---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Dan Duffy <vietnamlit@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, Oct 1, 2010 at 4:53 AM
Subject: [Vsg] invitation to Viet Nam Literature Seminar 2: Willson and Leepson
To: Viet Nam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
"All my life I've bored and alienated and irritated whatever audience I
had. The books I wrote were an extension of that experience."
David A. Willson interviewed by Jon Forrest Glade
Hi all,
I am writing to plan our Thursday, November 11, interview of David Willson
by Marc Leepson, at 4:30 PM (NY). Viet Nam Literature Seminar 2 will be
a teleconference with an audience of David's friends and colleagues.
*Introduction*
My purpose in convening the seminar is to add to the critical material
available on an author whose reputation can only grow as time goes by. I
want to come out of this with an audio file and transcript we can offer at
David's entry at Wikivietlit:
http://www.vietnamlit.org/wiki/index.php?title=David_A._Willson
We are fortunate that Marc, the most experienced and knowledgeable
interviewer of Viet Nam War veteran artists, is also close to David and
willing to donate his time to this project.
I have focused on increasing the value of the transcript by inviting
others also long familiar with David's work. I think that the presence of the
well-informed may increase the depth of everyone's interaction.
*Details on attendees*
So far we have seventeen planning to attend. I will call in from the Viet
Nam Literature Project porch with VNLP supporters Victoria Christian and
Brian Hopkins.
David will be calling in from Maple Valley with his wife Michele, and
Marc from Washington, DC. Colleagues John Baky, David Connolly, Alan
Farrell, Randy Fertel, Lydia Fish, Jon Forrest Glade, Wayne Karlin,
Steve Maxner,
John Clark Pratt, Bruce Solheim, and Kali Tal will phone in. Bill Ehrhart will
try to arrange his coaching schedule to make the event. .
*Invitation*
My next step is to invite those who may not yet know David's work. I welcome
any suggestions on individuals, teachers, or listservs.
Bruce Solheim may bring his Viet Nam War class. Lydia Fish has offered to
post the invitation on v-war. I will post it to the Diasporic
Vietnamese Artists
Network.
And here I am posting to the Viet Nam Studies Group. I often notice
that scholars with
polyvocal understanding of Viet Nam read only the American vet authors who have
enjoyed commercial success with New York literary publishers.
There is nothing wrong with teaching Tim O'Brien. But David is the
tip of an iceberg of more
various, more definitely anti-heroic, better-informed, more antic
authors. Check it out?
*Conclusion*
Please let me know by email to <editor@vietnamllit.org>. I will send
teleconference
call-in # and access code later, along with recent updates to David's
final work,
The REMF Diary of Dying and Bureaucratic Complexity.
Oh - forgot to say, The reason so many cognoscenti are turning out for
this one, though several of us fell out with each other years ago, is that
David is dying of Agent Orange exposure.
Thanks for your attention -
Dan
--
Dan Duffy
Editor, Viet Nam Literature Project
Chair, Books & Authors: Viet Nam, Inc.
5600 Buck Quarter Road
Hillsborough, NC 27278
USA
tel (919) 383-7274, 6-10AM & 1-5PM MF (ET)
email editor@vietnamlit.org
URL www.vietnamlit.org
VNLP makes Vietnamese literature intellectually accessible in English:
*We have built Wikivietlit, a free online encyclopedia to Vietnamese literature.
*We are building a library of teachable extracts from the national and
diasporic traditions, with teaching and study aids.
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