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 bora 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." - 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 .

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." - 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, , and , 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 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 (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. The authors will discuss their recent work and answer questions from the audience. The event will conclude with a book signing. Past authors have included Walter Dean Myers and his son, illustrator Christopher Myers; Jacqueline Woodson and illustrator Hudson Talbott. Recommended age level : 8 to 12 years. Please see "Tickets" for details and BAM .org for updates. Dining at BAMcafe

Before each reading, enjoy a delicious buffet dinner and Pine Ridge select wines with musical accompaniment. Restaurateur Great Performances presents meals for every palate with mouth-watering creations from their acclaimed executive chef, Tim Sullivan. Sample menu includes:

Baby mizuna salad with julienne carrots, jicama, cucumbers, golden raisins, and roasted pistachios served with creamy garlic and lemon vinaigrette Roasted harvest vegetables and fettucine Katchkie fa rm grilled organic vegetable platter with zucchini, squash, eggplant, spring onion, fennel, and tomatoes Cabernet glazed grilled salmon filet served with citrus infused ragout of baby carrots, bok choy, and fingerling potatoes Forest mushroom and asparagus chick roulade served with herb roasted red bliss potatoes and fine herb sauce

Seating is first come, first seated. Incomplete parties wil l not be able to save seats, so please have your party arrive together. Communal seating will be provided for singles and small parties (at the discretion of the management). Doors open at 6:30pm. Dinner will begin promptly at 7pm and finish with coffee and light dessert service. Tables will be cleared at 8pm for the reading, interview, and book signing. Author's books will be available for purchase at the BAMshop during each event.

Tickets

On sale Nov 19 (Friends of BAM Private Sale starts Nov 12) Eat, Drink, & Be Literary: $48 (includes dinner, wine, tax, and tip) BAMfamily Book Brunch: $20 for adults, $15 for children 15 and under (includes lunch, tax, and tip) Subscribe to five events and save 20% on Eat, Drink & Be Literary and on the BAM family Book Brunch.

HOW TO ORDER

BAM .org* I 718.636.4100

Box Office*: Peter Jay Sharp Building, 30 Lafayette Avenue, Brooklyn Mon- Sat 12noon- 6pm

* Subscription discount not available at BAM .org or Box Office Friends of BAM

Support BAM's commitment to programs like Eat, Drink & Be Literary by joining 2007-2008 Friends of BAM Chair Annie Leibovitz and others who enjoy the BAM experience as a member. Special insider benefits include advance sales of tickets to BAM's mainstage and literary programs, access to working rehearsals, waived ticket handling fees, and discounts at BAMca fe and local restaurants. Join today for as little as $75/year at BAM.org/Membership.

BAMcafe I Peter Jay Sharp Building I 30 lafayette Ave I Brooklyn

Presenting sponsor for Eat, Drink & Be literary: Pine Ridge Wine generously donated by Joseph S. & Diane H. Steinberg. Bloomberg PI E RIDGE

NAPA VAl L E Y WI N E S Media sponsor for Eat, Drink & Be Literary: www.plneridgewine.com

Additional support for Eat, Drink & Be Literary is provided by the New York State Council on the Arts. Special thanks to The Le pe rcq Foundation. The BAM facilities are owned by the City of New York and benefit from public funds provided through the Department of Cultural Affairs with support from Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg; the New York City Council including Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn, Cultural Affairs Committee Chair Domenic M. Recch ia, Jr., the Brooklyn Delegation of the Council, and Councilwoman Letitia James; Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz; and Cultural Affairs Commissioner Kate D. Levin.