Abroad Writers Conference Calcutta, new NEA study, Aisling O'Neill

Happy New Year! Economy aside, there are so many wonderful things happening this year, and with Obama in charge things can only get better.
As for me, I’m particularly excited about my role as Assistant Director of Abroad Writers Conferences (http://www.abroad-crwf.com). We have an incredible conference in Calcutta planned for September, with an outstanding array of Pulitzer/Booker/National Book Award winners. Currently on board are: Junot Diaz, Chris Abani, Amy Bloom, Robert Olen Butler, Ariel Dorfman, Laura Esquivel, Karen Joy Fowler, Jane Hamilton, Jane Harris, Russell Celyn Jones, Maxine Hong Kingston, Yiyum Li, Paul Muldoon, Richard Powers, Michele Roberts, Joan Silber, Gail Tsuikyama, Rebecca Walker.
We are working with Mr Anup Matilal, Chief Minister of West Bengal, to make this one of the year’s most exciting literary events.
I was also heartened by today’s Wall Street Journal article “The Triumph Of The Readers” by Ann Patchett: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123214794600191819.html
Here she refers to the recent report from the National Endowment For The Arts that for the first time in more than 25 years, the number of people reading fiction is on the rise:
http://www.nea.gov/news/news09/ReadingonRise.html
Interestingly, Patchett draws attention to how the most heartening rise is in the 18-24-year-old reading group “the ones who seem to have been born with IPod buds stuck in their ears.”
I am particularly struck with the explosion of popularity in fantasy fiction. Harry Potters seems to have set a steady trend. Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight series – about a girl who falls in love with a vampire, have met with outstanding success, and her latest, “Breaking Dawn”, sold more than 3.6 copies in hardcover. Vogue magazine also had a fantasy-themed January issue kicking off the year, and editor Alexandra Shulman notes in her letter how “In testing times, we all need to dream and to have an emotional escape route.” Fantasy seems to be the literary zeitgeist and as a fairy/myth enthusiast this is very good news for me. I am having lots of fun with my novel-in-progress The Poppy Queen, set in a superstitious village in the remote Brecon Beacons.
I also want to officially congratulate my phenomenally talented friend Aisling O’Neill who has seen two of her songs on two of the most popular shows in the US (her song ‘California’ aired on The Hills and Grey’s Anatomy). See http://www.myspace.com/aboneill. Ash is on the verge of superstardom and it’s very exciting to see her abundant talent being rewarded. Her voice and lyrics are truly magical and her songs are precious, dazzling gems.
p.s. Whilst in Abu Dhabi this Christmas, we drove to Dubai, to its Atlantis Hotel on The Palm, where we walked around the aquarium there. I thought the Moon Jellyfish (Aurelia aurita) were truly enchanting. From the pamphlet: “These graceful and beautiful drifters have neither eyes nor brains yet serve an important role in oceans. They are a major source of food for sea turtles, other jellyfish and even people.”