Worth a Thousand Words
WordFest pictures are here!
On Flickr: Browse a selection of photos from the weekend’s daytime events. All photos courtesy of Sarah Edwards.
On Pictage: View and purchase photos from our evening events. (Please note: you must create a free account to access images.) Courtesy of John Seakwood Photography.
On Rural Intelligence: Party pics from Saturday’s cocktail hour in the Stables.
Enjoy! And thanks so much again to all who took part.
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Looking for book recommendations? Our Writers in Wartime panelists have provided excellent lists of war-themed literature.
Gearing up for next year? Stay tuned! Berkshire WordFest 2011 dates will be announced soon. Bookmark this site and check back for news & updates.
Looking for
a Good (War) Read?
Check out these recommendations, generously provided by last weekend’s Writers in Wartime panelists.
From Peabody and Emmy Award-winning journalist John Hockenberry:
- Sebastian Junger, War
- Norman Mailer, The Naked and the Dead
- Ernest Hemingway, For Whom the Bell Tolls
- Michael Herr, Dispatches
- Neil Sheehan, A Bright Shining Lie
- Graham Greene, The Quiet American
- Philipp Blom, The Vertigo Years
- Barbara Tuchman, The Guns of August
- Erich Maria Remarque, All Quiet on the Western Front
- Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace
- George Packer, Assassin’s Gate
- Dexter Filkins, The Forever War
- Tim O’Brien, Going After Cacciato
- Michael Gordon, Cobra II
- Thomas Ricks, Fiasco
- Evan Wright, Generation Kill
- Anthony Swofford, Jarhead
- Walt Whitman
- Wilfred Owen
- Tony Judt, Postwar
- Evelyn Waugh, The Sword of Honour Trilogy
- Andrew Bacevich, The New American Military
- Colby Buzzell, My War
- Matt Gallagher, Kaboom: embracing the suck in a savage little war
- Anthony Shadid, Night Draws Near
- Rick Atkinson, An Army at Dawn: The War in North Africa 1942-1943
- Craig Mullaney, The Unforgiving Minute
From West Point literature professor Elizabeth Samet:
- U. S. Grant, Personal Memoirs
- Tobias Wolff, In Pharaoh’s Army
- Edmund Blunden, Undertones of War
- Evelyn Waugh, Sword of Honour
- A film: Life and Nothing But, directed by Bertrand Tavernier
From novelist Tatjana Soli:
- Tim O’Brien: The Things They Carried; Going After Cacciato; In the Lake of the Woods
- Michael Herr, Dispatches
- Duong Van Mai Elliott, The Sacred Willow
- Perry Deane Young, Two of the Missing
Moderator Frank Delaney read from and recommended Edith Wharton’s own fine collection of war reporting, Fighting France: From Dunkerque To Belport (1915).
To which we at WordFest add the works of each of our wartime panelists: Hockenberry’s Moving Violations; Samet’s Soldier’s Heart; Soli’s The Lotus Eaters; and Delaney’s own lyrical series, which explores the sweep of Irish history: Ireland, Tipperary, Shannon and, most recently, Venetia Kelly’s Traveling Show.
Many thanks to all who took part! For thoughtful coverage of this panel and other events, read Kate Abbott’s reflections in Thursday’s Berkshires Week.
Up and Running!
UPDATE, 5:30 p.m.: Catch Lesley Ann Beck’s live coverage of WordFest! It’s been a wonderful day! Next up: Cocktails in the historic Stables.
We had a terrific start to WordFest 2010 last night, with Francine Prose’s provocative and stylish talk, Ten Ways of Looking at Edith Wharton. In it, Prose considers the complexities, foibles, quirks (such as Wharton’s childhood penchant for “make up,” a game that involved embellishing aloud the contents of books in rapid-fire, almost incantory fashion) and, yes, undeniable brilliance of the multi-faceted author/gardener/designer/artful liver of life. Hometown hero Louisa Gilder gave a sparkling, heartfelt introduction of Prose. Thanks to all!
Much more ahead today and tomorrow! Some tickets are available at the door—please join us for these and other highlights:
- Breakfast with Elizabeth Brundage (just a couple of hours from now!)
- In-depth interviews with foodie Ruth Reichl, virtuosic fiction writer Jim Shepard and humorist (of Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me! fame) Roy Blount Jr.
- Lively, thoughtful panel discussions on Old Money, New Money and Writers in Wartime
- Special booksigning with tonight’s keynote speaker, Garrison Keillor, at 1 p.m. and many other booksignings throughout the day
- Poetry on the Terrace
- Cocktails in the historic Stables with festival authors—mix and mingle with the literati in a casual, rustic setting
See you at the ’Fest!
“The Most Eloquent Man…”
UPDATE, July 1: In addition to his panel appearance, Frank Delaney will join us as Master of Ceremonies on Saturday, July 24, for our Festival Fundraiser, featuring special guest Garrison Keillor. Tickets start at $250. Join us!
NPR’s Scott Simon calls author and veteran BBC broadcaster Frank Delaney “the most eloquent man in the world.” Hear him here, at Berkshire WordFest, moderating our Writers in Wartime discussion with foreign correspondent John Hockenberry and West Point professor Elizabeth Samet. Delaney is the author of thirteen novels and seven nonfiction works, and has interviewed more than 3,000 authors—the literary greats of our day—on the BBC and elsewhere.
Timely, relevant, riveting. Purchase your ticket today!
