Featured Authors

rink Presented in partnership with the National Book Awards A unique series for sophisticated writers, readers, and eaters, Eat, Drink & Be Literary builds on its past three sell-out seasons, bringing major contemporary authors to BAMcafe for intimate dinners, entertaining readings, and engaging discussions. Evenings begin at 6:30pm with a sumptuous buffet prepared by BAM cafe's acclaimed executive chef, Tim Sullivan, served with select wines provided by Pine Ridge Winery and accompanied by live music. Following dinner, authors read from and are interviewed about their work, take questions from the audience, and sign books to conclude an evening of candid glimpses into the creative process and the rich writings it yields. The National Book Awards The mission of the National Book Awards is to celebrate the best of American literature, to expand its audience, and to enhance the cultural value of good writing in America. Please visit the National Book Awards website at nationalbook.org for more information. Featured Authors MODERATED BY JAN 17 George Saun d ers AOIBHEANNSWEENEY "Saunders' finest gift is a high note no one can hit very often, which is to construct a story of absurdist satire, then locate within it a moment of searing humanity." - The Boston Globe "The best thing about being a writer is that, when you say you're a writer. nobody expects you to be able to function normally" -George Saunders A MacArthur Fellow, George Saunders is the author of the short story collections Pastoralia, CiviiWarLand in Bad Decline, and In Persuasion Nation, which was one of three finalists for the 2006 Story Prize for best short story collection of the year. His most recent book is The Braindead Megaphone, a collection of essays. Widely translated and anthologized, Saunders currently teaches in the Creative Writing Program at Syracuse University. Dinner music by the string trio Sojourner, with Marline ~ice on violin, Judith lnsell on viola, and Nioka Workman on cello ' b MODERATED BY FEB 7 De b ora h E1sen erg AOIBHEANNSWEENEY "Simply put, there aren't many contemporary novels as shudderingly intimate and mordantly funny as Eisenberg's best stories, and her latest collection ... should finally establish her as one of the most important fiction writers now at work." -The New York Times on Twilight of the Superheroes "You know how sometimes there's just a certain slant of sunlight, the fragrance of a certain flower. and a whole world will open up in your head? You think, 'What is that?' That's what I go for. an exploration of the signals that make you feel that way" -Deborah Eisenberg Deborah Eisenberg has authored several short story collections, including Transactions in a Foreign Currency, Under the 82nd Airborne, All Around Atlantis, and most recently, Twilight of the Superheroes, all cited as New York Times Notable Books of the Year. Eisenberg is a Guggenheim Fellow and currently teaches at the University of Virginia. Dinner music by Eric Kurimski, South American/jazz guitar , A ·m MODERATED BY FEB 2s An d re c1 an HAROLD AUGEN BRAUM "It is Mr. Aciman's great achievement that he has re-created a world gone forever now, and given us an ironical and affectionate portrait of those who were exiled from it." - The New York Times on Out of Egypt: A Memoir "II realized that if I} wanted to be a writer I had to ... play at the table history had placed me in, not in a Never/and of my own invention. I had to write for America, in America ... and I needed to learn to wet my throat with water from the Hudson, not from the Seine, the Tiber, or the Nile." -Andre Aciman Winner of the Whiting Writers' Award (1995) and a Guggenheim Fellow, Andre Aciman is the author of the memoi r Out of Egypt and the essay collection False Papers. His latest novel, Call Me By Your Name, will be released in paperback February 2008. He currently lives in Manhattan and teaches comparative literature at the CUNY Graduate Center. Dinner music by Rufus Cappadocia, five string cellist ' t MODERATED BY MAR 13 Fr a n Le b ow 1 z AOIBHEANN SWEENEY "Talking to Fran Lebowitz reminded me of something a book reviewer once said about one of Saul Bellow's novels: 'II burns the fat right off the brain.' Because if the brain were a muscle, mine was sweaty and well-toned after our two-hour talk. • - Index Magazine "I have a hard time writing. Most writers have a hard time writing. I have a harder lime than most because I'm lazier than most. I don't want to brag, but I'm the laziest person I have ever known. I am more than slothful: I'm almost inert. And since writing is so arduous, I tend to avoid it assiduously." - Fran Lebowitz Fran Lebowitz is the author of two acclaimed books of comic essays, Metropolitan Ufe and Social Studies, which are currently available in The Fran Lebowitz Reader. She has also authored a children's book, Mr. Chas and Usa Sue Meet the Pandas, and has written for a number of publications including Vogue, Vanity Fair, and The New York Times. Dinner music by Scott Pearson on piano MODERATED BY MAR 20 Pe t e r Ca rey AOIBHEANN SWEENEY "Let me be entirely clear about this: Theft: A Love Story is a novel that will get right up your nose .. .It is a rudely brilliant, infuriatingly beautiful, belligerently profane work of art." - The Guardian (UK) "My fictional project has always been the invention or discovery of my own country. Looked at in this way; Great Expectations is not only a great work of English literature; it is (to an Australian) also a way in which the English have colonized our ways of seeing ourselves ... Jack Maggs is an attempt to break open the prison and to imaginatively reconcile with the jailer." - Peter Carey A two-time Man Booker Prize winner, Australian-born Peter Carey is the author of several books, including Oscar and Lucinda ( 1998) and True History of the Kelly Gang (2001). He has taught writing at NYU, Columbia University, and The New School, and currently directs the MFA program at Hunter College. Dinner music by Carl Riehl on piano and accordion MODERATED BY APRIL 3 Sh a IQ m Aus Ian de r HAROLD AUGENBRAUM " ... [an} extraordinary collection, which has an energy, a precision and a deep black humour I haven't seen in a long time. • -The Guardian (UK) on Beware of God: Stories "I think I'm fairly serious with things I think are funny because it's so important that they come out right. The frustration, of course, is that people say, 'Oh, it's a funny book.' They don't realize that you've been busy doing something." - Shalom Auslander Shalom Auslander is the author of Foreskin's Lament, which Time magazine has called "one of the best memoirs of the year." His first book was the critically-acclaimed short story collection Beware of God. Nominated for the Koret Award for Writers Under 35, Auslander has written for The New Yorker and The New York Times Magazine, and is a regular contributer to Public Radio International's This American Ufe. Dinner music by Stephen Saperstein, pianist and scholar of New Orleans music ' ' MODERATED BY APRIL 11 Ch a rI es S1m 1c EDWARD HIRSCH "There are few poets writing in America today who share his lavish appetite for the bizarre, his inexhaustible repertoire of indelible characters and gestures .. Simic is perhaps our most disquieting muse. • - The Harvard Review "Words make love on the page like flies in the summer heat and the poet is only the bemused spectator. • -Charles Simic Charles Simic, the fifteenth Poet Laureate of the United States (2007- 2008), was born in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, and immigrated to the U.S. in 1953 at the age of 15. He lives in New Hampshire where, until his retirement, he was a professor of American Literature and Creative Writing at the University of New Hampshire. A poet, essayist, and translator, he has been honored with the Wallace Stevens Award, a Pulitzer Prize, two PEN Awards for his work as a translator, and a MacArthur Fellowship. Dinner music by Browning-Gilchrest Duo, with Suzanne Gilchrest on flute and Winslow Browning on guitar · A h be MODERATED BY MAY 1s Ch 1n u a c e BRADFORD MORROW "Mr. Achebe is a novelist who makes you laugh- and then catch your breath in horror... Achebe is gloriously gifted with the magic of an ebullient, generous, great talent. · - The New York Times Book Review "It seems to me that from the very beginning, stories have been meant to be enjoyed ... Still, I think that behind it all is a desire to make our experience in the world better, and once you talk about making things better you're talking about politics." - Chinua Achebe Chinua Achebe is the author of several books, including the bestseller Things Fall Apart (1958), which made Achebe the most translated African writer in history. In 2007, he was awarded the Man Booker International Prize celebrating his career as a chronicler of the pre- and post-colonial African experience. He currently teaches in the Languages and Literature Department at Bard College. Dinner music by aj, with Andrea and James Rohlehr on flute and guitar BAMfamily Book Brunch SAT, APR 12, 11:30AM-2PM Bring the kids to a special family program featuring award-winning authors. The event starts off with a buffet of kid-friendly food and drink accompanied by live music followed by a reading.

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