Farewell to TAC (The Authors Corner) www.authorscorner.org Kept Literary Voices Alive
Farewell to The Author's Corner, a grand experiment.
Thank you for being part of a grand experiment -- to keep literary voices alive. Instead of the ho-hum “book review” or “author interview,” how about “authentic author readings” from new books? That was the concept, a new third platform known as The Author's Corner, distributed nationwide to public radio stations for daily airing.
TAC aired numerous debut authors plus ten Pulitzer-winners, with fully 50% women authors by design, in fiction and non-fiction. Listeners heard dramatic, revelatory and moving passages from hundreds of books they'd otherwise not encounter: truly -- many voices, many views, changing daily. It was delightful to introduce new authors to audiences... but where else could you also hear from the son of the "Cowardly Lion" of Oz, the younger brother of Lady Diana, sassy Amy Poehler, and a Nobel-winning president?
The concept still seems to be a terrific fresh idea, a need filling a unique niche, a sweet song to books. TAC as executed captured some success with the four legs of our project: publishers, authors, stations, an online archive.
But the resources were not adequate to sustain both operations and growth. It was hoped a literary philanthropist might step to the plate for association with a rare endeavor today, indeed: simultaneously literary, contemporary, authentic, and national. How does one find him or her? And a recent low-key crowd-funding effort, narrowly pitched and modest, fell short.
The Author's Corner served you in spotlighting new books – a literary beacon in the vast sea of sports, video games, and pop culture -- a forum for ideas to inform citizens in our fragile democracy. It was a privilege to collaborate with you, thank you. Meanwhile, our bold web site archives 1-2 select readings -- teasers -- from 400 recent diverse books!
Peter Johnson
(MS, MBA, past WGBH-Boston producer)
Creator/Producer
AUTHOR'S CORNER ON PUBLIC RADIO
...keeping literary voices alive! (2013-16)
authorscornerDOTorg
The universe is made of stories, not of atoms.
--Muriel Rukeyser
Help Keep Literary Voices Alive!
we have a critical crowd-funding project ongoing, please spread the word. We need 1,000. to qualify for corp. support. Thanks!
Feb 22nd-March 4
An engaging round of books reflected in our 100-second readings here: the undemocratic Supreme Court decision in "Citizens United"; quirky characters in two contrasting story collections; an international thriller set in the turbulent Middle East; a history of JFK's heroism in World War Two. Enjoy!
2/8-22nd
www.authorscorner.org
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TAC, now with 400 authors recorded, has a 50-50 mix of male-female authors overall! For our next round of readings, enjoy 5 women with 5 new novels centering respectively on these compelling, diverse topics: FOOD, MAGIC, IDENTITY, IDOLS, TRAGEDY. We open with Elizabeth LaBan's novel, The Restaurant Critic's Wife, serving up plenty of chuckles for you. -Peter
1/25- Feb 5th
Engaging books ahead to enjoy: elephants in The Oregon Zoo and the notion of zoos; three novels, Victorian (2) and Chinese-American; and an African-American ponders his heritage. One Victorian scene read by author Eloisa James screams for its production in Downton Abbey! The past year+ of readings are downloadable from our web site with the orange link:www.authorscorner.org
1/11-22
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Hi. TAC features 12/18-25th Engaging upcoming books about: a search for Earth's rarest of creatures; touring through "conspiracy theories; and three novels -- an African-American woman looking for "a place to belong," a female magic duo, and a biotech mystery.
www.authorscorner.org
BOOK LOVERS? THE AUTHORS CORNER IS FOR YOU.
Dear friends and other book lovers everywhere,
In this season of planning tax-deductible donations, please consider "The Author's Corner" radio show, distributed nationwide. Here is our donations page link which, in turn, has a blue link for easy donations online.
OR, directly:
You'll be supporting our educational mission to: encourage a love for reading, expose new books to new audiences, and boost new authors! With an interest in books wavering in our glitzy entertainment world, you'll be supporting an endeavor simultaneously literary, contemporary, authentic, and archival.
In the past two years, listeners of The Author's Corner have been exposed to nearly 400 different books, both fiction and non-fiction, 50% by women authors by design. This singular series both entertains and informs, fostering a more informed citizenry for a stronger democracy.
You are invited to sample our shows online to hear a wide range of exciting readings by, for example, ten Pulitzer winners as well as many debut authors, and by more familiar voices such as Jimmy Carter and Amy Poehler from their latest books.
Although we present many novels and memoirs to “family” audiences, we've not shied away from books with more serious topics: futurism, software piracy, child abuse, grief, addiction, learning disabilities, veterans, obesity, mental illness, our college admissions mania, even physics.
Education is part of TAC's thought-provoking mission.
Although we present many novels and memoirs to “family” audiences, we've not shied away from books with more serious topics: futurism, software piracy, child abuse, grief, addiction, learning disabilities, veterans, obesity, mental illness, our college admissions mania, even physics.
Education is part of TAC's thought-provoking mission.
Here are a couple links to readings (our shows), including last week's diverse authors (on who "invented" basketball, photographing forbidden Cuba, from Mongolia to Hungary on horseback, a sixties book club of misfits in Florida, and how Quantum Theory got cool).
As a nonprofit, TAC is run on a shoestring budget. But producing this unique daily series is time-intensive and not inexpensive.
Costs include equipment, identifying and booking authors, passage editing, traveling to recording sessions, coaching and recording, audio post-production, constant web site maintenance, station marketing and national distribution. This careful ongoing process is accomplished efficiently indeed. Sustaining the show requires expanding our resources.
Our December goal is to raise $1000.00 (specifically, for a second high-quality microphone and essential web site improvements). Importantly, raising this sum will also qualify us for approaching foundations and corporations through our new Fiscal Sponsor, Fractured Atlas.
We'd like to ask you to chip in a donation. If possible, email the Program Director of your local public radio station that you'd like to hear our daily 100-second literary show on their station. Send them our web link, www.authorscorner.org
Finally, if you know of any individual who would like to underwrite TAC in a major way, we are happy to outline the benefits of such an association. Thank you very much for considering supporting this unique radio show, "The Author's Corner."
-Peter Johnson & Susan Weinstein
Visit www.authorscorner.org
The universe is made of stories, not of atoms.
--Muriel Rukeyser
Note: Now “The Author's Corner” is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization. Contributions for the charitable purposes of The Author's Corner must be made payable to “Fractured Atlas” only and are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.... Please don't hesitate to opt out of receiving these emails, just let us know.
11/30 to 12/5, www.authorscorner.org
Among our upcoming books, diverse topics indeed: the first black-vs-white college basketball game (behind locked doors!); Cuba in full color; Mongolia to Hungary on horseback; misfits at a club in sixties Florida; how quantum physics invaded our culture.
www.authorscorner.org 11/16-27 Enjoy!How's this for an eclectic line-up of books: A grieving wife writes a moving memoir; our obsession with "the future"; a novel about twins separated for decades; behind the scenes with remarkable sustainable farmers; capturing an infamous Chinese software pirate!
Nathan Ward: The Lost Detective: Becoming Dashiell Hammett
Jessie Close: Resilience: Two Sisters and a Story of Mental Illness
Paul Tremblay: A Head Full of Ghosts: A Novel
Robin Roberts: Everybody's Got Something
Barry Yourgrau: Mess: One Man's Struggle to Clean Up His House and His Act
Happy Friday.... Hear upcoming author's readings 10/19-30th
Aspen Matis: Girl In The Woods: A Memoir
William Doyle: PT 109: An American Epic of War, Survival, and the Destiny of John F. Kennedy
Ellen Sherman: Just the Facts: A Novel
John Lahr: Joy Ride: Show People & Their Shows
Judy Chicurel: If I Knew You Were Going to be This Beautiful, I Never Would have Let You Go
In the next two weeks, hear about two figures charting the heavens -- from a grand bio of Pope Francis to a memoir by "Star Trek Captain" Kate Mulgrew; also a novel of a female photographer's life; a mixed-martial-arts surprise; and a praised novel of a passionate art curator.... Enjoy. Peter
Sept. 21-Oct. 2nd, www.authorscorner.org.
A daughter's search for her war-vet father, decades after WWII; a debut novel of shifting reality; a former Congressman reflects on Reagan and Martin Luther King; a story collection with Romanian roots; historical fiction with a famous Victorian-era novelist's unsung sister.
Greetings. Please see our...
NEW web site -- www.authorscorner.org -- bolder, searchable, authors love it
NEW approach -- double exposure -- two readings per book, twice the taste
NEW selectivity -- from VIPs (Jimmy Carter this round) to fine debut authors
Best,
Peter & Susan
PS. The #1 leisure activity of public radio listeners is... reading! And 550 CDs with various favorite readings from our show are being distributed at the national conference of program directors in public radio, later this month.
Week of 9/7
www.authorscorner.org
JIMMY CARTER and Tavis Smiley are among authors taking us down their memory lanes in variations on memoirs over the next two weeks. Enjoy: reflections of a former President, a sojurn in Provence, a modern ride on The Oregon Trail, a journey through personal grief, and a long friendship with Maya Angelou
Latest from www.authorscorner.org! 8/31
A mother-daughter on a "skeptic's pilgrimage"; a woman determined to park in "Haahvard Yaard"; a novel about young man already bruised by the travails of life. Coming in September: JIMMY CARTER reads from his recent memoir.
WEEK of 8/24
Two readings from the popular zany travel memoir by celeb Chelsea Handler: UGANDA BE KIDDING ME. [ listen to these, you may chuckle:www.authorscorner.org ]
A reading from a clever novel about a womanly muse in Shakespeare's mysterious life by Andrea Chapin: THE TUTOR.
Two readings from a debut mystery novel by Sports Illustrated editor, Bill Syken: Hangman's Game.
August 2nd week!
8/2
http://www.authorscorner.org/
Mon: Krimsky- Stem Cell Dialogues
Tues & Wed: Fierro- Cutting Teeth: A Novel
Thurs & Fri: Taylor- Speed Limits
June 25th week onward!
Enjoy the readings from the week's new books: tender relationships; early cinema surprises; an iconic Montana artist; a curse on a city; building a cabin in Maine. Our new web site is up and getting there, please take a look: www.authorscorner.org ; -Peter
HEAR: A former President's daughter reads for us; then His former National Security Advisor does; also, a habit not to practice in the workplace, the tragedy of a star baseball player, and a legendary outlaw... of vast Brazil!
MEMORIAL DAY Special, week 5/25
Women Write About War
Dava Guerin (Bush Foundation board member): Unbreakable Bonds: The Mighty Moms and Wounded Warriors of Walter Reed
Kathleen M. Rodgers: Johnnie Come Lately
Roxana Robinson: Sparta
Alyson Richman: The Garden of Letters
Elizabeth Gaffney: When The World Was Young
Dava is nonfiction; rest are fiction --
Our "Memorial Day" week-long (M-F) Special, starting with the true story (Guerin) of a wounded female vet, then four novels explore, respectively, the traumas of physical (Rodgers) and psychological (Robinson) wounds, a woman rescued from the Nazis (Richman) , and finally, a child's view of her mother during wartime (Gaffney) .
Greetings! One "classical music" novel, plus four titles loosely
in the memoir category yet very eclectic in approach.
Monday -- Sean Prentiss: Finding Abbey
Tuesday -- Elena Delbanco: The Silver Swan
Wednesday -- Stephen Fife: The 13th Boy
Thursday -- Janis Heaphy Durham: The Hand on the Mirror
Friday -- Susan Ball: Voices in the Band
For this week, we offer fine readings by:
Patricia Morrisroe: 9-1/2 Narrow
George Bodenheimer: Every Town Is A Sports Town
Rita Gardner (2): The Coconut Latitudes
Bill Gifford: Spring Chicken
Hear them now (after the page loads; our new web site is coming soon) --
a popular master storyteller, Neil Gaiman....
Monday: Neil Gaiman / Trigger Warning
Tuesday: Mira Jacob / The Sleepwalker's Guide to Dancing
Wednesday: Stephen Policoff / Come Away
Thursday: Una LaMarche / Like No Other
Greetings. This week, the challenges of motherhood (Monday and Friday),
and of Free Speech issues in fiction and non- (Tuesday thru Thursday).
Monday: Elisa Albert / After Birth: A Novel
Tuesday: Charles Slack / Liberty's First Crisis...
Wednesday: Burt Neuborne / Madison's Music...
Thursday: Jonah Kruvant / The Last Book Ever Written: A Novel
KIM GORDON -- autobiography of a female rock band pioneer
KARA RICHARDSON WHITELY -- climbing Kilimanjaro at 300 pounds
DEEPAK CHOPRA -- his mystery about Christ's unknown disciple
EMILY GRAY TEDROWE -- a novel of the Iraq war touching families
SCOTT SAMPSON -- guiding your child to fall in love with nature
Listen now (after page loads) -- https://www.authorscorner.org/
Listen now (after page loads) -- https://www.authorscorner.org/
MARTIN SHORT -- from his autobiography: highs, lows, philosophy
ALICE EVE COHEN -- from a stormy year when her mother "returns"
JESSICA TREADWAY -- from her novel of murder and family doubts
BRUCE PIASECKI -- from his memoir of "past, present & future"
NORAH VINCENT -- from her novel based on Virginia Woolf
Listen now (after page loads) -- https://www.authorscorner.org/
Listen now (after page loads) -- https://www.authorscorner.org/
Greetings! Two memoirs, two novels, and a "science fraud" --
AMY POEHLER -- from her popular, amusing memoir
ALBERT PODELL -- from his odyssey visiting all the world's countries
ANDREA CHAPIN -- from her witty novel on Shakespeare's muse
STEVEN DRUKER -- from his account of "science fraud" in GMO foods
JEAN HANNF KORELITZ -- from her "modern Der Rosenkavalier"
Listen now -- https://www.authorscorner.org/
Listen now -- https://www.authorscorner.org/
Two novels, a memoir, and two global themes --3/19
Stacey D'Erasmo -- a female rock star making a midlife comeback
Vincent Crapanzano -- a reflective memoir by an anthropologist
Betsy Teutsch -- 100 inspiring ways to lift impoverished women
Amanda Filipacchi -- encore reading from her modern surreal fairy tale
Greetings! This week's topics: drugs, disability, fiction, memoirs, China. 3/9/15
Mon--Johann Hari: Chasing The Scream
Tue--Eileen Cronin: Mermaid: A Memoir of Resilience
Wed--Tom Phelan: Lies The Mushroom Pickers Told
Thurs--Eileen Flanagan: Renewable: One Woman's Search...
Fri--Michael Meyer: In Manchuria: A Village...
Hear these eclectic, authentic readings at: www.authorscorner.org
Three novels are among another week of interesting readings.
Monday -- AMANDA FILIPACCHI: The Unfortunate Importance of Beauty
Tuesday -- HILARY KLEIN: Companeras: Zapatista Women's Stories
Wednesday -- MICHAEL KARDOS: Before He Finds Her
Thursday -- STEPHANIE FEUER: Drawing Amanda
Friday -- ROWLAND BRUCKEN: A Most Uncertain Crusade... [encore]
www.authorscorner.org
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