October 14, 1994

Contact: Helen Dalrymple (202) 707-1940

---

Library of Congress Literary Companion Calendars for 1995 Celebrate Writers, Books and Reading

The Library of Congress's popular calendar series A Literary Companion enters its fourth year with the recent release of wall and desk editions for 1995. Produced cooperatively by the Library and Pomegranate Publications, Rohnert Park, Calif., both calendars feature photographs and biographical profiles of writers who have influenced the course of literary expression.

The calendars are a project of the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, which was established in 1977 to stimulate public interest in books, reading, literacy and libraries. In his introduction to the calendars, Center for the Book director John Y. Cole writes, "Through this Literary Companion, we invite you to discover and rediscover writers new and old, shaping your own future through the melding of their works and ideas with your own."

The wall edition of the calendar (12x12") features photographic portraits and biographical essays on 12 writers: Julio Cortazar, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Jack London, Ursula Le Guin, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Maya Angelou, Sinclair Lewis, Edna Ferber, Robert Louis Stevenson, Ernie Pyle, Henry Miller, and Ivan Turgenev. The calendar grids highlight birthdays of writers for every day of the year, and an evocative photograph of Edna St Vincent Millay by Carl Van Vechten adorns the cover.

The spiral-bound engagement calendar (6´x9"), with a pensive-looking Herman Melville on the cover, includes photos and short profiles of a diverse group of 53 writers, among them Italo Calvino, Flannery O'Connor, Vine Deloria, Christopher Isherwood, Alice Walker, Arna Bontemps and William Wordsworth. The desk calendar is also packed with quotes, lore and dates related to authors, their works, and the writing life.

The wall calendar ($10.95) and the desk/engagement calendar ($11.95) are now available at the Library's Madison Sales Shop at 101 Independence Avenue S.E. and from bookstores and other calendar retailers. Bulk orders and general inquiries about the calendars can be made directly to Pomegranate Publications, toll- free, at 1-800-227-1428.

# # #

PR 94-157
10/14/94
ISSN 0731-3527