When I was a kid, my dad went to Hawaii for work and brought back grass skirts and shell necklaces for me and my sister. I can remember prancing about the house mimicking what I thought at the time was a hula dance, likely influenced by watching too much “Fantasy Island.” According to the International …
(The following is a guest post by Mark Hartsell, editor of the Library’s staff newsletter, The Gazette.) The Library of Congress this month will celebrate the legacy of a man who helped bring higher education to millions of Americans and who played a key role in the creation of one of the nation’s most splendid …
In addition to today being Flag Day (you can read more about that here), June 14 is also Family History Day. This actually makes me think of my dad, who has become quite the budding genealogist. Over the last several months, he has been extensively researching our family tree. Apparently one of my very distant …
When it comes to priceless art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has quite a bit, including a trove of Raphaels. But the Library of Congress (on its National Book Festival site, now live at www.loc.gov/bookfest) has a new Rafael López National Book Festival poster for 2012 that’s priceless, too – because you …
Burt Bacharach and Hal David were recently feted around Washington for receiving the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. A tribute concert at the White House will be broadcast nationally tonight on PBS at 9 p.m. EDT (check local listings) as “Burt Bacharach & Hal David: The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for …
Here’s what you book fiends have been waiting for – the author lineup for the 2012 Library of Congress National Book Festival, Sept. 22 and 23 on the National Mall. Authors will include towering American novelist Philip Roth and Nobel Prize-winner Mario Vargas Llosa; the irrepressible T.C. Boyle (some of you know him as T. …
On Tuesday, the Library hosted the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) Foundation for its annual event “We Write the Songs,” a night of songwriters performing their own tunes and telling the stories behind their creations. And, some of the performers were a throwback to my fondest memories growing up in the 1980s. …
Take 550 grade- and middle-school kids; put ‘em in a room with an amazing author they know and love; add a barrage of questions about the creative process and a dash of humor. One hour later, open the doors and stand back as a large flock of reading would-be writers burst out upon the world! …
The Library of Congress rolled out the red carpet on Tuesday to honor Burt Bacharach and Hal David with the 2012 Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. The prize commemorates George and Ira Gershwin, the legendary American songwriting team whose extensive collection resides in the Library of Congress. The all-star tribute concert featured …
(The following is a guest article about Walter Dean Myers, National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, written by my colleague Mark Hartsell, which recently appeared in the Library’s staff newsletter, the Gazette.) Something about his fan mail disturbs Walter Dean Myers. Myers, the author of critically acclaimed books for young people such as “Monster,” “Fallen …