WRITER AND BROADCASTER GARRISON KEILLOR
JOINS MARK TWAIN JUDGING PANEL
Buffalo, NY – The Buffalo & Erie County Public Library (B&ECPL) is pleased to announce that American writer and radio humorist Garrison Keillor has been named to the international judging panel for its Mark Twain Writing Competition "A Murder, a Mystery and a Marriage." Keillor has also lent his famous voice to the audio version of this Twain short story to be introduced this fall.
"We are very excited about publishing Garrison Keillor's reading of Twain's story," said Sallie Neall, vice president of Highbridge, the company that produces Keillor’s audio books, including the new Twain story. "There is no better voice for Twain than Keillor's."
As a member of the writing competition’s judging panel, Keillor joins a list of prominent names in contemporary literature that includes authors Joyce Carol Oates, Lauren Belfer and Connie Porter as well as humorist Roy Blount and documentary filmmaker Dayton Duncan.
"Garrison Keillor’s crackling humor has often been compared to that of Mark Twain," said B&ECPL Director Diane J. Chrisman. "We’re honored to have one of America’s most noteworthy storytellers as a member of our judging panel."
The B&ECPL launched the writing competition on March 1, 2001, 125 years after Twain proposed the idea to his good friend and editor of The Atlantic Monthly, William Dean Howells. Twain had suggested that contemporary writers of the time compose a story based on his outline, entitled "A Murder, a Mystery and a Marriage" which would have been published in The Atlantic Monthly. Twain’s story is the only finished version, which up until now, has never been published.
The Library has taken up where Twain and Howells left off, asking entrants to compose their own ending to Twain’s first two chapters of "A Murder, a Mystery and a Marriage." The final judging panel will evaluate the top 10 entries and provide commentary on the strengths of their three selections from this group. All 10 leading entries will be published in a commercial format to be determined. Entries must be postmarked by June 25, 2001. The Atlantic Monthly will publish Twain’s version in its July/August 2001 issue and W.W. Norton & Company will produce a hard cover, gift edition this fall.
Garrison Keillor was recently inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and was presented with a National Humanities Medal by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
He is the creator and host of "A Prairie Home Companion," a popular syndicated program on National Public Radio. The stories he tells over the air, which involve the mythical Lake Wobegon, are based partly on his memories of growing up in Anoka, Minnesota, and are among the highlights of the live broadcast. With a mix of comedy and music, as well as humorous commercials for the show’s sponsors, Keillor appeals to millions of listeners.
In addition to Keillor’s radio career, he occasional writes essays for Time Magazine and hosts a weekly column for Salon.com, an online magazine. He has written ten books, including Lake Wobegon Days (1985), The Book of Guys (1993), Wobegon Bay (1997) and is also working on a new novel 1956 Lake Wobegon Summer. In 1994, Keillor was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame at the Museum of Broadcast Communications in Chicago.
For further information about the Mark Twain Writing Competition, call (716) 858-7181 or visit www.buffalolib.org.