FAHRENHEIT 451 dropped by the Big Read

It's disappointing to see that Fahrenheit 451 has been dropped from the Big Read programme.

NEA - the USA's National Endowment for the Arts - has been running the community literacy scheme for years, and Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 has long been a popular inclusion. Ray even made a short documentary for the NEA back in 2008, in which he talked about the genesis of F451 and why it is a significant work that speaks out for literacy and against censorship.

It's hard to complain about the new batch of books, which has been drawn up in a deliberate effort to enhance the diversity of authors and voices in the list. But it's sad to see such a classic and popular work, one that chimes so directly with the aims of The Big Read, being turned aside.

The full list of twenty-eight books in the new scheme can be viewed here: http://www.neabigread.org/books.php

And here's Ray Bradbury talking about his masterpiece, and promoting The Big Read.

Big Read - the Bronx!

The writer Jason Marchi tells me that on 28 April 2013 he will be giving a lecture in the Bronx, New York, about being mentored by Ray Bradbury, and their close friendship over the last 12 years of Bradbury's life. It's one of the many events being held in the Bronx, which has adopted Fahrenheit 451 for its community Big Read programme. The full programme of events can be seen here.

Other US cities have also adopted Fahrenheit 451, which continues to be a popular book in this scheme. Find out where else has chosen Bradbury using this interactive map.

After the rain, the sun!

Bradbury's well known story "All Summer in a Day", in which the sun only appears for a very short time (just like a typical British summer), is the inspiration for a full-length dance by the Red Bucket Dance Company. If I have read the story correctly, this group is based in Sacramento, California. More information, including dates and times of performances are in this story from Newsreview.com.

Meanwhile, in West Hollywood poets are performing Bradbury at an event which is part of the Big Read programme. Details are here.

Elsewhere (I don't know exactly where, because the web page gives absolutely no details!) somebody is rehearsing Bradbury's play Kaleidoscope, based on his short story of the same name. How do I know this? Because there are thirty-six photos here!

[Update: I have now realised that those Kaleidscope photos have captions! The first one tells us the following: Actors run a dress rehearsal of "Kaleidoscope", an adaptation of two Ray Bradbury radio plays, Wednesday night in Lafayette. The show will run April 26-29 and May 3-6 at 7 p.m. each night at Theatre 810 in downtown Lafayette. By Leslie Westbrook April 18, 2012.  I don't know where Lafayette is, but I'm guessing California.]

Miscellaneous

In the US, the NEA's "Big Read" programme continues, and Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 is again a popular book for communities of readers to gather around. LA-based Bradbury would probably be pleased to hear that nearby West Hollywood will play host to a number of events linked to F451. Details are here.



Illustrator Gary Gianni - whose artwork has accompanied the words of Melville, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Robert Louis Stevenson and many others - has created illustrations for a new chapbook, The Nefertiti-Tut Express: a Story in Screenplay. The text is taken from a previously unpublished Bradbury screen treatment dating originally from the mid 1970s. Originally due to appear in 2011, I hear that the book will be out during 2012. More details on the curious history of Bradbury's text can be found on Gianni's website.



Last year, Michael O'Kelly staged Live Forever, a play about Ray Bradbury's life. Now, he has a short film which is being entered into a film festival, and which is intended to be part of a much longer DVD study of the author. More details in this story from the Ventura County Star.



If you happen to be in Denver, Colorado, in April you can see a production of Bradbury's stage play version of Fahrenheit 451. Details are here.

Jerry Oltion

I confess that I haven't read any of the fiction by Jerry Oltion, but I am aware of his name. He is a Nebula Award-winning short story writer and novelist, and holds a remarkable record: he has had more fiction published in Analog (the legendary hard SF magazine that began life as Astounding way back in the pulp days) than any other author. Only Poul Anderson comes close.

Why am I writing about an author I've never read?

Because I just saw an interesting account of a talk he gave as part of a "Big Read" programme in Oregon, which (as so often) sees Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 being adopted for community-wide reading. Oltion talks about definitions of science fiction, and his approach to writing. He also mentions that writing is the hardest work he has ever done... and he compares it to his earlier work as a stonemason and garbage man. Like many writers, he has a bleak view of the future of the publishing industry, and firmly believes that the future is in the e-book or online publishing.

Of all of Oltion's comments, the one I found most interesting was his discussion of how he views plotting a story. He says:

Plot, for me, is the simplest thing to write. You stick up a bunch of dominoes and you push the first one and the rest of them go. Those make the most beautiful stories. And Fahrenheit 451 is definitely one of those. 

The full account of Oltion's presentation is here, and you can visit his website here.