Euuuu Lynne, in the back of my mind there is a Jake and Elwood getting into a black car, Mission from God on their minds. It would be "noble" thing to pursue it, don't cha think?
Jeff Mann, the Virginia Tech professor who wrote that really moving piece about going to see BBM for the first time, might also know some good departments to start with.
Holy Mole, I had been hoping to have an opportunity to contact him.
You would post this in TWO PLACES?? ::) ??? :o :D Okay, then, please let me know what author you do think is a success and should be nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature. I definitely want to read this person's work.
I must admit that my respect for the Academy went down the drain when they year after year failed to award Swedish author of children's literature Astrid Lindgren. She died a few years back, after a long life well lived, an event that created immense national mourning in all of Scandinavia. If ever an author deserved the prize, it was her. One can only surmise that the pompous old guys were of the outdated opinion that children's literature, even of her exceptional quality (and quantity) is not "literature". My respect for the Swedish Academy and the AMPAS actually are on the same level. I think both are uninformed and pathetic enough to snub Annie Proulx.There probably is something to the male bias, however unconscious it may be in our supposedly more enlightened era. I'm surprised that Doris Lessing, a very highly regarded writer whose work is frequently anthologized, has yet to garner the Nobel. She is quite aged now, and could well end up permanently snubbed like Astrid Lindgren.
There probably is something to the male bias, however unconscious it may be in our supposedly more enlightened era. I'm surprised that Doris Lessing, a very highly regarded writer whose work is frequently anthologized, has yet to garner the Nobel. She is quite aged now, and could well end up permanently snubbed like Astrid Lindgren.You're right, she should have won it after "The Golden Notebook." Do you think she suffered from being a former communist?
Okay, then, please let me know what author you do think is a success and should be nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature. I definitely want to read this person's work.
Do you think she suffered from being a former communist?I don't think that is the most likely reason for her being overlooked. Certainly many recipients of the prize have been leftist in their politics (I'm thinking right now of Jean-Paul Sartre, who declined the prize), and/or have hailed from socialist regimes (Boris Pasternak comes to mind).
As an a propos to this, it's interesting to note that my country's society of novelists (or whatever the English title would be) has proposed to the Academy that Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen should be awarded the Nobel prize for Literature.
Come on........A Nobel Prize.....you have to be kidding.......
Below is a copy of a post and my reply in the thread about "back stories".......
Annie doesnt need a Nobel Prize, she needs a word processor to complete her story, not rely on everyone else to complete it for her.......
These, and a thousand other questions and answers that never got explained in the story.......
I know I have hit this subject many times before, about the writing abilities of Annie Proulx......my opinion is, and has always been, that she failed.....all she could manage to accomplish was a "draft" of a story, not a complete story....I wish she had given that "draft" to a real author to be completed as it deserved to be completed.........
September - Nomination forms are sent out. The Nobel Committee sends out confidential forms to 600-700 persons and organizations who are qualified to nominate for the Nobel Prize in Literature.
February - Deadline for submission. The filled-in forms must reach the Nobel Committee not later than January 31 of the following year. The Committee then screens the nominations and submits a list for approval by the Academy.
Let's face it, she's won every other literary award she qualifies for. ;)
Katie - I am stunned, but of course not speechless ;).
Let me first say that you are completely entitled to your opinion, but we'll just have to respectfully agree to disagree on this one.
Annie Proulx's talent is not limited to only "Brokeback Mountain." I have read both volumes of her Wyoming short stories, as well as Postcards and The Shipping News. She has the body of work of a lifetime which would be evaluated as a whole for a Nobel Prize.
As far as Brokeback is concerned, maybe its just that I think Ennis and Jack deserved a longer, more in depth story.......maybe thats my way of saying, I just want more of them...more words written about them...same as i wanted more love scenes in the movie.....I just wanted more.....
Just wanted to let you know Lynne, that yesterday I ordered "The Shipping News" and "Postcards" from my local book store......
Additonal strategy: There is a hornets' nest of Brokeback Supporters still buzzin' around the Dave Cullen site. Let them know about this Nobel Prize idea. I suspect there are plenty of academics over there too. Let's mix our flocks on this one.
Brokeback Mountain is among the greatest and most important pieces of literature ever written. It is the tire iron against fear and bigotry. We should swing it and swing it.
Friends,
During the last few weeks, we have put together a terrific group of people interested in this project from the different major Internet groups - BetterMost, Dave Cullen, EnnisJack, and Yahoo. We now have an impressive cross-section of folks coming together for the worthy cause of lobbying for Annie Proulx to win a Nobel Prize - the only major literary prize she has not yet been awarded.
Here are my ideas - my 'three-pronged plan' - of what we need to do to realize our goals. Clearly, absolutely nothing is cast in stone, so please feel free to comment, interject your own views, opinions, or criticisms.
First, we need to build a database of potential nominators, which will include College/University, Department Director, and contact information. I do not mind taking the lead here because building databases is my current career (translate - easy). I've done some cursory queries of renown English/Creative Writing departments - the potential list is in the hundreds, if not approaching 1,000! I would like each of our alma maters, or those of our parents, or others where we have personal connections, where applicable, to be included in this database. Please send me these college and/or university names ([email protected]), and I will be sure they are included and annotated appropriately.
Next, we obviously have a large body of information at our disposal regarding Annie Proulx and Brokeback Mountain. However, the Nobel is awarded for a 'body of work.' There is a definite hole in (at least my own knowledge base) regarding her other works, although I have read most of them. Consequently, we need to gather resources (literary criticism and commentary) of Annie Proulx that are not BBM-centric. And we need someone to volunteer to take the lead in accumulating these additional resources. Email me if you have interest, please!! This is going to be a most challenging part, IMO.
Finally, we need some real-life BBM-testimonials to include as part of our nomination package. I'm not envisioning hundreds - more like 5-15 poignant stories about how BBM made a significant difference to an individual life, ruthlessly culled (by necessity) from the thousands we know are out there. Truman ([email protected]) has expressed interest in accumulating these stories. (Obviously, we will need the permission of the original posters to duplicate their [edited] posts in our package.) The first order of business should be for each of us to identify a few (5?) personal stories (our own or others we've read about) that touched us deeply. Please post or send Truman and/or me the pertinent links. We can go from there.
Now - a timetable...
Some of us are planning to be in Denver (Estes Park) for Memorial Day weekend. This date would make an excellent goal for reviewing our progress.
My goal is to have the potential nominator database completed by 5/1/2007. This would give me the opportunity to send it to the group for review before Mem Day and to solicit additional input at the gathering.
It would be awesome to have a draft of the nomination package completed before Mem Day. I envision this as an ongoing work in the coming months as we gather information and testimonials. I imagine we will be through several drafts before 5/1.
Perhaps we should set intermediate goals of
Draft 1 - 4/1
Draft 2 - 4/15
Draft 3 = 5/1
Draft 4 = 5/15
We could then have the latest draft to distribute to a wider group at the Mem Day gathering for additional input. This means that most input regarding literary criticism and analysis references and testimonials should be in place ASAP to 4/1 to give us time to write.
Ultimately, we will have through mid-July to make revisions and finalize our nomination package and distribution list. We should be ready to mail our nomination package NLT 8/1/2007, which is when the Nobel committee starts soliciting nominations.
Please mark your calendar with these important dates and respond with feedback and any information you can gather (including if coming to Denver/Estes Park for Memorial Day is in your plans)!!!
Thank you in advance for all your hard work!!!
Best,
Lynne
P.S.
The general website for the Estes Park gathering:
http://www.brokeback2007.com/
The BetterMost link to the Estes Park gathering (registration required):
http://bettermost.net/forum/index.php/topic,5791.msg156368.html#msg15
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