Nominate Annie Proulx for the Nobel Prize?

[Lynne]

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.

Well said, Larry.

From all accounts, the joint Denver BBQ planning is working out real well.  Seems to me we need a point person at Dave Cullen to spearhead amassing interest there, then create a joint task force .

One person comes immediately to my mind because we've conspired about sharing info about Annie's appearances in the past.  But I don't think he's real active there anymore, sadly.  If you have any suggestions about who'd be good to approach, PM Truman and me.  I believe we all have accounts there, but I rarely visit and post even less frequently.  We would ideally have a point person there with history and credibility to lead the effort on that end.

-Lynne

[Lynne]

Howdy folks,

I've created a forum-independent yahoo group to work on this project and invited people I gleaned from this thread who I understood to express an interest.  The yahoo group is at

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nominate_annie/

If you're not interested and got an invite, PM me and let me know.  If you're interested, posted here, and did not get an invite, it's because your email address is hidden, so please send me your email, and I will add you.  Similarly, if you know of other interested parties, PM me their name/email and I'll add them.

When setting up the security options, I made them as stringent as possible to avoid unwanted interference.

Thanks!  This is really exciting!

Lynne

[Lynne]

So...I think we're finally getting this project off the ground - wish us luck!!!  I just sent this message to our nominate_Annie yahoo group.  I added bold type to the parts where we could really use input!  If you have input, post here or PM me or Truman (shakestheground)!  Much obliged.

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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