Lit Bit: Kennedy Honored with Fitzgerald Literary Award

This weekend, at the 12^th Annual F. Scott Fitzgerald Conference at Montgomery College in Rockville, Maryland, critically-acclaimed author William Joseph Kennedy will be presented with the Fitzgerald Literary Award.

Kennedy’s in good compay.  No, not because I’ll be there for his cocktail reception, award presentation, and craft lecture — because past winners include the likes of John Updike, Norman Mailer, Joyce Carol Oates, Edward Albee, E.L. Doctorow, Ernest J. Gaines, Pat Conroy, William Styron, Grace Paley, John Barth, and Jane Smiley.

William J. Kennedy is best known for his Albany cycle, including the Pulitzer and National Book Award winning Ironweed, for which he also wrote the Academy Award nominated movie.

Kennedy’s acceptance, reading, and comments on his distinguished career as a writer may be the highlight of the conference.  But there are so many other reasons to attend the day-long event.

The conference spans from 8 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. this Saturday, October 13.  It offers craft lectures and workshops with a number of accomplished writers and practical advice on honing your craft, beating writers block, getting published, and more.  There’s even reading of Fitzgerald’s work and a tour of Fitzgerald literary haunts.

Don’t listen to R.E.M.’s advice — DO go back to Rockville for this day-long literary event.  Get all the details on the conference website.

http://www.montgomerycollege.edu/potomacreview/fscott/index.htm  

---------------

Eric D. Goodman, Books Correspondent

Eric’s column, Lit Bit, is published every Wednesday to Gather Essentials: Books.  Featuring bits on writing, writers, books, and literature, Lit Bit will fulfill your literary longings.

Eric is a full-time writer and editor.  His work has appeared in The Washington Post, The Baltimore Review, Writers Weekly, The Arabesques Review, JMWW, Coloquio, To Be Read Aloud, Neck of My Guitar, and Travel Insights.

Listen to Eric read an excerpt from his fiction on National Public Radio on the WYPR website.

http://publicbroadcasting.net/wypr/.artsmain/article/14/347/1080648/from.the.Signal/%22A.Good.Beer.Needs.a.Good.Stein%22/ 

You can find all of Eric’s Lit Bit articles at www.gather.com/litbit. Keep up with Eric’s other postings and Gather activity by joining his Gather network -- just visit www.edgewriter.gather.comand select the orange “Connect” button on the left-hand side of the page.  You’ll find Eric and other Book Correspondents, plus celebrity author content and plenty of other bibliophiles at Books.gather.com.