On Thursday 15th July 2004 I received the following message from Israel Lopes who wrote "Paul Auster visited Brazil last week. He went to seminar called Festa Literaria Internacional de Parity (something like Paraty International Literary Party). Paraty is a small town in southeast Brazil. You can find more information here.

On Sunday 13th June 2004 the winner of this year's International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award will be announced in Dublin. Paul Auster has been shortlisted for 'The Book of Illusions'. Paul didn't win this year.

'As Smart As We Are' release show is on Tuesday 8th June 2004 at 7.30pm at the Museum Of Jewish Heritage - NYC and features One Ring Zero along with readings and performances by Paul Auster, Rick Moody, Darin Strauss, Myla Goldberg, Jonathan Ames, and more. A reception celebrating the new release, will follow the program. Advanced Ticket Price: $15 adults, $12 seniors, $10 members/students. (You can now read the lyrics to King George Blues by clicking here). Michael Hearst of One Ring Zero has since e-mailed to say "our new cd/book As Smart As We Are was just released in the US. It has a song called "Natty Man Blues" which Paul wrote the lyrics for. There's a sample of it and it can be ordered from here." He also says Auster's "daughter Sophie will be singing a song will us at the release show on June 8th.

On Saturday 31st May 2004 at 7.15pm Paul Auster was interviewed by John Wilson on BBC Radio 4. Many thanks to Valentina Olivastri for that information..

On Sunday 16th May 2004 at 7.30pm Paul Auster will be interviewed on Dutch TV station RAM. Floris Lantzendorffer wrote to say "Probably the interview with Auster on Dutch TV will be on the website of the program called RAM soon, keep you posted: http://www.vpro.nl/programma/ram/afleveringen/17018902/."

On Thursday 13th May 2004 Paul Auster will be at The John Adams Institute, Amsterdam. It's possibly at plaats De Rode Hoed, Keizersgracht 102 Amsterdam at 8pm but for more information on the lecture, please contact Marike Paauw at the John Adams Institute: 020 6247280. Admission: 12.50 Euros Reduced admission: 7.50 Euros (students/CJP/Stadspas/Pas65). Unfortunately, tickets have now all sold out. Use the message board to see if you can track any spare tickets down or try the A.U.B. Ticket Shop (Leidseplein 26, Amsterdam) or call the UITlijn 0900-0191. His wife, Siri Hustvedt, is appearing at The John Adams Institute the night before. Daniel Cornelissen e-mailed to say "Yesterday...Paul Auster and Siri Hustved read to an audience of about 100 people in the beautiful 200 year old Royal Theatre in The Hague. They were invited by Louis Behre, organiser of the famous Crossing Border Festival. Paul and Siri both read a chapter from their last books and answered questions from both the public and journalist Maartje Somers. On Sunday May 16th, exerpts from this interview will be shown on Dutch tv. (R.A.M., N3)...PS : At the moment I'm doing the recording of Oracle Night in Dutch for blind and reading-disabled people. The Daisy-cdrom, published by the Federation of Dutch Libraries for the Blind (FNB) will be available in a few months." Paul has also included a couple of excellent photos of the event one of Paul and one of Paul and Siri. And since then Imke van Gardingen has sent me another great photo of the event.

Word has it that Paul Auster may be visiting Barcelona where he will be talking in a seminar with Jorge Semprun, Blanca Varela, Rally Morgan et al, (thanks to Rafael i Montse for that). Paul Auster, Arundhati Roy and Paulo Coelho are among those who have confirmed their participation in the Dialogue "The Value of the Word," which will take place in Barcelona from May 17-21, 2004, as part of the Universal Forum of Cultures Barcelona 2004. The sessions will be held at the Barcelona International Convention Center, which is currently being built at the Forum site.

In May 2004 Paul Auster will be going to a few other places in Europe other than London, i.e. Berlin and Amsterdam. And then in the summer, Brazil, for the first time. Thanks to Andi Goltz for supplying the following information, he says "I found out that Paul Auster will be reading in 3 Cities in Germany:

06.05. Cologne, Schauspielhaus 00.00

07.05 Berlin, Deutsches Schauspielhaus 21.30

10.05. Hamburg, Schauspielhaus 20.00

Gisela Kloetzer kindly e-mailed me to say "Paul Auster's reading in Berlin was sold out and very successful. He was surrounded by a crowd of autograph-hunters. Herewith a German article about in Die Welt."

And friend of the site Manuel Pollak e-mailed me also to say "I attended a literary evening in Cologne...It was hosted by the House of Literature and the America House...It started at 8pm and lasted two hours. The reading was just part of the show that evening. Paul Auster read out the English version and in between a professional German reader read out the same text Auster read before. But the more important part was when a professor of literature asked Paul Auster about his newest work and tried to give a small interpretation. Of course he did some other things like how and why Paul Auster writes and some personal things. So you were able to get a little bit more insight into the life of Auster as a husband, a father and a writer. Unfortunately they refused to let Paul Auster sign the books we brought along because they didn't want Auster to have to sign a thousand books. Actually the audience must have been that size. The host said they sisn't want to bother him now facing such an enduring trip. So we had to go without his signature but we didn't leave empty handed. We still have the memory of this great event. Having met Paul Auster for real and reminding ourselves of the new things we learnt about him during the interview is enough to make this evening unforgettable. I myself even took some photos...showing four men sitting on the stage (from left to right): the professor of literature, who did the interview and the interpretation; Auster's translator, who translated his work in German; Auster himself and the professional German reader."

I received the following e-mail from Ian Rawnsley "there seems to be conflicting information regarding Paul's visit on the 5th May. I have rung the number regarding information and was informed that the location of the read is still at the Institute of Education, Bedford Way. I don't know if you have had any other feedback regarding this?" Probably best to ignore the information below and just ring 0870 420 2777 instead to find out which venue is the correct one. Apologies for any confusion caused. And since then a friend has confimred that it will be held at the Institute of Education, Logan Hall.

Looking at Foyle's website it appears that the details listed below re: Auster's trip to London have changed. According to the site both Foyles and The Times are presenting a 'Writers & Readers' evening with Paul Auster at 7pm on Wednesday 5th May 2004 at The Congress Centre, 28 Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3LS. Tickets are £7, concessions £4, and you can call 0870 420 2777 for more details.

According to Nadia Shireen Paul Auster will be at the Institute Of Education, Logan Hall, 20 Bedford Way, London, UK on Wednesday 5th May 2003 at 6.30pm (£7 or £4 concessions - ring 0870 420 2777 for details). He will be doing a talk and a reading of 'Oracle Night'.

On Tuesday 5th May 2004 Paul Auster appeared on the Channel 4 News in the UK. He was interviewed about the familiar themes that have run through his novels, the possibility that all of his work has been written in the shadow of the Holocaust, his views on September 11th and finally his despair at George W Bush's administration. If and when I find a manuscript of the interview I will post it on the site.

On Monday 4th May 2004 at 6pm Paul Auster took part in a BBC Radio 4 programme called Bookclub. The recording took place at BBC Bush House, London and an audience was invited to come along and discuss 'The New York Trilogy' with the author. See above for transmission times and dates. James Naughtie was the MC.

On Saturday 17th April 2004 there was an article in the Weekend Review section of The Times which discussed amongst other things Paul Auster's dispair at the Bush administration and the war. You can read the author's lyrics to a song called 'King George Blues' by clicking here. There is also mention of Auster's next novel to come which has a working title of 'The Brooklyn Follies'. (Thanks to Stuart Harrington of t-melt.com for that).

On Friday 16th April 2004 Forward published an introduction by Auster to "Running Through Fire" by Zosia Goldberg. "Why did some live when so many millions died?", writes Auster in relation to the Holocaust and Goldberg's memoir.

On Wednesday 14th April 2004 Paul Auster is continuing his 'Collected Poems' tour at the Mercantile Library, New York at 6pm. It's free to members of the library, Poets House, seniors and students and $5 for all others. Reservations are required. Call 212 755 6710.

On Tuesday 13th April 2004 Paul Auster will attend an event publicising 'Collected Poems' at 6.30pm at Borders, Park Avenue, (461 Park Avenue, New York City, New York. Phone: 212 980 6785).

On Sunday 11th April 2004 Paul Auster appeared on Writers & Company with Eleanor Wachtel on CBC Radio One in Canada.

On Wednesday 31st March 2004 Paul Auster will be in Montreal. He says "I'm getting some kind of prize up there, at a festival called the Blue Metropolis. Every year they've given the literary Grand Prize and this year they're giving it to me."

Sylvain Decelles e-mailed me to say "I'm writing to you from Montréal, Québec, Canada. Here in Montréal, since 1998, we have a bilingual literary festival call "Métropolis Bleu - Blue Metropolis" (French and English) This year, the winner of the Grand Prize will be Paul Auster. He will be in Montréal at the end of March to receive his prize and he will participate to events (some in French because Paul Auster speaks French fluently). Here's the details about his participation.

This year's prize will be presented at the Opening Event, Wednesday, March 31 at 5.30pm. Paul Auster will be interviewed on stage in the course of that event by Eleanor Wachtel, and Clotilde Seille will read from his work in French. On Thursday 1st April 2004 you won't want to miss the on-stage interview in French with Marie-France Bazzo at 16h. His most recent novel Oracle Night will then be launched in French (La nuit de l'oracle, Actes Sud-Leméac) at the Blue Metropolis Bookstore at 17h30. Paul Auster will sign copies of his book on this occasion. His last event at the Festival will be a reading on that evening at 19h30. The Cinémathèque québécoise will also be screening two of his films during the Festival."

On Thursday 25th March 2004 Paul Auster joined ten other writers at Where's My Democracy, the literary event of the year, in support of Downtown For Democracy (D4D). The evening also featured several special guest readers, including Lou Reed, and was held at Cooper Union's historic Great Hall, "a mecca for progressive political debate for almost 150 years". According to The Nation Paul Auster read the first few pages of his upcoming novel, tentatively titled The Book of Human Folly, about a mordant man who "was looking for a quiet place to die."

n Thursday 11th March 2004 Paul Auster will be at an informal seminar at 4.15pm at Campus Center 375 and then at 8pm for a reading of 'Collected Poems' at Recital Hall PAC for the New York State Writers Institute, State University of New York.

On Monday 1st March 2004 Paul Auster will be joining Russell Banks, Elizabeth Frank and Rick Moody at the 'Nathaniel Hawthorne at 200' event. It starts at 8pm at the Kaufmann Concert Hall, 92nd Street at Lexington Avenue and costs $16. "Writers gather to celebrate the bicentenary of the author of The Scarlet Letter, The House of the Seven Gables, The Blithedale Romance and Twice-Told Tales."

Friend of the site Klaus Nolting e-mailed recently to say that the German version of 'Oracle Night' is scheduled for March 2004.

On Saturday 28th February 2004 Paul Auster will be joining Maureen Howard, Barbara Jacobs and Juan Villoro at the Mexico-USA Fiction Writers Exchange, New York, 92nd Street Y, Information: 212-996-1100.

On Wednesday 25th February 2004 Paul Auster continued his tour of 'Collected Poems' at Community Books in Brooklyn.

On Thursday 19th February 2004 Auster's 11th novel 'Oracle Night' will be published in the UK.

On Wednesday 18th February 2004 Paul Auster will be reading from and discussing his new book 'Collected Poems' at 7pm at Barnes and Noble, Union Square, 33 East 17th Street, New York, NY 10003. One member of the audience commented that there was "about 200 people there, easy. 15 minutes before the reading began, it was announced that Paul Auster would not be signing books or having a discussion. He came in from a side exit door, read a few poems for about 30 minutes, then exited the same side door."

On Wednesday 11th February 2004 at 8pm Paul Auster will be reading from his newly published book “Collected Poems.” The author Laird Hunt will also be on hand. (Poetry Project, St. Mark’s In-the-Bowery, Second Ave. at 10th St., New York Tickets at the door.) The New York Press said "Most people don’t think of poetry when they think of Paul Auster. They think of the New York Trilogy, the screenplay for Smoke or the 10 novels he’s written since 1985. Anyway, Auster stopped writing verse 25 years ago. Like his prose, Auster’s poetry is full of simple, declarative sentences full of mystery and depth. In his last poem, he states he wants "to say the simplest thing possible." Simple’s not the same as trite–that’s setting the bar to the near-impossible. But somehow he pulls it off. Paul Auster reads from Collected Poems (Overlook Press). Poetry Project at St. Mark’s Church, 131 E. 10th St. (2nd Ave.), 212-674-0910, 8, $8."

On Thursday 5th February 2004 Dean Monti sent me the following e-mail "NPR’s Fresh Air has a recent interview with Auster (from Jan 20) available to listen to on-line at:

http://www.npr.org/features/feature.php?wfId=1606880

In February 2004 'Oracle Night' was reviewed in the Newsnight Review. An interview with Auster re: his latest novel also appeared on Eye On Books.

On Saturday 31st January 2004 regular Brian Howell sent me the following e-mail "There's good discussion of Oracle Night here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/arts/. Click on 'Saturday Review' in the bottom left-hand corner."

On Tuesday 27th January 2004 Paul Auster will be in Boston at Wordsworth as part of the 'Oracle Night' book tour.

On Sunday 25th January 2004 the following review of 'Oracle Night' appeared in 'The Plain Dealer'.

On Tuesday 13th January 2004 Paul Auster will be in Washington DC at Politics and Prose. 5015 Connecticut Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20008 Phone: 202-364-1919. Marcus Wyche e-mailed to say "I just wanted to let you know that Mr. Auster's Washington, D.C. appearance at Politics and Prose was quite a nice event. There were about seventy people there for it. Mr. Auster read from "Oracle Night." I enjoy listening to him speak. Auster has such a calm, soothing voice, almost paternal. (I'm surprised he hasn't really delved into doing books on tape; as his experience with National Public Radio demonstrates, he's got the perfect voice for it.) This time the experience for me was different, for at Mr. Auster's reading of "Book of Illusions", while he read I was reading the text along with him, reading the text for the first time. For "Oracle Night," I had made progress in the book already, and as such already had a "voice" in my head, and reading along this time as Auster spoke, it was interesting to note the differences in his reading, his inflection and emphasis on words and phrases, than what I had done reading with my "voice." It made me see the text in a whole new light."

On Monday 12th January 2003 a new publication by Auster was released called 'Collected Poems'. The publisher is The Overlook Press. "This collection of Auster’s poetry, translations, and composition notes from early in his career do much to reinforce the idea that Paul Auster is, indeed, a unique and masterful figure in the literary world."

You can now read the following transcript of Paul Auster's 'Off The Page' interview where he says that he will be coming to London in May 2004. You can also read the transcript by clicking here.

On Tuesday 6th January 2004 Dean Monti sent me an e-mail reading "the January 4, 2004 issue of the New Yorker has a short article about Auster’s reading of Oracle Night in its entirety over two days at the Paula Cooper Gallery in New York."

The reviews for 'Oracle Night' are in full swing. Check out the latest articles:

SFGate.com
Denver Post
The Times Picayune
The Village Voice
Seattle Times
Financial Times
The Scotsman
Star Telegram
The Guardian (inc Collected Prose)
The Observer (interview)
The Observer (review)
Storyline
The Guardian
Detroit Free Press

You can now find more links on the new 'Oracle Night' page.

Also Manuel Pollak e-mailed me to say "I just found out that a new novel from Paul Auster is available. But more than that - I accidently listened to a radio program that claimed there is and audio book available - spoken by the master himself, Paul Auster. I seached amazon.com and alibris.com and they both sell it now."

Thanks to Paul Karasik for supplying me with the following e-mail Indy Magazine "has devoted much of their new issue in celebration of City of Glass, the Graphic Novel (as it is to be now known), owing to the fact that Picador is going to be reissuing soon." Something to look out for. Bill Kartalopoulos also was kind enough to supply some more information about City of Glass, the Graphic Novel on the message board

It looks like Paul Auster is dipping his toe back into the world of film-making. Director Patrice Chereau (Son Frere, Those Who Love Me Can Take the Train) will direct The Monster of Longwood, starring Al Pacino as Napoleon Bonaparte, according to Variety. The film will be an adaptation of the Staton Rabin novel about Napoleon's last days and his friendship with a young British girl during his exile. Chereau will also collaborate with screenwriter-novelist Paul Auster on a polish of the script's most recent draft, written by Michael Tolkien (The Player). According to The New Zealand Herald "The movie, which is being written by Paul Auster, is already facing tough competition. A rival project called Napoleon and Betsy will feature Scarlett Johansson as the same British beauty in a similar storyline, and the two movies are already battling it out in court and in the pages of the trade press."