kid and river rat, who rose in the world through his fists and his politics to become an exalted gambler courted by the New York elite and who brought the casino and the track to Saratoga. I’ll talk about latter day gamblers and mob figures who moved into Saratoga — Arnold Rothstein, Meyer Lansky, Lucky Luciano — how it was all linked to politics, and how a politician — Governor Thomas E. Dewey — closed it down,” Kennedy said.

Kennedy will talk about crime and gambling in early 20th century Saratoga in a one-hour moderated conversation with political talk show host Susan Arbetter at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 1 in the Canfield Casino. The program is free and open to the public.

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Anne Enright Shortlisted for Orange Prize

It was announced today that The Forgotten Waltz by Anne Enright (who visits RPI tomorrow) was shortlisted for the United Kingdom's Orange Prize for Fiction, which comes with an award of 30,000 British pounds (approximately 48,000 U.S. dollars).

The novel is a tale of adultery and its consequences.

The prize is awarded for "excellence, originality and accessibility in women's writing from throughout the world."

Other authors on the shortlist include Cynthia Ozick, now 84 years old, who visited the Writers Institute in March 2005, as well as Ann Patchett, Madeline Miller, Georgina Harding and Esi Edugyan.

Read more in the Irish Independent.

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