Calliope Author Readings » admin

Baldwin’s If Beale Street Could Talk Has New Life on Screen

admin — Thu, 06 Jun 2019 13:01:53 +0000

If Beale Street Could Talk, James Baldwin’s acclaimed 1974 novel of troubled young lovers in Harlem, was released as a film in 2018. It was one of the most popular and praised films of the year, and earned an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Regina King. Both the novel and the book explore the unfairness of the criminal justice system and the power of family ties. Hear Baldwin’s powerful reading from his earlier novels, Giovanni’s Room and Another Country, on Calliope Author Readings Vol. 1.

The post Baldwin’s If Beale Street Could Talk Has New Life on Screen appeared first on Calliope Author Readings.

Film Based on James Baldwin’s Writings Steals The Limelight

admin — Wed, 05 Jun 2019 11:53:59 +0000

Critics are raving about “I Am Not Your Negro,” the new film based on the writings of the legendary James Baldwin and directed by Raoul Peck. Now playing in cities all over the country, it shows Baldwin in many guises, in interviews and public forums, discussing race, his fellow artists, and his life and times. The New Yorker’s Hilton Als cites Baldwin’s “exquisite language” and calls him “a star in the firmament of black arts and letters.” Baldwin’s words are read in the film by the powerful actor Samuel Jackson. But readers who want to hear Baldwin’s own magnificent voice should get Calliope Author Readings Volume 1, on which the author reads 15-minute excerpts from his novels Giovanni’s Room and Another Country, first recorded in 1963 when he was a new and dazzling young writer.

The post Film Based on James Baldwin’s Writings Steals The Limelight appeared first on Calliope Author Readings.

Colin Asher’s New Bio of Nelson Algren “Wonderfully readable”

admin — Tue, 04 Jun 2019 13:02:18 +0000

Never a Lovely So Real, Colin Asher’s “passionately partisan” reassessment of the life and work of Nelson Algren, is called “wonderfully readable” in The New Yorker. Asher recalls the greatness of this undervalued Chicago novelist, who gave voice to the voiceless and the marginal, in unforgettably vivid and gritty prose. Hear Algren’s stirring reading from his 1949 masterpiece, The Man With the Golden Arm (National Book Award winner), on Calliope Author Readings Vol. 2.

The post Colin Asher’s New Bio of Nelson Algren “Wonderfully readable” appeared first on Calliope Author Readings.

James Baldwin’s Complete Works Reissued

admin — Mon, 03 Jun 2019 18:52:26 +0000

Three volumes of the great James Baldwin’s works have been issued by the Library of America: Early Novels and Stories and Collected Essays, edited by Toni Morrison; and Later Novels, edited by Darryl Pinckney. And two other books have appeared: All These Strangers: the Life and Art of James Baldwin, by Douglas Field; and The Cross of Redemption: Uncollected Writings, edited by Randall Kenan. Calliope Author Readings Volume 1 offers two historic readings by James Baldwin, made in 1963–passages from Giovanni’s Room and Another Country.

The post James Baldwin’s Complete Works Reissued appeared first on Calliope Author Readings.

Documentary About Neglected Great Writer Nelson Algren

admin — Sun, 02 Jun 2019 13:12:57 +0000

Calliope author Nelson Algren is the subject of The End is Nothing, the Road Is All, a feature length documentary film made by Bullet Proof Films. Algren, one of America’s greatest writers, focused on the life of the marginalized inhabitants of cities, especially his native Chicago, as can be heard in his Calliope reading from the National Book Award winning novel, The Man With the Golden Arm, (CAR, Vol. 2). The film celebrates Algren’s unique literary contribution through rare interviews with Kurt Vonnegut, Studs Terkel and others, archival footage, and the memorable voice of Algren himself. It also looks at Algren’s love affair with Simone de Beauvoir, as well as the damaging impact of surveillance by the FBI and the CIA, blacklisting, and the critical neglect of his work.

The post Documentary About Neglected Great Writer Nelson Algren appeared first on Calliope Author Readings.

NY Times Hails Styron’s contribution to American Literature

admin — Sat, 01 Jun 2019 12:59:55 +0000

William Styron’s non-fiction collection, My Generation, “places him squarely in the constellation of writers who transformed American literature after World War II,” says the New York Times Book Review. The collection includes essays, book reviews, and reportage. Calliope Author Readings offers Styron’s reading from his 1951 novel, Lie Down in Darkness (CAR Vol. 1), as well as readings by other authors of the generation that transformed American literature: James Baldwin, James Jones, Philip Roth, Bernard Malamud, and more.

The post NY Times Hails Styron’s contribution to American Literature appeared first on Calliope Author Readings.

Baldwin’s former home possible NYC landmark in LBGT History

admin — Fri, 31 May 2019 13:02:43 +0000

James Baldwin’s former home on New York’s Upper West Side is one of 6 buildings being considered for landmark status by the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission, as important sites in LGBT history. Baldwin bought the building in 1965 and did much of his writing there, although he also spent a long periods in Paris, calling himself a “commuter” rather than expatriate. Baldwin’s unforgettable readings from his novels Giovanni’s Room and Another Country are available from Calliope Author Readings, CAR Vol. 1.

The post Baldwin’s former home possible NYC landmark in LBGT History appeared first on Calliope Author Readings.

Norman Mailer Praises Calliope Authors and Their Books

admin — Sat, 30 May 2015 01:54:44 +0000

NORMAN MAILER PRAISES CALLIOPE AUTHORS AND THEIR BOOKS

In his Selected Letters (2014), Norman Mailer offers powerful praise for the Calliope authors James Jones and William Styron and the novels they read from. In Mailer’s list of the best fiction published since 1943, Jones’s From Here to Eternity is ranked #5 and Styron’s Lie Down in Darkness # 6.

Mailer says that Jones’s novel has ” wise, beautiful and subtle things in it.” According to him, Styron’s 1951 book is “magnificent” and”staggering” and he is the “one writer of our generation who has the equipment to be a great writer,” perhaps equal to Faulkner.

FEATURE LENGTH DOCUMENTARY ABOUT NELSON ALGREN: THE END IS NOTHING, THE ROAD IS ALL

Calliope author Nelson Algren is the subject of an in-depth, feature length documentary film made by Bullet Proof Film. Algren, one of America’s greatest but neglected writers, focused on the fears and disenchantments of our consumer culture and the life of the marginalized inhabitants of cities, especially Chicago, as can be heard in his Calliope reading from the National Book Award winning novel, The Man With the Golden Arm.

The film celebrates Algren’s unique literary contribution through rare interviews with Kurt Vonnegut, Studs Turkel and others, archival footage, and the gritty voice of Algren. His love affair with Simone de Beauvoir weaves its way through the film and helps to counteract the damaging impact of surveillance by the FBI and the CIA, blacklisting and the critical neglect of his work .

The post Norman Mailer Praises Calliope Authors and Their Books appeared first on Calliope Author Readings.